mustag pickups 65 Vs. 69

foxyloxy

what sounds better the new 65 reissue pickups or the old mid 90's 69' reissue?

ModNuB

I liked the '69 re better as I remember them but I've never played them side by side. I haven't owned either but played both new in guitar shops & seem to remember the 69s having a better tone over-all. Also good pickups typically age nicely so the older the better, not always but still ...I'm sure others here will have a better side-by-side view.

tragictravisty

age in terms of what?

ModNuB

I have always found the older & more played the pickups are the better they sound...not always but most of the time older pups that have been well played sound better to me then new ones.

I know not everyone agrees on this but from my experience the older the pup the better.

I only brought it up cause I wasn't sure if they used similar pups in both 65 & 69 reissues.

tragictravisty

that seems silly to me, the magnets lose .5% magnification each year, i doubt youll hear a difference, and even if you did, the tolerances of magnets, and different magnets will affect the tone plenty...

ModNuB

Yeah, I know not everyone agrees but I believe for the most part w/ pups the older the better.

I have heard different reasons for it. Personally I don't have a theory, don't need one, I just trust my ear. I used to think it was the hand wound factor of vintage pups until I played "closet" versions of old guitars compared vs well played versions & you can hear the diff. I still think vintage pups get there tone primarily from the hand winding but there is a unique quality to well played vintage pups.

JaguarOW

i think it was pete who said that the pups on a 65 are hotter and better sounding than those on a 69

10 years wont make any noticable difference to the sound of a pup i dont think

Mustang-Pete

JaguarOW said: i think it was pete who said that the pups on a 65 are hotter and better sounding than those on a 69

Yeah, I did. Although that's compating the new '65 RI to my 2005 '69 RI, I have no idea about the '90s ones....

LOSTVENTURE

Something else to consider where the two guitars are concerned. From what I have read, most of the MIJ models ('69 till 2005) were made with basswood bodies. The re-issue '65 as the original issues (64 to mid 70's) all had poplar bodies. Those two woods give a very different sound even with identical pick-ups.

Cymastar

I really like the basswood on my Duo. Sounds open and jangly, acoustic.

Mustang-Pete

Cymastar said: I really like the basswood on my Duo. Sounds open and jangly, acoustic.

AAAAAAAND where are the photos!?

Cymastar

No digital camera 😡 .

Lawlz. I'll borrow one eventually.

Fran

ModNuB said: I have always found the older & more played the pickups are the better they sound...not always but most of the time older pups that have been well played sound better to me then new ones.
I know not everyone agrees on this but from my experience the older the pup the better.

Agreed. As do thousands of players hence the Seymour Duncan antiquity range. Its worth noting true Vintage Jaguar pups have a mellow nature that work better with gain and are less harsh on clean settings than AVRI and CIJ pups.

Cymaster- We want pics now bitch. You cannot tell us you have no webcam, phone cam or camera? SHOW PICS OR IT DID'NT EXIST!! 😆

Cymastar

I'll see if I can use my phone cam.

Cymastar

Need Micro SD reader... Sorry, no pics for tonight. ☹

tragictravisty

ModNuB said: I have always found the older & more played the pickups are the better they sound...not always but most of the time older pups that have been well played sound better to me then new ones.
I know not everyone agrees on this but from my experience the older the pup the better.

...seymour duncan antiquitys arent older, i think modnubs point was that pickups age, not that the older pickups were better in the first place (im not saying they werent)

JaguarOW

ModNuB said: I have always found the older & more played the pickups are the better they sound...not always but most of the time older pups that have been well played sound better to me then new ones.
I know not everyone agrees on this but from my experience the older the pup the better.

I think fran's point is that the antiquities are meant to replicate the sound of aged pickups

Fran

The magnets are aged, whether they are new or not. its the only way to truly recreate that sound.

ModNuB

Vintage pickups get their tone from the hand winding of the coils (imo) but the aged magnets do make a big dif as well. My original point was just that if the pups in the 65/69 turned out to be the same I would always pick the ones that were older/more played. I don't think 10 years would make a big dif but older is still older & my opinion is still older=better in terms of tone most of the time.

I would always take a hand wound pup over one that claimed to be "aged" (tho I think aging pups does help) because I the hand winding I believe is the primary reason for better tone.