New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

[elduderino73]

So I just bought a new Sheraton and love it. I plan to upgrade to CTS pots and PIO caps and all done 50s style. My problem is the pickup upgrade.
I have a Seth in the bridge of an AS93 and love it.

I play mainly blues and classic rock type stuff and then my own music: Drop D stuff, just regular clean strumming, and everything in between. I plug straight in to my Fender Blues Junior Lacquer Tweed or Peavey Classic 50 2x12.

I can't decide between the Seths or Antiquities. I've read lots of reviews, watched lots of demos, and even searched the forum for some ideas. (If I've missed the forum thread where they discussed these two pickups in a semi please accept my apologies)

For any here who have experience with both pickups in a semi-hollow guitar, what would you recommend? I definitely want unpotted pickups so I'm not interested in anything but the Seths or Antiquities.

Thanks

 

[Aceman]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

You know - not two pickups I own or play really. But can you lose????

I'd try to post a description of how the guitar sounds, and then tell us what you want out of it

Bass - more / less, tight / loose
Mids - more less and upper, middle or lower
Treble - more or l;ess, and bright/crisp or fat/thick

And then I'm sure the gurus of those pups will get you the best choice.

Sounds like you want to go all vintage for the sake of vintage though…

 

[elduderino73]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

You know - not two pickups I own or play really. But can you lose????

I'd try to post a description of how the guitar sounds, and then tell us what you want out of it

Bass - more / less, tight / loose
Mids - more less and upper, middle or lower
Treble - more or l;ess, and bright/crisp or fat/thick

And then I'm sure the gurus of those pups will get you the best choice.

Sounds like you want to go all vintage for the sake of vintage though…

I'm definitely a fan of the PAF-type sound. Vintage output, plugged straight in to an amp. Bloomfield plugged straight in and damn he sounds amazing.

As it sounds now with the stock wiring and stock caps and stock pots, I find the stock pickups to be a little "harsh". I like what the 50s wiring does for the tone control, and I'm a firm believer upgraded pots and PIOs do make a difference. So, I guess I'd need to upgrade the Pots, caps and wiring to make a better judge of the stock pickups. But, that being said, in my AS93 I paired a Seth bridge with a 498t neck and I really like the combo.

What I want is a well-balanced and full sound where it is not favoring Lows Mids or Highs. From the reviews some users say there is a midrange bump with the Seths that doesn't happen in the Ants.

I know I can't go wrong with either, but I just don't want to get one kind and keep having that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I'm missing out on something. What about a Seth neck and Ant Bridge?

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

My favorite all around Antiquity humbucker set is the Jazz JB

 

[elduderino73]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

My favorite all around Antiquity humbucker set is the Jazz JB

What kind of guitar is it in?

 

[Uncle Fred]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

What kind of guitar is it in?

Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall half stack

 

[blueman335]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

Two PU's I do own. Seth's are by far my favorite of the two. I have 5 or 6 sets (haven't changed magnets in any of them). They're the favorite PAF of some administrators here. I pulled my one Ant set and it's sitting in a box.

What I don't care for about Ant's is the aged A2's. At full charge A2's don't have a lot of treble or output, and when you degauss them, they have even less of both. The high-end is pretty warm and rounded. Not what I'm looking for. For some guys, in some guitars, they sound great, so it's a matter of preference.

 

[elduderino73]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

Two PU's I do own. Seth's are by far my favorite of the two. I have 5 or 6 sets (haven't changed magnets in any of them). They're the favorite PAF of some administrators here. I pulled my one Ant set and it's sitting in a box.

What I don't care for about Ant's is the aged A2's. At full charge A2's don't have a lot of treble or output, and when you degauss them, they have even less of both. The high-end is pretty warm and rounded. Not what I'm looking for. For some guys, in some guitars, they sound great, so it's a matter of preference.

Thanks for your insight on both. From the youtube videos and other soundclips I've heard your description seems to be what I heard as well. Seems like the Seths are more lively and the Antiquities are more subdued. One review I read comparing the two felt the Ants were just better all around. Just his preference out of all the pickups he reviewed, but he did like the Seths as well. Seths came in a close 2nd.

When I do play through the Seth on my AS93 I guess I'm hearing the unpotted part giving it some "air" so to speak. There's just something there I don't hear in my other pickups. And I like it.

I guess I can't go wrong with either really.

 

[elduderino73]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

Well I couldn't stand it any longer and went for the Seths. Now I just need to get a wiring harness upgrade, new knobs and some blood testers.

 

[RealtyViking]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

I may be wrong, but The Antiquity and the Seth Lover are basically the same pickups. The difference is that the Antiquity is "aged" (scuffed up and worn finish) with more variation in windings. Do you want pickup to look like they are 50+ years old? If yes, get the Antiquities.

What is in the guitar now? What are you looking to change. Do you want the pickup to be wax potted?

 

[LtKojak]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

What I don't care for about Ant's is the aged A2's. At full charge A2's don't have a lot of treble or output, and when you degauss them, they have even less of both.

Rick... this part is not quite as you describe it, mind you.

Compared as how a p'up sounds when the magnet if full-charged, degaussing it within a tolerance of 15-20%, the effect is losing some bass,but it does not affect the treble in the same way.

Think degaussing as setting p'up with a higher distance to the strings. You first lose bass as a result of the "proximity effect"; when you reach the desired balance between the bass and highs, you've reached the "sweet spot", going further you just lose output and sounds puny and anemic, when its distance is too high.

That's why setting an instrument up is paramount to attain the ideal balance between tone, output and response to pick attack and note decay.

HTH,

 

[blueman335]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

Compared as how a p'up sounds when the magnet if full-charged, degaussing it within a tolerance of 15-20%, the effect is losing some bass,but it does not affect the treble in the same way.

Think degaussing as setting p'up with a higher distance to the strings. You first lose bass as a result of the "proximity effect"; when you reach the desired balance between the bass and highs, you've reached the "sweet spot", going further you just lose output and sounds puny and anemic, when its distance is too high.

That's why setting an instrument up is paramount to attain the ideal balance between tone, output and response to pick attack and note decay.

HTH,

Then it must be the wind that reduces the high-end. In either case, Ant's do sound different than Seth's, and I've read here the winds of Ant's and Seth's are different. Depending on what you want from the PU, you may prefer one over the other.

 

[AlexR]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

I know the Ant's I had were actually a hotter K reading than I expected....like 8.6 or something on my bridge one.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: New Sheraton. Upgrade to Seths or Antiquities? Help

Then it must be the wind that reduces the high-end

Of course. With either a '57 Classic or a 490R, you won't have highs to start with, so you can guess the rest.

Also, to fully hear the "degaussing" and/or the "proximity effect", you must use the cleanest possible setting on the amp/modeler/whatever, or you won't hear all the "necessary frequencies", as I call it, to fully assess the outcome.

HTH,