MAGNET TEST: PAF / Antiquity

[toni]

Rich,
did you get my Virtual/Antiquity soundfile by mail ?

 

[RICH]

Yeah I did, but I'm kinda having trouble telling the difference between the two because there are no breaks in between the samples, so I don't really know where you switched from one to the other. I hear some differences, but they seem small. maybe I need to crank the volume on these POS computer speakers.spin

 

[bluesroom]

Ed, when you say you liked the full strenth alnico 2 magnets in the antiquities,were they the stock magnets or did you get them from somewhere else?and if so where?
Also,when buying antiquities what resistance do you prefer for the bridge and rythm?

 

[EdA]

Bluesroom, the full-strength alnico IIs I got from the Duncan custom shop. But I heard they wont sell them separately anymore. You know I felt I liked the alnico II better because it sang more and seemed less weak. But listening to soundfiles the Alnico V has a bit more mids like a real PAF, it was just very weak, but that could be the Antiquity I have. In fact, when I return the Vs to Toni, Im sending him my Anitquity to compare to his, maybe we'll find out that his sounds better. I suppose if I cranked the gain on the amp more I would have liked the alnico V better, but I was doing a true comparison without touching the amp. I personally like about 8.4k and 7.8k for Antiquities, especially since they dont drive the amp as hard as a PAF. I remember in the past having a different Antiquity than my current one that read 8.4 and if was similar in gain to an 8.1 PAF I had.

 

[RICH]

I went through all the magnets again last night so my other guitarist can hear them. The p-90 V magnets are the winner. The crunchiest mags were fron a 57 classic, the alnico 5 from a duncan 59 was close to that, but neither gave the pickup that woody tone OR that bloom. Rob was playing some old Aerosmith and Zep stuff, and he was nailing certain tones much better with the P-90 magnets, and when my bass player popped by, we did some old Rush and that was just intense. The 57 classic alnico IIs made the pickup close to a 57 classic without the brittleness, but it wasn't as old sounding as the P-90 magnets made it sound. getting the notes to bloom with the p90 magnets was really easy, the notes would increase in volume after you picked them. Cool shit.

 

[Charlie R57]

RICH, are you talking about the Bridge or neck P/U ?
The V sounds good in the bridge but very Muddy
and unclear in the neck. I had to reinstall the II
in my neck P/U to get a pleasent tone.

 

[toni]

Rich,

i agree 100% with you !

You got exactly the same results as we did !

Moded Antiquities with alnico V are my favourite pickups.

But those Virtuals are fun also !
much more compression but they have a ton of personnality, they have a fat/sweet juicy tone.

 

[Mojojojo]

Alright, now I need to get my Gibson Alnico V magnets charged up a bit. Any suggestions on who I should have do it? Fralin, Rolph, Duncan?

 

[RICH]

I didn't totally dick around with the neck pickup, but there was an improvement with the p90 magnet thats in there now. I haven't gotten around to finding just what magnet I like in the neck pickup yet. I'm leaning on maybe the II from the 57 classic, but I have a 490 that has an alnico V (?) that I want to try.

 

[MelMann]

Ed, great post, and great effort to make all those comparisons. I must say I feel vindicated. Also, I agree that probably the best pickup to get if not a real PAF is a patent number PAF, and I have noticed they seem to also be increasing in price lately.

 

[RobertD]

MelMann, you weren't kidding about Pat. sticker pickups increasing in value. Look how much this one is going for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1477373304

I can't see paying that much for a T-top.