Antiquities are under rated. Possibly.....

Skipped

I just put the Antiquity bridge pick up back in the Les Paul (the old one) because......er.......
No. I don't need to explain why I am tinkering - I just remembered who I am talking to.....
Holy Shit! This pickup looks like it has toured the world 15 times but it sounds great. It sounds a lot better now than it did when the original pots/caps/switch/wiring were in the guitar.
A guy on LPF who runs Jims Guitars sometimes responds to people asking about Boutique PAF clones and he tells them....Antiquities.
It seems that I am a very low output kind of guy. I also put the Bare Knuckle Mule back in yesterday and it is not for me. There is just a tiny fraction too much push  there. So I  just have to decide between the Stormy Monday and the Antiquity for the bridge position. I suspect it will be impossible (First World Problems eh?)
Neck is much easier for me. Happy with either.

meltedbuzzbox

I know in the world of offsets a lot of people are swapping out the Fender AVRI pickups for seymour duncan antiquity pickups.

all stating that the antiquities are miles better

impmann

I prefer low wind/power humbuckers too - but then again, I don't use bone-crushing levels of gain so I guess its horses for courses, and all that. :-)

WezV

I like the few I have used, the firebird pickups are a very good option in a limited market

 

It is worth remembering that a new antiquity from a shop does get close to "boutique" prices and it is a hand made, often 'hand wound' pickup.... Much closer to "boutique" than the standard SD range.   Not sure if its still SD himself who winds the antiquities, but it certainly used to be.

 

 

ESchap

The Humbucker's are great Pickups, I've tried many different high end boutiques and Antiquities and Shed PAF Daddies are the two that do it for me.  Antiquities are Alnico II and have that touch of scoop, Shed's are alnico IV and have a little more mid push and grind.  They work really well as a pair.

Antiquity P90's are fantastic as well, never had a guitar they didn't sound great in.

Dave_Mc

Are they under-rated? I've never tried them but I've always heard good things (even from people who maybe don't like the "standard" Duncans)...

mcsdan

The antiquities are very good pickups. I have mules and stormy mondays too. The neck pickups on all three are very similar and sound good. The bridges are a bit different:- * Antiquities I find very smooth but in a darker guitars they can be a shade too dark. Would want to turn tone upto 11. Perfect in a brighter guitar though. * Stormy mondays are similar to antiquities but have the extra treble if needed. A tad more push too but not much in it. * Mules are much hotter than the either of the above and can sound a bit thin. I control this with a 250k tone pot rather than the normal 500k. Seems to work a treat.

ICBM

Antiquities are under-rated by pickup snobs because they're made by a "mass production" company, nothing more than that.

In fact, as said above they're some of the very best vintage-style pickups on the market from any maker. In particular if you want exact PAF-type humbuckers, they are by definition more accurate than any other made today since they're the only ones made with the correct bobbin material, the correct wire type *and* wound on the actual original winding machines, which Seymour bought from Gibson.

Their Fender pickups are extremely good too, and very accurate - or they do slightly different versions as well.

Personally, I've never heard any US-made pickups that have impressed more more than the better Duncans, and the only reason I'd really buy anything else if I was getting them from a UK maker.

ThePrettyDamned

WezV said:

I like the few I have used, the firebird pickups are a very good option in a limited market

 

It is worth remembering that a new antiquity from a shop does get close to "boutique" prices and it is a hand made, often 'hand wound' pickup.... Much closer to "boutique" than the standard SD range.   Not sure if its still SD himself who winds the antiquities, but it certainly used to be.

 

 

I always thought these were the 'true' Duncan pickups, while the others were from a production line.  I'm sure they're fantastic, though I'm happy with UK boutique folks.  

Not many firebird pickups around, but there are a few.  Shame - they're a cool looking and sounding pickup!

fretfinder

ICBM said: In particular if you want exact PAF-type humbuckers, they are by definition more accurate than any other made today since they're the only ones made with the correct bobbin material, the correct wire type *and* wound on the actual original winding machines, which Seymour bought from Gibson.

Their Fender pickups are extremely good too, and very accurate - or they do slightly different versions as well.

I thought Throbaks were supposedly made exactly like the old PAFs and on a Leesona winder from the old Gibson factory?

Re Fender Antiquity Strat pickups, the Abby bridge pickup in my CS Relic sounded a bit harsh so I replaced it with an Antiquity but that sounded equally harsh. Then I tried an Alnico Pro 2 which was less harsh but just sounded too different in tone from the other pickups, and finally a BKP Sinner that does the job perfectly with less harshness and the right tone, although the unaged pole pieces are rather bright and shiny!

Loobs

They're not underrated. 

The boutique pickup game is bullshit, anyway. I had a Les Paul with one Bare Knuckle Mule in it, and one Iron Gear Blues Engine. The both sounded as good as each other. 

Forge

As said above the P90 is killer: raw, clear and nasty!

ThePrettyDamned

Loobs said:

They're not underrated. 

The boutique pickup game is bullshit, anyway. I had a Les Paul with one Bare Knuckle Mule in it, and one Iron Gear Blues Engine. The both sounded as good as each other. 

I'd say it *can* be bullshit.  Especially when what you're after is a common, regularly clone design. 

But try finding a half decent production Fender Wide Range style, and you'll be shit out of luck.  How about the mojo gold foil?  It's fair to say that, even in the looks department, it justifies itself.  

Plenty of *proper* boutique brands are happy customising or even designing pickups from scratch to match the requirements of the customer, from magnet size and type through to wire gauge, turns, and how the pickup looks.  You can end up with pickups that look and or sound quite different from the usual suspects.  

Mass marketed pickups do not provide this service, and truthfully, a lot of boutique manufacturers cost a lot less than Bare knuckle because they don't blow the budget on massive advertisements.  Actually, I know Oil City compares favourably with Duncan off-the-shelf designs, and I've never felt the need to look elsewhere.

I recommended Iron Gear Tesla Sharks to my mate because he wanted the Slash sound on a budget (slightly overwound Alnico 2 PAF type I think?).  They provide that particular design, and I have to say, they sound the balls. But they are not *that* cheap anymore, when he got them, they were £40 the set I think.  Now they are more, and not massively cheaper than Duncan et al.