Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

[Reverberocket2]

I have the Antiquity JB/Jazz set in my mid 80's Norlin Les Paul Std. (solid mahogany body/neck, no sandwich, thin maple cap, Schallers, lightweight Gotoh tail, short shaft 500k audio vol pots).

For whatever reason in this Les Paul the Antiquity JB only keeps up output wise with my P90 loaded Les Paul Jr (300k vol pot). Overall it sounds like the Anitquity JB is bringing out the mids in the Les Paul Std at the expense of lows and highs

Compared to what the Antiquity JB is giving me in this Les Paul Std. I am looking for

1. A little more crunch and grit
2. A little less midrange
3. A little more high end
4. A little more defined snap and chunk on the low strings
5. A little more open sounding, less compressed

I still want something that can clean up when rolling back on the volume. Playing style is 70's classic rock, alt-country through JTM 45 and Fender style amps


What am I looking for: Custom, Custom 5, Custom 8, Custom/59 hybrid?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

p90s are loud brash pups in the best way and the antiquity jb has less output than a normal one and a softer high end. id go for a custom, it can be a great sounding pup in the bridge of a les paul. if that doesnt suit you can always swap magents easily

 

[blueman335]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

I'm thinking C5 (SH-14).

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

I'm thinking C5 (SH-14).

Good suggestion.

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

Thanks for the suggestions.

These clips of the Custom I found sound really really nice. Is this pretty typical for the custom? From these clips it doesn't appear to respond like a high output ceramic - at least not as hard, tight and compressed as a Dimarzio Super Distortion or a Gibson 500T






Also, how does the Custom 8 differ from the Custom and Custom 5 in terms of high end and output and compression?

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

OK, well I swapped out the 0.022uf tone cap for a 0.010 with the Antiquity JB and the highs sound good. Now if I can dial in a little more punch in the low end with some pickup and polepiece height. Next thing I will try is putting back the stock heavier tailpiece.

Making progress without a pickup swap. Imagine that.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

OK, well I swapped out the 0.022uf tone cap for a 0.010 with the Antiquity JB and the highs sound good. Now if I can dial in a little more punch in the low end with some pickup and polepiece height. Next thing I will try is putting back the stock heavier tailpiece.

Making progress without a pickup swap. Imagine that.

Good to hear because the Ant JB has some unique harmonic content because of the degaussed roughcast magnet. Make sure you angle the bass side up and the treble side down if you haven't already.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

In general, the next step "down" from a JB would be a Custom or a Custom Five. They will retain a good deal of the hot-rod character of a JB, while not being so low-mid-mushy and overbearing.

Another thing you might try is going to a steel bridge instead of the stock zinc or whatever cheapo alloy they use now. The same goes for the tailpiece. I would say go to steel instead of aluminum or the stock one. That said, the tailpiece has a very minimal effect on the tone in my experience. The bridge makes a much bigger difference.

Your capacitor swap almost certainly accomplished nothing audibly significant, when running the tone knobs on 10. If you hear a difference, it is almost certainly imagined or caused by another variable. I'll bet you wouldn't have noticed it at all if you didn't know that you had changed the caps. It'll make a nice difference when you use the tone pots, though. I always use 0.01 µF caps at maximum, for this reason.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

Custom, Maybe Custom 5


You are a mag swap away if you don't dig the custom to a custom 5

 

[Leon Of Late]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

Custom/59' Hybrid.

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

Good to hear because the Ant JB has some unique harmonic content because of the degaussed roughcast magnet. Make sure you angle the bass side up and the treble side down if you haven't already.

I am thinking that degaussed mag is what I am not liking. It sounds a bit too mellowed, especially on the wound strings, like the tone pot only goes up to 7 instead of 10. I just threw on a set of D'Addario ProSteels to brighten it up and it still isn't quite there.

Thinking I should have went with the 35th Anniversary JB. I had a JB/59 in this guitar years ago and it was definitely crunchier and crispier than this Antiquity JB/Jazz set.

I will tell you one thing -- this Ant JB is definitely the JB for those who think JBs are too shrill and bright. It has a much smootherr mid hump and the highs and lows have an almost soft A2 quality to them.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

then just try throwing a polished a5 in there, quick and easy with instant results

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

then just try throwing a polished a5 in there, quick and easy with instant results

I have never done a mag swap before. If I were to do it think I would go with a Rough Cast A5.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

mags are cheap and swaps are easy. does the pup have a cover?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

Rough cast would do well.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[SFW]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

I love P90s. The Custom was the only humbucker that have me that same grind in the mids. I highly recommend them for Les Pauls.

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

mags are cheap and swaps are easy. does the pup have a cover?

No Cover

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

I love P90s. The Custom was the only humbucker that have me that same grind in the mids. I highly recommend them for Les Pauls.

You are selling me on The Custom. What is the Custom 4 loaded in your 01 LP Classic?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

i would assume a custom with an alnico 4 magnet. if there is no cover, all you need to swap magnets is a screw driver (and the magnet obviously)

 

[Reverberocket2]

Re: Les Paul Std Pickup recomendation: looking to swap out JB Antiquity Bridge

How is The Custom on clean tones and on middle position with either a Jazz, 59 or AP2?

How does the regular old ceramic Custom compare to the C5 and C8? I keep reading that the C5 is way mid scooped and that the C8 can have this weird cocked wha midrange thing going any? I that so?