Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

[dr.barlo]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Lew,

Thanks.

''I'd say the Fralins are more refined and chimier and the Ant II slightly hotter and chunkier.'' and ''Much more pronounced and dramatic than the Layla tone Clapton got.'' made me think.

That is a great response thanks, and that answers my question as well. Maybe I should forget more bass from fralins and enjoy it huh? As I said it sounds great, cuts best, yet when compared to van zandts and fender tx specials it lacks bass.

Ant2's definitely sound intriguing. Not for what I am looking for, but for what I do not have. I don't possess that edgey of a strat tone now. Van zandts and fralins are all not that edgey. In fact that is why I still think my 90 stock fender set is still cool, because it is more edgey than all the others.

So now I am definitely interested!

B

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Thanks Doc! I wouldn't want anyone to get the impression that the Ant II's are to bright or to glassy.

They are not!

Like the Fralins, the Ant II's use a scatterwound pattern that helps eliminate that harsh ice pick quality to the treble that some Strat pickups have.

I find the Ant II's to have more edge and glass to thier tone than the Ant I Texas Hots (which have more mids and are quackier) but they are NOT ICE PICKY...that's why I used the term CRUSHED GLASS. That's actually what those #2 and #4 switch settings on a Strat have always sounded like to me, even when Clapton or Mark Knopfler uses them: like CRUSHED GLASS. I love that tone and use it alot when I play a Strat. Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Hey Lew, is there anyway you can get us some clips bro? I'm planning on ordering a set from ya in the next few weeks.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Hey Bean, I don't have a way of doing any recordings. I've been thinking about getting some software to let me do some demos, but I don't know...we'll see. Thanks! Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

thats cool. I just wish they had the demo's on the SD website (or do they and I've just overlooked them?)

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Hey Bean, Just imagine the bestest, fattest sounding vintage Strat you've ever heard...only with a great bridge pickup that doesn't sound thin and ice picky.

Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

LOL, thats what I want man. I was thinking the texas hots would be better for a 57RI, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the Surfers would be better and I put the TH in my homemade 62RI.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

LOL, thats what I want man. I was thinking the texas hots would be better for a 57RI, but the more I think about it, the more I think that the Surfers would be better and I put the TH in my homemade 62RI.

The Texas Hots are WONDERFUL, especially if you want more mids and quack than you do glassy chime. They have plenty of chime, but the emphasis is on quack, IMO, with the Texas Hots.

The Surfer's are WONDERFUL TOO! Especially if you love that glassy chime of vintage Strat pickups but would like a little more quack than vintage Strat pickups...because they do have a little quackier and fuller tone than the pickups in my '63 Strat.

But they also have more chime and crushed glass tone than the Texas Hots...

Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

cool, Lew. I'll PM you when I get the cash to grab these babies.

 

[wonsup]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Hi Lew,

Maybe your definition of quack and what I understand them is different? I was always told that the sound that i like from position 2 and 4 is called "quack". That airy, hollow sound, which I love. However, I think you are describing the position 2 & 4 as CRUSHED GLASS.

The reason I ask this is, almost every pickups that had good "quack" were the ones that did not have a lot of mid frequency. You get more mids as the pickups get hotter. Which is the reason I prefer low output pickups, as they have less mid, and therefore more quack.

So, when you describe Ant I Texas Hot (hotter more mid) to have more quack, but saying Ant II has more CRUSHED GLASS, I am confused what you are describing.

I want the best position 2 & 4 sound for blues. I think I want to go for the Ant II, based on your dfescription, but I wanted to confirm.

 

[wonsup]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

BTW, have you had chance to compare ANT II to Fender Custom Shop 54's? I am thinking about either getting SSL2s and Twangbanger in the bridge, or Fender 54s, or Antiquity II.

These will go on my early 80's ESP strat with alder body and maple neck/board. I am mainly concerened about playing blues on this particular guitar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Quack sounds like a duck: QUACK!

Alnico 2 single coils have more mids (and more quack) than alnico 5 single coils.

All paf humbuckers have a certain amount of QUACK...it's the tone Eric Clapton created when he played with John Mayall and then got it down even better with Cream.

When a single coil Tele pickup like the Jerry Donahue or a single Strat pickup like the Antiquity Texas Hot is described as having QUACK, in my mind it is starting to get some of that paf tone, but obviously without the hotter output of a paf or full sized humbucker.

When I combine the neck and middle pickup or middle and bridge pickups on my '63 Strat, I don't hear any quack. I hear that Dire Straits "Sultan's of Swing" or Eric Clapton "Bell Bottem Blues" tone...sort of a thick glassy crunch. That's why I describe it as sounding like crushed glass.

Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Lew, that sound that you're getting with your 63 is what i'm getting w/ my 62HM with the 72 strat in it. It almost sounds like the neck or mid pickup by itself with the tone rolled back a little and a little hollowness thrown in?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

Lew, that sound that you're getting with your 63 is what i'm getting w/ my 62HM with the 72 strat in it. It almost sounds like the neck or mid pickup by itself with the tone rolled back a little and a little hollowness thrown in?

:smack: A listen is worth a thousand words.

That tone is all over the Derek and Dominoes LAYLA album...and it's the SULTANS OF SWING tone by Dire Straits.

Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

So, thats the sound that you describe as crushed glass? Thats along the lines of what I'm going for. Would the Tx Hots get me that SRV "Riveria Paradise" sound?

 

[flank]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

i always thought sultans of swing was unbelievable quack???...... layla seems more like crushed glass as you said........hmmmm....

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

i always thought sultans of swing was unbelievable quack???...... layla seems more like crushed glass as you said........hmmmm....

They're both the same two pickups combined: vintage alnico 5 neck and middle Strat pickups. Lew

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

So, thats the sound that you describe as crushed glass? Thats along the lines of what I'm going for. Would the Tx Hots get me that SRV "Riveria Paradise" sound?

Yes, but the Ant II's would do it even better, IMO. I don't know if SRV plays the whole thing with just the neck and middle combined tho. I think there's some single pickup stuff in there too. Lew

 

[beandip]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

yeah, throughout the song, he switches between neck/mid and the mid pickup. Alright, the Ant II's are my choice. Thanks for your help Lew.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hey Lew! How about a review on them Ant II Surfers?

My buddy AJ stopped by yesterday and brought his Jimmie Vaughn Strat with Duncan SSL-1's and a Fralin Steel Pole 43 bridge. He was blown away by my Strat with the Ant II's. We compared the SSL-1's to the Ant II's and the Ant II's were both stronger and more present...brighter. He said the Ant II's were the best pickups he's ever played. He described them as sounding like bells. AJ play's a nice version of Riviera Paradise and when he played it using my Strat with the Ant II's it sounded just wonderful...like bells. I've never heard my old tweed Deluxe sound better either!

Lew