SD Seth Lovers vs. Antiquties

[Ed hunter]

I wound up using a Alnico 3 in my antiquity bridge and a AL 4 in the neck antiquity in my set for one guitar. Like the set a lot more.
The stock "degaussed" AL2 was not for me and i prefer the way the AL4 made the neck pu have more clarity and balance.
The seth set stock is great but also sounds great with different magnets
like the seth neck with a AL4 for one example.

 

[bblooz]

I wound up using a Alnico 3 in my antiquity bridge and a AL 4 in the neck antiquity in my set for one guitar. Like the set a lot more.
The stock "degaussed" AL2 was not for me and i prefer the way the AL4 made the neck pu have more clarity and balance.
The seth set stock is great but also sounds great with different magnets
like the seth neck with a AL4 for one example.

Sounds interesting. I will install them, and if I find the need for a little more "punch" I'll think about the magnet swap.

 

[Lkdog]

I pretty much love SD Ants in every guitar I have tried them in.
Open clear woody vintage tone.
One can always add gain via the amp or pedals.
I am not a fan a higher wind humbuckers.

 

[Antigua]

I just received a set of Antiquity humbuckers in the past few days, and I spent time comparing the two. It looks like they use mostly the same parts, but the Antiquities feature faux aging.

The Antiquity is wound a little hotter than the Seths, both in the neck and bridge, but the bigger difference is that Antiquities have rough cast magnets that produce a lot less flux density than the Seths. I read around 300 Gauss for the Seths, and only 200 Gauss for the Antiquities. The Antiquities also have signed magnets, which I take as an indication that they were partially demagnetized before being inserted into the pickup.

My personal feeling is that the lower flux density of the Antiquity's rough cast A2 accounts for all of the adjectives a see, such as less complex mids, muted, mellow, etc. My personal feeling is also that when you lower a pickup, you get most of those same tonal changes.

Interestingly, I got the same color pattern for both sets, one zebra and one double cream.

Here's some pics. The shades of cream are about the same, it's just the lighting that's different, making the Ant's look a lot more yellow.

I appreciate the amount of detail on the insides of the pickups, considering few people ever look inside there. The ends of the coil wire are even tapped off with the wax paper tape instead of the usual shrink tubing. I also love how clean everything is without the big waxy mess. I wish more humbuckers omitted wax potting and instead focused o n rigid construction.

Seth Lover

Antiquity Humbucker

 

[Guitar Rod]

Thanks for the detailed look.