SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

[YeRedHouseOverYonder]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

^ An a3 in the neck sounds interesting, but I think the antiquity neck pickup is pretty perfect out of the box.

I have an a4 in the bridge which has made the pickup more "usable".


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[blueman335]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

I've had great results lately with an A3 in the neck and an A2 in the bridge of an Ant set on a R0.

An UOA5 in the bridge would also be worth trying, along with an A3 in the neck.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

That's not true. I've recharged my Ant mags and they took and hold the charge.

Stock, mine were about 20% degaussed.

I've had great results lately with an A3 in the neck and an A2 in the bridge of an Ant set on a R0.

HTH,

okay i simplified a bit. All 5 of them could be charged a bit, but they did not sound different afterwards. So i gave up on them. They are now nice fridge mags with Seymours sign on them.

one of my sets is A3 neck and RCA2 bridge indeed. But my fav is a A4 and RC A5 set. the lowest wound set (7.4 and 8.3) are currently A2 (seth mag) and A5.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

That sounds really bizarre to me. Perhaps the pick up is adjusted so that is too hot. But even so, I don't get what you're saying about how the more it compresses the thinner it sounds. Maybe it's some sort of weird physical interference issue due to the pickup being set too high.

My mother went into labor with me at a Beefheart show, so obviously I was brought up on the stuff. Several of my mom's and dad's close friends were friends with Beefheart, and one of them was actually his guitarist and then bass player later in his career (Rick Snyder, who was in a few bands with my dad both before and after his stint with Beefheart). I'm a big fan of most of his output. Didn't notice the T-shirt one bit, though. All I could think was, this fool is posting glamour shots for us? Does he know where he is? Ha ha ha. Crusty is into Beefheart too, but I don't know of anybody else here offhand.

 

[bleachboy]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Thank you all for everything!

So, a little bit of history: I've purchased the pups on ebay, sealed from an OK retailer. They were indeed shipped to Europe from the US. Now, I will try and put the neck pup in the bridge position to see if it sounds better this way. But since it's a semi-hollowbody guitar, this will not be a piece of cake at all. If I were to sell the bridge pup to replace with a Seth Lover, I will have a problem because the Ants' wire is vintage braided and the Seth Lover is 4 wire. And I will also have doubts about selling a pickup after making any kind of magnet swap operation. But if I want to prevent ground noises when I'm in the out of phase position, 4 way conductor wire will solve the problem (right now I have a slight hum when I touch the bridge cover in the oop position. Nothing major though, but if I decide to swap pickups, I'll go all the way and redo all the wiring...)

Also, I'm so in love with the neck pickup I'm not sure I would like to part with it. From your own experience, would you say I'd have more chances of selling the pickups as a pair or individually? I will make some sound samples for you if it's of any help. But as I said, the problem is more felt than heard. Again, maybe I just bought the wrong pickup for my needs.

Thank you all again for your valuable help!

 

[uOpt]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Out of phase with full humbuckers will not hum and not require 4-conductor cable. (as in the two pickups out of phase with each other, with all coils on)

My Seths are braided wire, not 4 conductor, IIRC.

The Seths are not any fatter than the Ants.

I don't recommend ripping new pickups open to mess with the magnet. But you can still try to measure magnetic strength, even without taking them out.

Ebay is one thing, but were they used or not.

 

[blueman335]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Then sell the bridge Ant and get a Seth for that slot.

 

[bleachboy]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Out of phase with full humbuckers will not hum and not require 4-conductor cable. (as in the two pickups out of phase with each other, with all coils on)

My Seths are braided wire, not 4 conductor, IIRC.

The Seths are not any fatter than the Ants.

I don't recommend ripping new pickups open to mess with the magnet. But you can still try to measure magnetic strength, even without taking them out.

Ebay is one thing, but were they used or not.

Yeah but the mod is both out of phase and series and the maker told me it could happen with vintage braided wired pups (but I'd already bought the Ants at the time). Since the buzz only occurs when I touch the bridge pickup (with my picking hand obviously), if I put the bridge on the neck slot and vice versa I won't have this problem anymore. That's a good suggestion that could I hope solve all the issues at once.

They were brand new when I recieved them I'm positive about that.

The Seths are not any fatter than the Ants? Since they're both basically the same pickups with the only difference being the aged cover and magnet on the Ants, you would say that there's no difference at all in tone between a fully charged A2 and a degaussed A2?

 

[Mincer]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

First, the Seths are single conductor. I do hear them as 'fatter' than the Ants, because of increased complex mids. Enough to hear, but not overpowering. It is something that makes Seths sound so good in LPs, semis, and hollowbodies.

 

[blueman335]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

The Seths are not any fatter than the Ants? Since they're both basically the same pickups with the only difference being the aged cover and magnet on the Ants, you would say that there's no difference at all in tone between a fully charged A2 and a degaussed A2?

Seth's and Ant's are not the same PU, they have different winds. They don't sound the same with the same magnets, nor are they supposed to.

There is a different sound between full strength and degaussed. Duncan wouldn't go to the trouble of using degaussed mags if there wasn't. When it comes to A2's, which are one of the weakest magnets, degaussing lowers the output even more, and in turn changes the tone. That's the issue a few of us have with Ant's: the magnets, not the wind. You'll see some members recommending Ant's, but most of those guys never owned one, and are assuming they "Must be even better then Seth's". There's several Duncan people here, who have said their favorite PAF is Seth's. Interesting that I haven't seen any of them choose Ant's.

 

[Lkdog]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

No ****. But why?

It seems to bother you. LOL

 

[bleachboy]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

First, the Seths are single conductor. I do hear them as 'fatter' than the Ants, because of increased complex mids. Enough to hear, but not overpowering. It is something that makes Seths sound so good in LPs, semis, and hollowbodies.

IIRC when you purchase them on the SD website you can choose either vintage braided or 4 way conductor as an option.

 

[jeremy]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

you can get 4 cond seths but you need to order them that way

 

[blueman335]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

you can get 4 cond seths but you need to order them that way

Right, some of my Seth's are four conductor.

It's easy to convert a single conductor to multi-conductor, without replacing any of the wires. Solder a long shielded wire from the connection between the two coils (it has tape over it, remove the tape, solder the new wire, and put the tape back on. Voila!) That new wire is the red/white (Duncan) wires, now combined, which is what you need for coil cut and spin-a-split. Solder that to a push-pull or another pot.

 

[Mincer]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Actually many pickups that are single conductor are available 4 conductor (Antiquities aren't), but the point is, most Seths in stores will be single conductor. You'd have to specially order 4.

 

[uOpt]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Yeah but the mod is both out of phase and series and the maker told me it could happen with vintage braided wired pups (but I'd already bought the Ants at the time). Since the buzz only occurs when I touch the bridge pickup (with my picking hand obviously), if I put the bridge on the neck slot and vice versa I won't have this problem anymore. That's a good suggestion that could I hope solve all the issues at once.

They were brand new when I recieved them I'm positive about that.

The Seths are not any fatter than the Ants? Since they're both basically the same pickups with the only difference being the aged cover and magnet on the Ants, you would say that there's no difference at all in tone between a fully charged A2 and a degaussed A2?

You can neither do out-of-phase nor in-series with single-conductor-plus-shield wires. With 2-conductor-plus-shield you can have both, still missing split, for which you need 4-conductor-plus-shield.

If it buzzes when you touch the cover that maker has ignored that this can't work and put the shield of the pickup wire to hot. That doesn't work.

That won't get any better by switching neck and bridge pickup. You can't put the shield of the wire toward hot in the electronics.

The Ant and the Seth are different but they are about the same class of "fatness". The sound differences lie elsewhere. In fact Ant bridge pickups often come out with more wire (around 8.5 Kohm with 7.5 Kohm bridge), whereas a Seth set of (historically correct) come out much more even between neck and bridge, around 7.8 and 8.2 Kohm respectively.

So, no, if your Ant is not broken and too thin sounding going Seth won't fix that.

 

[bleachboy]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Thanks for the clarification. I've played the guitar with my amp yesterday (I hadn't for a few weeks), and I'd say that even though the tone is beautiful, the main problem really is dynamics here. I don't know if wah I'm looking for is a fully charged A2 or a fully charged A5.

 

[jonsick]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

I have the SD Antiquity JB. Side by side with the regular JB through my bedroom setup (L6 Pod HD500 into some KRK RP5s) I noticed absolutely not difference at all. It was only at rehersal volume through my valve amps that I noticed any difference at all (guitars in question was a Jackson KV2 and Jackson SL2H).

I prefer the antiquity JB, but I can't say I ever really had any issues like you describe. I expected to struggle with a lower output but I just don't. To me it sounds like how it should.

I would wager there is either a wiring problem or very possibly something up with the pickup. I have a Duncan Dimebucker in the same state. It measures fine, but against another Dimebucker it sounds weak and ice-picky. I've had both Dimes in the same guitar wired direct to output. One sounds like it should, the other is just somehow knackered. I would return it to Duncan for checking out but with the shipping fees and customs liability (despite the form stating it's an ex-territorial repair or service) it would work out cheaper to just buy another Dimebucker. It's in my "use as a project/get it rewound" box. But like I say, the DC resistance measures fine, full continuity across both coils, but one just sounds dead. IT is the first and only time I've ever had this issue though.

 

[uOpt]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

Thanks for the clarification. I've played the guitar with my amp yesterday (I hadn't for a few weeks), and I'd say that even though the tone is beautiful, the main problem really is dynamics here. I don't know if wah I'm looking for is a fully charged A2 or a fully charged A5.

There is no reason to believe that a regular A2 helps, if you have determined that yours is not outright discharged. Did you even do anything since all this blah-blah started to check?

If you want to stay PAF class then it seems clear to me that you simply need a '59.

 

[blueman335]

Re: SD Antiquity bridge pickup feels weird

- You can neither do out-of-phase nor in-series with single-conductor-plus-shield wires.

- With 2-conductor-plus-shield you can have both, still missing split, for which you need 4-conductor-plus-shield.

- Actually you can. All you need to wire out-of-phase is a hot and a ground. Look at a push-pull diagram.

- Out-of-phase is preferable with two ground wires, which some stock P-90's have these days.

- You can also wire any two PU's to be linked in series, instead of parallel; again all that's required is a hot and a ground. I've wired P-90 guitars like this.

- You can wire for both coil split and spin-a-split with 3 leads; some HB's come like this (I have a 3 lead Carvin HB). I've also converted single lead PU's to 3 lead to do coil split and spin-a-split. Since two of the wires are combined (the red and white with Duncan color code), you really don't use or require 4 separate leads.