Ant Texas Hot vs. Fender Texas Special

[ratherdashing]

I love my Texas Specials. I know some of you love your Antiquity Texas Hots. Does anyone have experience with both? Which one did you prefer? How do they differ?

[Guitar Toad]

I know that the Texas Hot sounds great in the neck of a strat. It's an A2 mag pup. The Texas Hots are less bright, less chimy with more mids than the corresponding pup with alnico 5's. It all depends whether or not you like a brighter tone or a mid-rangy, warmer tone. What do you like?

[Kelsey]

I just replaced the neck and bridge Texas Specials in my Hotrodded American Texas Special Strat with a Texas Hot and Custom bridge. They are much smoother and more open sounding than the Texas Specials. At the bridge, the low end is stronger, the mids are a little meatier, and the highs are smoother (no harshness) than the Texas Spl. At the neck, the lows are looser and not as strong, but the mids and highs are sweeter and richer. I left the middle Texas Spl because it sounded fine to me, and I'm not that keen on the middle pickup or notch tones in general. Nevertheless, I'm not sure the Texas Hots are for me in this guitar. I think I like the SSL-1 and Twangbanger setup I have in another Strat, so I'm not sure whether I'll stick with the Antiquity pickups or try something else. BTW, I have Antiquity pickups in two Teles and a Les Paul, so I am generally an Antiquity fan.

[koolkat]

I've never tried the Antiquity Texas Hots, but I do have a guitar loaded with an Antiquity Surfer in the neck and a Texas Special in the middle. Compared to the Surfer, the Texas Special has a little more output, punchier mids and bass, and less sparkle and glass on the high end. The Texas Special tends to sound harsh to my ears and can get a little muddy.

I would also be very interested to hear what the Texas Hots have to offer. I used to gig with an Alcino II Pro in the neck slot and I would assume it would sound somewhat similar being that they both have similar output and use the same magnet. What I loved about the A2Pro was how sweet and smooth it sounded under mild to moderate distortion.

Can anybody chime in on how the Texas Hots compare to the A2Pros?

[ratherdashing]

Strange, I've never found the neck and middle to be harsh. With the right amp they really sing, and they match the Pearly Gates very nicely.

I do know that I didn't like the tone of the bridge before I replaced it with the PG. Very spiky, and not very useful on its own. The other two are great.

[Curly]

I have a Texas Special strat, a strat with Antiquities, SSLs, and APSs ... I'll have one with Surfers shortly, and that will just about complete the cycle for me.

I agree with those who consider the TSs a little harsh, and the overdrive isn't as smooth as any of Seymour's pickups I've tried.

I happen to think the TSs are OK for dirty rhythm tones, but overall, I just like Duncans better. Actually, the SSLs are a better comparison with TSs, due to the magnet, and the fact they are more of a production pickup. That said, the SSLs' construction and tone is a notch above the TSs.