Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

[tmd187]

My friend/Luthier is building me a Full Hollowbody Guitar in New York. We decided for the greatest pickup to enhance the guitar, we would go with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Series, which aren't cheap. I'm not rich by the way, I'm just able to save money since I'm in College at PSU. Anyway, we wanted to be able to do a Coil-Tap on this guitar as well, but the Antiquity series are only 1- Cond. Shield, so he asked how much or what the difference would be if we wanted to just get 2 of them made as an option with the 4-Conductor Wire, they told us they difference would be $170........a Humbucker! That's insane, I love SD but what's that about. All it takes is 3 more wires to make this a conductor, you don't have to do that much more. So now that idea is gone, and we decided to go with the SH-55 Seth Lover's, so tell me what and why you think that price is just not reasonable. And if you have used the SH-55's, tell me what you think of them. Thanks and sorry, I just had to vent. No harm done, I still love ya SD!

 

[Corbic]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

I'm not sure on this one, but aren't the Seth Lovers also 1-Cond. Shield wiring?

 

[firebirdV]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

I'm not sure on this one, but aren't the Seth Lovers also 1-Cond. Shield wiring?

I think that you can order them with 4 wires either for a small upcharge or for free.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Seth Lovers are the same....2 conductor.....as are most vintage PAF type pickup. I have a set of shiny nickel PRS McCarty pickups that are splittable and would sound even better in your hollowbody. That's what they use in the hollowbody PRS's. If you're interested in a trade, PM me.

Depending on how long you've had them, and if you bought them new, SD customer service will let you trade them for something else.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Yea the up-price is high because it becomes a custom shop order. But I'm thinking this is something you should have known before buying.

 

[frpax]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

The '59; the Seth Lover; and the Antiquities all have vintage style leads. You could go Pearly Gates, though. 4 wire, great tone.

 

[Artie]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Once again, I am not absolutely positive about this, but aren't Antiquities made by Seymour himself? If so, I doubt that he takes one apart and rewires it. It would mean "the man", himself, would stop what he's doing and custom build you one. That could be expensive - and well worth it.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

The antiquities are pretty much a custom shop deal in many respects. $170 is only 10 dollars more than normal list if memory serves. If you buy them through a dealer they will very likely be discounted and you may not see much of a difference at all.

The Seths are very good pickups. Pretty much the same spec as the antiquities, just not aged. I use them in a semi hollow and my Les Paul and they phenominal in both.

 

[yegbert]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

...$170 is only 10 dollars more than normal list if memory serves....

...they told us they difference would be $170...

He said $170 was the difference, not the final price.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

He said $170 was the difference, not the final price.

$330 per pickup doesn't seem realistic. I am thinking there was a misunderstanding or a misinterpretation somewhere.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Has to be a misunderstanding. I am quite positive that even if you ordered a completely custom humbucker from the custom shop, the cost would be $160 or so per pickup. No way the amount was $170 per pickup to change to 4 conductor wiring.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Sadly, any time you ask for something custom on an Antiquity it becomes a Custom Shop order and quite expensive, although I'm not sure $170.00 more seems correct.

The Seth or "59" on the other hand can be upgraded to 4-Conductor for the standard 4-Conductor upgrade price which is $12.00 retail. Lead time is about 4 weeks.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

im pretty sure he must have meant $170 per pup for the 4 cond antiquitys. i have a 10k antiquity 4 cond that cost me about that

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Once again, I am not absolutely positive about this, but aren't Antiquities made by Seymour himself? If so, I doubt that he takes one apart and rewires it. It would mean "the man", himself, would stop what he's doing and custom build you one. That could be expensive - and well worth it.

I'm pretty sure they're done by the Custom Shop, not necessarily Seymour himself, but at the very least someone who is a master at pickup winding. Therefore yes, the upcharge is somewhat understandable.

The whole point of an Antiquity is to have a vintage correct pickup right down to the smallest detail. 4 conductor wiring is def. not vintage correct. I would suggest looking at something else if you want a splittable pickup. A 59 or Seth Lover are both braided 2-conductor by default, but they are available with 4 conductor as a shop floor custom, which is WAY cheaper than getting the Custom Shop to crack open an Antiquity.

Also, ask yourself why you really want a coil split on a hollow bodied guitar. It's pretty rare.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

It is my understanding that MJ and Seymour ARE the Custom Shop and that Seymour winds all the Antiquities himself. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

$170.00 additional for 4-conductor sounds wrong.
$170.00 total per pickup for a Custom Shop order of those pickups specifically in 4-conductor sounds about right.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

What does an Ant hum cost normally?

 

[doveman]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

I think I've seen them for about $120?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

mj and seymour are the custom shop and i believe that they both do the antiquitys

 

[vegetablejoe]

Re: Duncan Antiquity Problem and I'm not Happy!

Aside from the 2-conductor lead issue already covered above, it's been said that a coil-tapped humbucker sounds great only if the pickup is a strong, loud one to begin with. I've tried a coil-tapped JB and it really sounds fine, even in my semi-hollow. Other people have said the same on several different forums as well.

Coil-tapping an Antiquity or Seth Lover may leave you with a single coil with 3-4k dc resistance, which IMHO is pretty weak and will not give out convincing single coil tone.

If you're dead set on a Seth (which is a great pickup btw), a better alternative for variety is to hook it up to a push-pull pot for some out-of-phase honk.

Good luck!

edit: oops! this angle has already been covered here -

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=91502

my apologies....