Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?
I don't think A4's sound anything like an UOA5.
I totally concur.
I hear A2's and UOA5's as being very close, with their feel and texture.
The biggest differences are these: 1. the highs in the UOA5 are more present, more "crunchy", so to speak, (kinda a small peak in the high mids) and in the lows the UOA5 have a "spongy" quality not present in A2s, being more evident in the neck position than in the bridge position.
Unlike other magnets, A4's don't have much of an EQ push in any direction, so many players find them plain sounding.
Yeah, that's very true... although IME, those players are mostly used to the inherent A5s "scooped" EQ, that's why they find A4s "bland", but in most cases this have very rapidly changed once they start using those pesky knobs in the amp, and they start to hear for the first time the unmasked tonal beauty of their own instruments in a way thay never thought possible... the rest are most probably suffering of some degree of tone-deafness, so no hope there, I'm afraid. You just can't save'em all!
(A4s)They also lack the texture of A2's and UOA5's.
I don't quite agree with this statement... A4s can provide a very rich harmonic texture, giving the instrument a feel of a 3-Dimensional quality, specially when doing complex chordwork, but I'd say this is more tied to correctly setup the height from the p'ups to the strings, aka "sweet spot", although the A4's inherent articulation is higher than A2s and UOA5s in any case, and so is the pick attack.
The trick I often employ when swapping A4 mags in PAFish p'up SETS is that I use a SHORT A4 (2.36") for the neck and a long (2.5") for the bridge. This mag combo tends to better compliment each other and helping to find the "sweet spot" for each one individually and give a more pleasant "chirp" when in the "both-on" position. Try it to believe it!
Seth Lovers and Antiquties are the most desirable platforms for mag swaps, followed by '59s, PGs and A2PHs, without forgetting of course the Custom family and my personal favorite, the 59/Custom.
Hope this to somehow help to dispel some myths and general misconceptions and misinformation about mag swapping and their outcomes.
Also, I'd like to personally thank Rick, aka Blueman335 for all the work he's done in mag swapping and his selflessness in sharing it with the fine folk of the SDUGF for so many years. Without him, I don't think they'll be that many people interested in the realm of mag swapping all over the web as they're today. Giving credit when credit is due. Thank you Rick! Happy New Year for you and your family!
Yours very truly,
/Peter
