Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
I might be inclined to suggest the WLH set, hot but not too hot. Nothing dull about the set whatsoever. They make a Les Paul sound like what you think a Les Paul should sound like.
Replacing Antiquity humbuckers
- Thread starter Bill Dennis
- Start date
I might be inclined to suggest the WLH set, hot but not too hot. Nothing dull about the set whatsoever. They make a Les Paul sound like what you think a Les Paul should sound like.
Leon Of Late
New member
Man, I tell you what. I just replaced a Slash set in a solid mahogany double cut, set neck, 24 3/4” scale guitar with a 3/4” maple cap and went to a Custom in the bridge. Granted it’s a really old Custom, but it sounds fantastic. I have 50’s wiring, PIO caps that are I think .033 .015 in this guitar, but I don’t recall 100%. The bridge might be .022., 500k pots.
The Custom is nice and snarley like a Custom should be, but it cleans up so much better than I remember. I can’t believe I let this one sit in my pickup box for so long. It has all the rock attitude I need to do up to stuff like Scorpions, but it will do Classic Rock when I roll down the volume and tone as well. I am just so surprised by it. I am thinking about staring my own thread on it, but I wanted to mention it to you.
Mine meters at 13.3K and they spec at 14.1K, FYI.
The Custom is nice and snarley like a Custom should be, but it cleans up so much better than I remember. I can’t believe I let this one sit in my pickup box for so long. It has all the rock attitude I need to do up to stuff like Scorpions, but it will do Classic Rock when I roll down the volume and tone as well. I am just so surprised by it. I am thinking about staring my own thread on it, but I wanted to mention it to you.
Mine meters at 13.3K and they spec at 14.1K, FYI.
gsammo79
New member
The Brobucker is a duncan custom shop pickup. It's got an aged A5 magnet and is wound to 10k.
http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/brobucker/
Bill Dennis
New member
Interesting... probably not wanting to spend custom shop money but that is a cool design.
I have a pg neck in the drawer. I am thinking I will use that wired in parallel for the neck slot. The screamin' demon looks interesting too but is not an a great visual fit..
Leon Of Late
New member
The PG neck is a great neck pickup actually. That and the Seth Lover are my two current favorite off the shelf neck pickups, along with the new Slash neck. I need to try my Brobucker again. I found it a little dark last time I had it installed, but it might have been the guitar. It should not be a dark pickup given its specs.
Maybe just a PG set would be good for your needs?
Maybe just a PG set would be good for your needs?
gsammo79
New member
I completely understand the cost issue, but I can vouch for the custom shop work. In my experience, they make excellent pickups and I found the one I bought to be well worth the money.
Bill Dennis
New member
I find your comment on the Brobucker interesting. It appears to have a degaussed magnet as well and you are finding it a little dark. Winding a PAF up to 10k with 42 wire is probably impacting that as well though.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
My Brobucker isn't 'dark' but it has a strong mid-chime, which makes the top end feel relatively lower. It's like a hotter Seth with the honk shifted into a nice chimey range. Makes my Les Paul sound like an ES335. FWIW sounded dead on with Doobie Brothers / China Grove type stuff. It's like an A2P with a less broad midrange bump, like having a tighter Q parametric EQ on the mids.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
Anitiquities aren't a perfect fit for every guitar. The same sweetness that makes them so wonderful in a bright instrument can sound kind of vowely in one with lots of natural midrange.
I have a set of Ants in a PRS 20th Anni, and they have a bit too much "waugh" there. I'd been considering mag swaps.
Decided instead to to put them in a guitar better suited to their stock voice.
I might recommend trying a set of 59s in this guitar. Sparkly without harshness - very good choice for a guitar with robust mids.
Vintage output, though they have slightly bigger lows than a lot of PAF types.
There aren't many Duncan models that fall into the vintage-plus output category.
The Demon is one - fairly PAF-ish EQ-wise, though somehow it doesn't feel vintage, if that makes sense. And it has those hex screws.
Another is the Brobucker, one of my very favorite humbuckers ever. Great vintage responsiveness, just slightly more muscular.
It does have a degaussed mag, but it's lively. A degaussed A5 is quite different from the degaussed A2s in Ants.
The next step up would be the Hybrid, defintely not dull and perhaps a very good option in this case.
I'd still consider it to be in the hot-PAF category.
Moving up from that in output there's the CustomCustom and the Custom5.
Definitely somewhat hotter than vintage. Both great choices for a Les Paul though.
Any of those ought to pair very well with a Pearly Gates neck or a Jazz neck.
I have a set of Ants in a PRS 20th Anni, and they have a bit too much "waugh" there. I'd been considering mag swaps.
Decided instead to to put them in a guitar better suited to their stock voice.
I might recommend trying a set of 59s in this guitar. Sparkly without harshness - very good choice for a guitar with robust mids.
Vintage output, though they have slightly bigger lows than a lot of PAF types.
There aren't many Duncan models that fall into the vintage-plus output category.
The Demon is one - fairly PAF-ish EQ-wise, though somehow it doesn't feel vintage, if that makes sense. And it has those hex screws.
Another is the Brobucker, one of my very favorite humbuckers ever. Great vintage responsiveness, just slightly more muscular.
It does have a degaussed mag, but it's lively. A degaussed A5 is quite different from the degaussed A2s in Ants.
The next step up would be the Hybrid, defintely not dull and perhaps a very good option in this case.
I'd still consider it to be in the hot-PAF category.
Moving up from that in output there's the CustomCustom and the Custom5.
Definitely somewhat hotter than vintage. Both great choices for a Les Paul though.
Any of those ought to pair very well with a Pearly Gates neck or a Jazz neck.
Lewguitar
New member
That's a great sound (RCA5 in a set of 59's) if you prefer the sound of an A5 PAF.
Seems the OP doesn't want a PAF. Wants something wound for more output.
superpete
Active member
that's kinda what i'm thinking too...using ants/hot PAF to get a Satriani/Vai/Timmons tone is certainly doable, but there are way better pickups to get those types of sounds. Namely the Dimarzio signature models for Satch/Vai/Timmons. Maybe a AT-1 instead of a jb?
Bill Dennis
New member
Satch used pg's in his Chrome Boy back in the day. It's hardly a stretch to do that music on those pickups. The paf pro's he used were also comparable...
Bill Dennis
New member
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
Side note: I saw Steve Via blow up two of them in 10 minutes live, I have never seen a more frustrated guitarist in my life. He did tell some great Zappa stories while the crew switched out his gear.
