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Antiquity P-90s

Tim Plains

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Aug 1, 2013
Messages
795
I recently picked up a Custom Shop Jr with an Antiquity. Based on searching the forum, this P-90 seems to get some love but I noticed many of the posts were old going as far back as 2002. Just curious if any of you have compared the Antiquity to other aftermarket P-90s and how it fares against some of the newer winders.

The guy I bought the guitar from said the Duncan was a vast improvement over the stock P-90 in every sence of the word. I like the tone but it isn't as responsive as I would like and a little more string separation would be nice. Maybe it is just a common trait associated with these. It has been a good five years since I spent any real time with a P-90.
 

J.D.

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Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
I dig these, except I find the stock magnets are a bit weak for my taste. But that is easily corrected with a pair of aftermarket magnets. Alnico II, IV, and V all seem to do good in them :jim
 

TM1

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Jun 27, 2003
Messages
8,349
Put a Throbak P-90 in it! Antiquities pale in comparison to the Throbak.
 
Y

yeti

Guest
Put a Throbak P-90 in it! Antiquities pale in comparison to the Throbak.

Don't know about Throbak, but antiquities for sure pale in comparison to the real deal.
Lollars are very good IMO.
 

JeffBlue

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Joined
Sep 16, 2012
Messages
348
If you want your guitar to sound like a forty or fifty year old instrument, then Seymour Duncan Antiquities do just that. I use Antiquities in many of my guitars, P90s, Humbucker, Strat and Tele.
I like mixing things up a bit.........you think?
 

JR.Deluxe

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May 4, 2003
Messages
570
I have antiqs in a couple of newer jr types and a couple of 50s p90s in older jrs. The duncans are cool, I like them. The older ones are better though. They seem to naturally compress like you got an effects box lightly on. More "bloom".
 

Bluefinger

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Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
912
I love the antiquities ... I even prefer them over the original P90s in my '60 ES330. They hav ejust the right amount of output for my taste ans sound very balanced. Not hars, not too boomy in the bass and a very pleasant tone. I tried Gibsons, Gotohs, Fralins, Vintage, GFS, Seymour standard and others but the antiquities are my favorites.
 

tdarian

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Jun 25, 2008
Messages
3,575
I'm expecting the arrival of a 2007 R6 tomorrow, and it'll have an Antiquity in the bridge spot, stock bridge p/u in the case. I'll let you know what I think!

I've got Lollar regular winds in a PRS Korina McCarty and they are less "angry" sounding and maybe a little "clearer" to me than the stock "Duncan Designed" P90s that came with it.
 

tdarian

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Jun 25, 2008
Messages
3,575
Not feeling any urges to change out the Antiquity in the bridge of the R6 that came mercifully early today. Great bite, has "body" and not too brittle, mixes quite well with the stock Gibson P90 neck, and backs off nicely with a volume knob roll back. This guitar was a happy surprise overall and the bridge p/u is part of that.
photo2_zps5b6ac71d.jpg
 

chuckNC

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Apr 24, 2012
Messages
1,261
Not feeling any urges to change out the Antiquity in the bridge of the R6 that came mercifully early today. Great bite, has "body" and not too brittle, mixes quite well with the stock Gibson P90 neck, and backs off nicely with a volume knob roll back. This guitar was a happy surprise overall and the bridge p/u is part of that.
photo2_zps5b6ac71d.jpg
I like 'em like that! :salude

I know what you mean about the volume knob too -- just one more thing P90s are great at.
 

Ryan Givhan

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Apr 13, 2009
Messages
3,220
If you want your guitar to sound like a forty or fifty year old instrument, then Seymour Duncan Antiquities do just that. I use Antiquities in many of my guitars, P90s, Humbucker, Strat and Tele.
I like mixing things up a bit.........you think?

those are some funky looking guitars. but if they work for you then good!
 

JeffBlue

Active member
Joined
Sep 16, 2012
Messages
348
They ALL sound excellent and provide enough variables in tone, it is worth keeping them all. It's nice to be playing a song and switch up the pickup and sound like an entirely different guitar is being played. Not your every day run-of-the-mill style guitar tones.
 

goldtop0

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Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
8,931
What is the difference in tone with say Throbak P90s compared to the stock Gibsons......which are A5 magnets aren't they?
 

Bluuzman

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Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
1,670
What is the difference in tone with say Throbak P90s compared to the stock Gibsons......which are A5 magnets aren't they?

:2cool There are different kinds of Throbak P90s:

52'/54' - SB MXV (P-90 SoapBar) Specs.: Neck 7.3K Bridge 7.6K
55'/56' - SB MXV (P-90 SoapBar) Specs.: Neck 7.6K Bridge 8.1K
Special - SB MXV (P-90 SoapBar) Specs.: Neck 7.8K Bridge 8.8K

http://www.throbak.com/p-90-pickups.html
 

toxpert

Active member
Joined
Jul 2, 2005
Messages
3,068
I have gone through a succession of pickups for several guitars:

'68 LP GT
1) I tried a set of Antiquity P-90s. The pickups performed well and sounded very good.
2) next, I installed a set of 50s vintage P-90s. The sound and tone was marked improved over the Antiquities...better definition with a nice blooming effect.
3) next, I obtained a set of era-correct mid-60s P-90s...these are currently in the guitar and it performs like a 60s P-90 guitar.

Historic LP JR Singlecut
1) I replaced the stock pickup with a 50s vintage pickup. Much improved.
2) I replaced the 50s vintage pickup with a ThroBak P-90. MUCH improved for articulation, blooming and overtones.
3) sold the historic to fund a '58 restoration project. The new owner reported back that the LP Jr is a killer sounding guitar with the ThroBak pickup. (also included in the upgrade was a MojoAxe compensated tailpiece, a set of Historic Makeovers studs and a Dr Vintage control set).

'58 LP JR double cut - the 'husk'
1) installed the 50s vintage pickup for a week...while Jon was building my ThroBak P-90. Nice performance with the vintage pickup.
2) same as above with single cut Jr ...I replaced the 50s vintage pickup with a ThroBak P-90. MUCH improved for articulation, blooming and overtones.

Over time, the Antiquities and the 50s vintage pickups were all sold. I have much appreciation for the engineering and performance Jon's Throbak products.



My overall opinion:
- there are a lot of choices for pickups.
-the choice needs to match your expectations and the performance should be inspiring for you to not put the guitar down.
 

latestarter

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Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
Interesting observations there. Thanks for sharing. I replaced the standard P90s in my R4 with '53 original P90s and I was blown away with how different, and to me, better they were. Recently I put a Lollar P90 in an SG Jnr and bam, blown away again, for different reasons. I've had Seymours before but the Lollar is another level again.

It's all very much personal. We are spoilt for choice today. You may need to spend a bit of dough, chop, change and resell to get the right tone for you.
 
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