Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

[beaubrummels]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

As someone who's swapped many magnets, I don't think A4's sound anything like an UOA5. I hear A2's and UOA5's as being very close, with their feel and texture. Unlike other magnets, A4's don't have much of an EQ push in any direction, so many players find them plain sounding. They also lack the texture of A2's and UOA5's. That can work more often in the neck slot, as that position inheently adds mids and low end. But in the bridge, A4's can be bland.

A2's really don't have a 'slight' mid bump. They have a good dose of mids. What they have a slight amount of is treble.

As a point of reference, I was on a tone chase for several years, and you were “the” mag swap guy with posts all over the forum about it, but because of your description, I avoided most all A2 pickups for a long time. When I finally tried one of the last A2 sets I was avoiding specifically based on your description of them, it turned out they were the nearly closest to what I had been chasing - because they didn’t sound as exaggerated in EQ or texture as you consistently describe.

Similarly with A4, based on your descriptions, I was expecting an even flat response from the pickup, but instead, going from an A5 type to A4 in the same pickup filled in all frequencies a bit and sounded somewhat thicker in the midrange and a bit louder, perceptually. From that experience I would say your experience was not the same as mine, or at least your descriptions, while perhaps generally true-ish, were quite misleading to me in practice, and perhaps your hearing of pickups and changes that magnets cause is not quite absolute.

Also note, here I was originally commenting on the effect of roughcast versions, which IME differ slightly from the effect of their polished counterparts.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

"Going from an A5 type to A4 in the same pickup filled in all frequencies a bit and sounded somewhat thicker in the midrange and a bit louder"


Right, A4's are going to have more mids than an A5, as A5's are mid scooped. As far as output, A4's are unoriented and lower output than A5's.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

"Going from an A5 type to A4 in the same pickup filled in all frequencies a bit and sounded somewhat thicker in the midrange and a bit louder"


Right, A4's are going to have more mids than an A5, as A5's are mid scooped. As far as output, A4's are unoriented and lower output than A5's.

A key word was dropped from my quote — perceptually. In my case, having all those frequencies fill in with the A4 actually made the pickup perceptually sound louder, regardless of mathematically measured output, and I found myself adjusting either the guitar volume or amp gain down a bit to get similar breakup, though with the new EQ profile caused by the mag swap.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

RC UOA5 Results: Holy sh!t, like literally a giant turd. Horrible. Killed all all the harmonic musicality and sounded woofier than the neck pickup. It's like a neck pickup with the tone knob rolled all the way down. Complete wooly, muffled, wet blanket crapola that is the total opposite of what I was expecting or trying to achieve. Full strength A2 is next.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

RC A2 Results: OK so this is the ticket. Pretty much does what I wanted; more clarity, power, and crunch while retaining a nice A2 PAF sound. Has a tad more upper mids coming through. kinda reminds me of a BB3. Did lose some of the openness and bloom the Ants are known for and it's pretty obvious the degaussed magnet in the Ant is a big part of it's signature tone. I was surprised that the magnet inside it was also signed by Seymour. I think I still like the Lollar bridge though because it has basically the same sound but with more of that airy openness still there.

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

ive had a uoa5 in the bridge of an ant bucker and it was great. i ended up going back to the stock a2 but i know thats not for everyone. the uoa5 tightened up the bottom and added a bit of bite to the top without losing too much of the stuff i like about the stock mag

+1 Pretty sure I sold Jeremy that Double Cream Ant. with the UOA5. I would only add that the mag swap added a healthy amount of output to the bridge. The lower output (degaussed magnet) is my major compliant of the Antiquity bridge.

To the OP, glad you found a magnet you like. I was just wondering if *your Eastman is a bit on the warm side?

Edit: This is a great thread by the way, tons of good info.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

To the OP, glad you found a magnet you like. I was just wondering if you're Eastman is a bit on the warm side?

The lows are big and a bit loose kinda flubby. But overall, I really enjoy it.

 

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

The lows are big and a bit loose kinda flubby. But overall, I really enjoy it.

No doubt, I love the finish on it. Have a pic of the entire guitar?

FWIW, I would try the UOA5 Antiquity in another guitar if you stick with the Lollar. I tried that pickup in an bright/articulate semi hollow and it complimented the guitar well. I love the aggressive mids and raw character it lended.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

Have a pic of the entire guitar?

Did a lengthy review with lots of pics on MLP and GearPage, here's a link.

http://www.mylespaul.com/threads/ngd-eastman-sb59-v-gb-relic-les-paul-copy-review.421046/

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

Now that I got the bridge dialed in pretty good, the neck is sounding woofy in comparison. Maybe I'll swap that one too, or even an A3 to brighten it up a bit. Wish I had ordered A3 in the first place, I'll have to wait until next week if I want to try that one.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

Just swapped the full A2 in to the neck Ant as well - same results. This particular guitar is very warm and has loose lows so the Ants while awesome in other guitars I've had (this exact set) they just weren't cutting it in this one. Also, I recently put a Pearly Gates in the neck of my LP Custom and I think I like that one best. I like brighter neck pups with a little honky sizzle to them.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

i like polished full strength a2 in the neck and rough full strength a2 in the bridge most of the time. that ant bridge with the u0a5 was from you. that still has the stock mag back in, it works really well in the hamer monaco elite it lives in.

beautiful eastman by the way

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Mag swap Antiquity humbucker - which one?

i like polished full strength a2 in the neck and rough full strength a2 in the bridge most of the time.

I forgot about that, I'm going to order some polished A2, A3 and polished as well as RC regular A5's.