Duncan antiquity user looking for a good BKP pup for LP. Any recommendations?

[changeling93305]

Hi guys, so far my favorite pickup for a les paul bridge has been a seymour duncan antiquity. I got a new les paul this week a Carvin CS4 maple cap on mahogony body, rosewood fretboard.

My dilemma is this so bare with me. I dislike alot of modern pickups, duncans included. Out of all the pickups i have tried. dimarzio 36th anniverary, JB's , duncan 59's, gibson 490's, duncan phat cat. And now the carvin stock pickups. They lack...a rich harmonic open tone. They sound different from one another but they are all in the same class imo and cut from the same cloth.

The antiquities, sound "different". Not in the sense of highs mids lows. But more in that it sounds like it has a hundred little sound waves that are a millisecond apart working together in unison to create one complex tone that sounds alive and multifaceted. That is what i love. They are made from vintage contruction techniques. Scatter wound, plain enamel wire, degaused magnets things of that nature. That is what i attribute to the mojo of that pickup.

Now i know BKP also uses vintage, and hand made construction techniques and materials, that's why i am here. I am definitely done with guitar center brand off the rack consumer pickups. I see no point in saving 75$ on a pickup to make a 1200$ dollar guitar sound well below it's potential. So i am currently researching boutique pups like lollar, fralin, vintage vibe, sheptone, and i keep going back to Bare knuckle and think that might be a good match for me.

I love the antiquities, but i have one already so i want a new flavor for the new guitar. The antiquity is a good reference template of what i like in a pickup though. I could get the mule from BKP, or the imperial from lollar or any number of flagship "PAF" style pups and just call it a day.

I like to play an aggressive rock style with mid level distortion. My influences are Iron maiden, Judas priest, danzig, + Live+, Nightwish, Blind guardian and lots of classic metal. And some modern rock that has a classic influence like kings of leon.

Now despite being a hard rock fan. I find that alot of high gain pups sound bad to me, EMG's sound outright horrible to me. Perhaps because they are cheap to begin with and not of the class of the pups i am considering now, but again that is beyond my experience level. The antiquity is a low output 50's style pup but to me it sounds great for hard rock but is just shy of of metal.
     
So i am looking for a pickup that has the harmonically rich, highly complex detailed soundstage o
and warmth of hand wound vintage style PAF, but with the ability to keep those traits at higher distortion levels on an amp. Perhaps sounding a little meaner with more bite as well. 

My concern is that if i get a "vintage hot" pickup like the abraxas that there is a trade off and that i will lose some of the detail and complexity of soundstage that i get in a detailed PAF. And that i might better off just getting a Mule rather than an Abraxas or Riff raff.

Do you think the Abraxas would be a good match for me? Can it be everything that the mule is just hotter and more aggressive, or do you find that it loses something of beautiful characteristics of vintage pickups because it is a higher output pup.

Suggestions and discussion would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Nick,

[ericsabbath]

I do believe the abraxas or the emerald might suit you
even bkp's hottest models still retain a lot of clarity and detail
considering your influences and tonal preferences, the emerald sounds like a great option
the abraxas should work as well

what I like about A4 is that it seems to have a lot of the A5 clarity, but adds a subtle warmth that seems to blend the notes in a very natural and non-mushy way
I still prefer the riff raff extra clarity over the mule for heavier stuff, though

for the classic metal thing I'd pick the emerald
the rebel yell and cold sweat also work really really well, but are a little more aggressive and less open and classic sounding

[richard]

With regard to the Antiquities being scatter wound - Seymour Duncan has stated very clearly that he does not agree with scatter winding humbuckers. Are you in a position to take advantage of BK's return policy ? If so, I'd say go for the Mule and change it if it's not what you want.

[gwEm]

With regard to the Antiquities being scatter wound - Seymour Duncan has stated very clearly that he does not agree with scatter winding humbuckers. Are you in a position to take advantage of BK's return policy ? If so, I'd say go for the Mule and change it if it's not what you want.

I also think you'd enjoy the qualities of The Mule if you like Antiquities. I'm not sure either way if the Antiquities are scatterwound, but as Richard says Seymour has spoken about this in the past.

Mules have more than enough output to drive an old Marshall amp into NWOBHM levels of gain and they really sound the part too.

But you bring some more modern tones into the mix, so perhaps indeed Emeralds would give you the best of both worlds. I still say Mules though! ;)

[Zaned]

I concur with the previous posters: Mule, Riff Raff or the Emerald.

I've heard good things about the Antiquities. If I've understood correctly, they're Alnico 2 and unpotted? An unpotted Mule would already bring a different (PAF) tone, with its Alnico IV magnet and coils designed for it. Tim Mill's favourite pickup btw  :)

Riff raff has a more aggressive edge and leaner mids, while still being in the PAF -land. I own one, read my review here if you like: https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29247.msg380087#msg380087.

I haven't tried the Emerald, but they were the first suggestion when I asked for pickups for the guitar which eventually got that Riff Raff. Very versatile, as I've heard; tight, has got great cleans and works for pretty much anything in the right guitar. Not too dark, not too bright. I'm not sure if they're available unpotted, should you want that.

My gut feeling is that you'd really like the Mule; however, that depends on how much different you want it to be from your Antiquity-equipped guitar, and what the guitar itself sounds like.

-Zaned

[changeling93305]

Thanks guys. Those are all suggestions i will consider. I am not certain if the antiquity is scatterwound it is said to be hand wound unlike 98% of of SD pickups, so it's definitely a different beast of some sort. I know the strat antiquity pickups are scatterwound.

I am gonna youtube the other pickups as well including the mule and riffraff.

Antiquity is A2 , mule is  A4,  should sound different enough for me.

[Telerocker]

The Mule can do some serious hardrock. Nolly (one of the moderators) recorded some metalclips with Mules in his Blackmachine-guitar.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=23313.0

[Brow]

I came from Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers to a pair of AIV Mules in my LP Standard and have never regretted it for a second

[Marco78]

Antiquity PAF are wind with Leesona machine. Single coil are scatterwind.

[Marco78]

The Mule can do some serious hardrock. Nolly (one of the moderators) recorded some metalclips with Mules in his Blackmachine-guitar.

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=23313.0

The clip are deleted, is it possible to hear it?

[Telerocker]

Short clip Mules

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fekwfobxR1k

[38thBeatle]

Very nice- would have been good to hear more.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I think you'd be pretty happy with Mules.

[mieszko]

I think many of the things you like about Antis may be because of the unpotted coils.

the Seth Lover model is equal exept that de magnet is not degaussed, maybe that makes it a little more agressive or sharp, A2 is not as sharp as A4 and A5 aniway.

Mules and Riff Raffs can't be bad idea, to me they soun extremely balanced full an defined.

I like Fralins work too.

[Gibson 1964]

I think many of the things you like about Antis may be because of the unpotted coils.

My thoughts as well. Unpotted mules perhaps?