Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

[dmt]

What's the difference between the Antiquity and AntiquityII for P bass, and how do they compare tonally to the stock pickups in an MIA American Series P?

Also, are the Antiquities (and/or AIIs) lower output than stock?

Is the raised-A polepiece in the "Raised Antiquity" model necessary (or even desireable)?

Background: I'm looking to upgrade the stock p'ups in my MIM P (poplar-bodied). I'm playing fingerstyle bass in a classic rock band (and recording my own originals on the side, in my home studio). D'Addario Roundwounds (soft) into an SWR Baby Blue II (or sometimes DI to the board).

What am I looking for that the stocks aren't giving me? - I can't give a detailed analysis, but I tried many MIA Ps before I bought my MIM, and the MIM sounded okay, but relatively undetailed. A very "plain" sound with no complexity to it. I couldn't "hear the wood", if you know what I mean. Maybe too much fundamental? - like I said, I don't have the knowledge or vocabulary to exactly describe the problem. Another way might be to say that it sounds "cheap", as opposed to "rich". I don't know how much of that is the piece of wood and how much the pickups, but I'm going to try a pickup upgrade and see what happens. As you can see by my rig, I'm not overly concerned with my sound being exactly vintage, but on the other hand, my favorite sounding bass I tried was a "relic" P (maybe a '59 or '62ri).

Any help would be appreciated,
-David

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

I'm not a bassplayer David, and don't even own a bass at the moment to try any Antiquitys in. But I'll say that the Antiquitys are handwound by either Seymour or MJ and that they represent the BEST Duncan Pickups have to offer. Every Antiquity I have tried was worth the extra money and had a more textured, more complex and more harmonically alive tone than the standard versions.

For example, the Antiquity II Strat Surfer pickups are just nicer, in the ways that I just described, than the Duncan SSL-1 pickups which are kind of the standard version of those Antiquity II's.

The Antiquity versions of the Duncan Pickups are like comparing a Picasso original witnessed in person to a Picasso print!

Much more detail to the tone, etc.

Lew

 

[dmt]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

Thanks Lew,

It sounds like I might be on the right track for a more detailed, complex sound.

Does anyone have any info on the differences between the Antiquity and the Antiquity II lines?.

Also, I'm a bit concerned about the "aged" magnets that I've read about when researching pickups for my Les Paul. Are these pickups for the Precision bass lower output than stock?

-David

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

Alnico II mags might give slightly less output than alnico v, but since there is also less string pull, you can raise them a bit higher than alnico v. Also, because of the lower string pull, alnico II lets the strings vibrate more naturally than Alnico v or ceramic.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

Alnico II mags might give slightly less output than alnico v, but since there is also less string pull, you can raise them a bit higher than alnico v. Also, because of the lower string pull, alnico II lets the strings vibrate more naturally than Alnico v or ceramic.

That has been my experience too.

 

[Artie]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

The Antiquity versions of the Duncan Pickups are like comparing a Picasso original witnessed in person to a Picasso print!

Much more detail to the tone, etc.

Lew

What a great analogy.

Also, because of the lower string pull, alnico II lets the strings vibrate more naturally than Alnico v or ceramic.

And yet more good info. Something that I never really considered.

I love this place. :laugh2:

 

[dmt]

Re: Precision Bass p'ups: Antiquity vs. AntiquityII vs. Fender?

Thanks, guys.