Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

[leonardo19]

Hello guys!

Maybe some of you could give me some tips on which neck pickup to use in my strat.
I'm from Brazil and here, to get some really good stuff is really expensive, so I need to choose right.

I have an Antiquity Texas Hot set (bridge and middle (rwrp)), and I just can't find anywhere the neck pickup.

So, my question is, what would be the best possible choice to replace the Antiquity's neck pickup?

I did some research, but couldn't end it with an opinion. I have a few options in Brazil available right now, and some of them are the SD five two neck pickup (sounds great in my opinion), and a antiquity II middle position (rwrp).

If I was going between one of them, which one would be the closest in sound to the antiquity neck pickup.
Or even, is it possible to use the antiquity II middle pickup (rwrp) in neck position?

Anyway, any help, tip would be very appreciated!

Thanks guys!
Leo

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

The Antiquity II middle RWRWP would work in the neck... might really dig it's A5 magnet too as it will be have good depth due to A5's extended bass vs A2.

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

The Antiquity II middle RWRWP would work in the neck... might really dig it's A5 magnet too as it will be have good depth due to A5's extended bass vs A2.

Is there a correct way to connect the rwrp in the neck position? i am worried about the 'rwrp' and the wind position etc, sine it's not projected to be the neck pickup.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Is there a correct way to connect the rwrp in the neck position? i am worried about the 'rwrp' and the wind position etc, sine it's not projected to be the neck pickup.

It's identical to the neck pickup only it has a reverse magnetic and electric polarity. The Ant II RWRWP middle has the exact same magnetic polarity as your Ant I bridge. I pretty sure you need to swap the wires on the RWRP Surf middle using as a neck pickup in a Texas Hot Ant I set-up but I've never actually combined them in the same guitar at the same time.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

There is no tonal difference with the magnet and the wind reversed......or not with a single pickup at least. As mentioned above, this just changes the magnet orientation so they won't be out of phase.
Remember that strat pickups had no 'position' originally, and even if there is a slight changes of K rating for the middle, height adjustment to your own tonal preference is going to be required anyhow for any pickup, even one that has 'neck' written on a piece of packaging material.

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

So, after all there is no tone changes, which is really good, and it wont be out of phase if I swap the wiring when connecting the ant II rwrp in neck position. So, I think there will be no problem at all...

Thanks for the support guys. I' ll go with the ant II rwrp in neck position and after installingnit, i will let you know how it sou ds.

Thank you very much
Cheers

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Yeah, this would have been my guess. The Antiquity Texas Hots are wired backwards from the rest of the Duncan line, so a rw/rp pickup from the 'Normal' duncan line is the way the Texas Hots are wired regularly. Confusing.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Depending on how you use the neck and middle, I might suggest the Texas Hot in the neck and Surfer in the middle. (Surfer middle will be more spanky on its own, and bring some snap into posistions 2/4, Texas Hot in the neck will be very smoky and chewy, a great blues pickup.

(One of my Strats is configured APS-1 in the neck and SSL-1 in the middle. The poor man's version of the suggestion above. )

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Depending on how you use the neck and middle, I might suggest the Texas Hot in the neck and Surfer in the middle. (Surfer middle will be more spanky on its own, and bring some snap into posistions 2/4, Texas Hot in the neck will be very smoky and chewy, a great blues pickup.

(One of my Strats is configured APS-1 in the neck and SSL-1 in the middle. The poor man's version of the suggestion above. )

Got it!
So the surfer in theory has more output?

 

[CharlesJoy]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Pickup choices can drive you bonkers. In my Squire strat I put a Stk-s7 in the bridge and Stk-4's in the middle and neck. Great tone from all and simply fell in Love with the No Hum these pickups have at any volume

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Depending on how you use the neck and middle, I might suggest the Texas Hot in the neck and Surfer in the middle. (Surfer middle will be more spanky on its own, and bring some snap into posistions 2/4, Texas Hot in the neck will be very smoky and chewy, a great blues pickup.

He has a Texas hot bridge and a RWRP texas hot middle. He's thinking about pickup up an Antiquity Surf RWRP middle because that's pretty much all he's got access to right now.

The Antiquity Surf set is the opposite magnetic polarity of the Texas Hot set. This means that a RWRP Surf middle has the same magnetic polarity of the non-RWRP Texas Hots.

Putting the RWRP Surf in the middle will simply destroy the 2nd position on the switch rendering it useless, no hum canceling and a weak sound. To have every pickup functioning as they normally would, the RWRP Antiquity Surf middlemust be in the neck position when paired with a Texas Hot bridge and RWRP middle... it can't go in in the middle. You can put a regular non-RWRP Surf in the middle with a Texas Hot bridge and RWRP middle where the RWRP Texas Hot middle goes in the neck slot... but that's not what the OP is asking to do.

The Texas Hots have good snap in positions 2 and 4. You want more snap in switch position 4 than position 2... and putting the RWRP Surf in the neck along with two Texas Hots will give you that optimum tone... it's really a GREAT option. Putting the Surf RWRP in the middle of two Texas Hots is not optimum.

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

He has a Texas hot bridge and a RWRP texas hot middle. He's thinking about pickup up an Antiquity Surf RWRP middle because that's pretty much all he's got access to right now.

The Antiquity Surf set is the opposite magnetic polarity of the Texas Hot set. This means that a RWRP Surf middle has the same magnetic polarity of the non-RWRP Texas Hots.

Putting the RWRP Surf in the middle will simply destroy the 2nd position on the switch rendering it useless, no hum canceling and a weak sound. To have every pickup functioning as they normally would, the RWRP Antiquity Surf middlemust be in the neck position when paired with a Texas Hot bridge and RWRP middle... it can't go in in the middle. You can put a regular non-RWRP Surf in the middle with a Texas Hot bridge and RWRP middle where the RWRP Texas Hot middle goes in the neck slot... but that's not what the OP is asking to do.

The Texas Hots have good snap in positions 2 and 4. You want more snap in switch position 4 than position 2... and putting the RWRP Surf in the neck along with two Texas Hots will give you that optimum tone... it's really a GREAT option. Putting the Surf RWRP in the middle of two Texas Hots is not optimum.

That's exactly that!
I ended buying the surf Ant II rwrp middle pickup. About the wiring, should I still invert the wires when connecting to the pot / switch?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

No, you should be able to wire it as normal, if it is RW/RP. Let us know how this sounds for you, I am interested in that combo.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Despite ZenMind's assertion, swapping the pickups from neck to middle will not "simply destroy" any position. The only negative is that you would lose noise cancellation in the bridge/mid position. (Keep in mind that all classic Strats from '54 - mid 70's have no noise cancellation at all, and your single pickup positions will not be noise cancelling either.)

Again, I suggest that depending on your tonal preferences and how you use your Strat that you consider the Texas Hot and Surfer in each position. I really enjoy a A2 neck and A5 middle for blues and classic rock. The opposite is quite nice too, especially for strong, punchy neck tones, but I swapped from A5 neck/A2
Middle to A2 Neck/A5 middle and prefer it. Either way, keep both leads long enough to swap positions to see which you prefer. And have fun exploring some great pickups.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Despite ZenMind's assertion, swapping the pickups from neck to middle will not "simply destroy" any position. The only negative is that you would lose noise cancellation in the bridge/mid position. (Keep in mind that all classic Strats from '54 - mid 70's have no noise cancellation at all, and your single pickup positions will not be noise cancelling either

You would create an out of phase and non hum canceling 2 position just to get A5 in the middle? This is because you think that A5 pickups have more quack than A2? Some of the quackiest pickups I've used were A2 and the stock 2nd position of the Texas Hots is plenty quacky. I have no idea why you'd wanna create a thin, nasally out of phase 2nd position... how is the OP going to play "Sultans of Swing'? lolz!

To each their own I guess.

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

You would create an out of phase and non hum canceling 2 position just to get A5 in the middle? This is because you think that A5 pickups have more quack than A2? Some of the quackiest pickups I've used were A2 and the stock 2nd position of the Texas Hots is plenty quacky. I have no idea why you'd wanna create a thin, nasally out of phase 2nd position... how is the OP going to play "Sultans of Swing'? lolz!

To each their own I guess.

Just a silly question....two rwrp pickups (middle and neck) will be hum cancelling?

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Just a silly question....two rwrp pickups (middle and neck) will be hum cancelling?

RWRP is a relational term between two or more pickups... the RW stands for Reverse Wind (direction you are winding in... clockwise vs counter-clockwise or North vs South going which is known as the "electrical polarity" or "phase"). RP stands for Reverse Polarity. The rod magnets of a single coil have their poles on the top and bottom and we refer to their magnetic polarity as North or South side up.

You get hum canceling when the electrical polarity and magnetic polarity are reversed. If only the electrical polarity is reversed, you won't have hum canceling but you'll still be in phase... if the magnetic polarity is reversed, you'll be out of phase. When referring to a RWRP pickup it's only reverse polarity and reverse wound in relation to another pickup. An opposite magnetic plarity throws the signal out of phase, but a reverse wind direction puts the signal back in phase and then you'll also get hum canceling.

With strats with a RWRP middle, you get a bold sound in positions 1,3 and 5 yet in positions 2 and 4, you'll get hum canceling and a scooped, sparkly, quacky and detailed sound with less sustain and a more pronounced attack. When in an environment that's rife with EMI/RFI, it's great to have that hum canceling option.

When the middle is RWRP in relation to the bridge and neck, you get hum canceling in positions 2 and 4. The Surfs are "South up" polarity and the Texas Hots are "North Up". You can combine them and still get hum canceling depending on which pickup you use in what position.

The reverse polarity of the RWRP Texas Hot middle is "South up". The polarity of the RWRP middle Surf middle is "North up"... that's why you'll get everything in phase and hum canceling in switch positions 2 and 4 with the RWRP Surf in the neck + a RWRP Texas hot in the middle + a Texas hot in the bridge.

If the Surf Ants II and the Texas Hots Ant I have the same winding direction, you'll need to swap the leads... but if they have opposite winding direction, you wont have to swap them. Hopefully someone can chime in on whether they have the same winding direction or not.

 

[leonardo19]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Wow, thank you so much for the explanation zenmindbeginner!
That for sure clarified everything now!
I'll take the strat to the luthier next saturday, and let's see what happens then....

 

[Mincer]

Re: Best SD neck pickup for a strat, using Texas Hot (antiquity) in bridge and middle

Let us know how it turns out! Love to hear it too!