Not your typical Antiquity application...

[DrewB]

I just finished building a single-hum hot rod. I haven't put a finish on the body yet, but wanted to wire it up so I could hear it. I only had two humbuckers in my parts drawer: a nondescript pickup from an '85 Squier Contemporary HH Strat and a double-cream Antiquity. I decided to go with the Antiquity but swapped the original magnet for an A5 from an old broken Gibson P-90. Lo and behold, it's a really good match for the guitar! The acoustic tone of the guitar is nice and tight with great sustain. I think the Antiquity softens it up just a bit. I really don't think I want any more horsepower than it has - the articulation is great for faster playing and it is sensitive enough to deliver the rude noises. I wasn't expecting it to be such a good match. It'd be nice if the Antiquity wind on Trembucker bobbins was a standard option (hint hint)! Anyway, poplar body, quartersawn-maple/ebony neck from 1988, an '80s Floyd Rose (the gold-tooth special) and a 485K CTS pot...

[Push to Shuv]

There is magic in the Antiquities. I just don't know how they fit so much of it in there

[formula73]

I dislike Strats but that thing gets my motor running. Leave it as-is!!!!

[gibson175]

like

[Ashurbanipal]

Nice to see some outside-the-box thinking with regards to pu application. Like the bare-bones ethic.

[DrewB]

I dislike Strats but that thing gets my motor running. Leave it as-is!!!!

It's not without its charm that way, I have to admit! The body shape is a copy of a Washburn MG designed by Grover Jackson. It's compact and the whole guitar weighs 6.08 lbs. The curved body heel is great - I can use my pinky on the 22nd fret without angling my hand.

[CTN]

That is one sweet lookin geetar.

[DrewB]

I've decided to leave it in the raw (love the feel!), but I'm going to have to sand it a bit at the next string change to clean it up and smooth it out. I love the oxidized look it has now and don't want to lose that any more than I can get away with. I figure I'll go with an oil finish to seal it. Any suggestions for what to use to darken up the white wood to get back to this look?

[DrewB]

After running the guitar through a Marshall 18-watt clone and a Germino LV-55/'83 Marshall 1960A for a few weeks, I just couldn't get it to sound the way I wanted it to. There was too much of a scoop in the mids and the highs were shrill and brash. I put the original degaussed AlNiCo II magnet back in tonight, and it made a world of difference. The highs are still strong and bright, but balanced better with the rest of the frequencies, and the midrange is a lot sweeter. It's still an agressive sound, but has a lot of character now. Oddly enough, I think the harmonics (pinch, natural and the EVH right-hand rake) come out better, which I was concerned about losing.