What happens to antiquitys over time?

hey, heres something no one has thought of... pickup magnets age and their sound softens as they get older. Seymour is already pre-ageing the magnets on his antiquity humbuckers to soften the treble, so if they are already aged now then won't they sound like muddy crap in another 40 years? i mean after all, even classic humbuckers on vintage guitars eventually crap out and have to be replaced. So isnt the way the antiquities are made just guaranteeing that they have a shorter lifespan? is anyone else concerned about this?
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

Well, yes, if a SD Antiquity pickup is used regularly, it is going to age. So would the elderly Gibson or Fender-style pickups on which the Antiquity models are based.

Meanwhile, if you stick around, somebody on the forum will post a link to whenever this topic last surfaced.
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

How regularly a pickup is used has little to possibly nothing to do with how fast it ages.
A magnet is a magnet, period. Why would preaged magnets be any different to any other magnets in how fast they age? They are magnets.
Magnets lose approx 1 per cent of their magnetism every decade.
I have a guitar that's about 5 years old, so the pickups have maybe lost around 0.5 per cent of their magnetism.
You want to know the truth? I can't tell a squat of difference in the sound from when I first got the guitar to now. And I doubt another 5 years will make any noticeable difference.
Chances are, you'll be long dead before the pickups sound significantly different.
If a loss of magnetism really worries you that much, I honestly don't think buying one new set every 40 years or so is going to put much of a dent in your pocket;)
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

How regularly a pickup is used has little to possibly nothing to do with how fast it ages. A magnet is a magnet, period. Why would preaged magnets be any different to any other magnets in how fast they age? They are magnets.

Boring, dusty, old text book says, "A magnet is made by subjecting suitable material to a strong electrical current to align its domains in one direction such that the "North" forces are at one end and the "South" forces are at the other."

Logically, if exposure of magnetic materials to electric current can build a polarised magnetic field, it can also reduce that field. Hence, if a guitar owner takes an instrument into a working environment rather than locking it away in a display cabinet, the guitar's pickups are going to come into proximity with AC current, transformers and so forth. The more often this happens, the more chance there is of degaussing.

It is possible to degauss a magnet in this way. Admittedly, as you point out, the degree of degradation will be negligible.

So, with that particular hair well and truly split, can we all get back to playing some geetar? :D
 
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Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

just buy a brand new magnet today and in 40 years it'll be ''aged.'' Swap it in thurr and your done lol
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

Even if there was a significant difference to the point of turning audibly crap over 40 years then you could just replace the magnet. In that time you have will probably have far more important things to worry about such as replacing strings, picks, frets, cables, tubes .etc.
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

you have will probably have far more important things to worry about such as replacing strings, picks, frets, cables, tubes .etc.

Or replacing knee and hip joints! :D (Talkin' 'bout my DE-generation!)
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

hey, heres something no one has thought of... pickup magnets age and their sound softens as they get older. Seymour is already pre-ageing the magnets on his antiquity humbuckers to soften the treble, so if they are already aged now then won't they sound like muddy crap in another 40 years? i mean after all, even classic humbuckers on vintage guitars eventually crap out and have to be replaced. So isnt the way the antiquities are made just guaranteeing that they have a shorter lifespan? is anyone else concerned about this?

It is really not that simple, not by far.

I dunno what SD is doing with the Antiquity magnets but they do not sound like when I just degauss an A2.

Furthermore, a strength test doesn't show them much weaker either.

Last but not least, older magnets don't just lose power for no reason and if they did you could recharge them easily.

So whatever is story is, there's a couple more layers of physics and believes in it.
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

Last but not least, older magnets don't just lose power for no reason and if they did you could recharge them easily.

Read up on the history of Andy Summers' modified Fender Custom Telecaster. (The one on which his Fender Tribute model is based.) According to Summers, the bridge pickup of that guitar was accidentally degaussed during a railway journey on an electric commuter train. The pickup was restored to full working order by a young American guitar technician who was based in London at that time.

You mighta heard of the guitar tech guy. ;)
 
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Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

I noticed my magnets were looking a little tired and wrinkly and I just wasn't attracted to them as much as I used to be. I just rubbed them with a little Botox and now they look 20 years younger. I find we're now spending a lot more time together if you know what I mean.
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

I'd be willing to bet that in 40 years that pickup will be worth enough money that you won't care what the magnet sounds like.
 
Re: What happens to antiquitys over time?

what sucks is that if these **** modern trends keep up nobody will care about antiquitys. They don't fit into a guitar hero controller.
 
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