Seth Lover Pickups in Ibanez PM35 - too bright?

[jzucker]

replacing the pots or caps won't change the tone. That's just internet hype. Changing the value of the cap will only effect the tone when the tone control is rolled off.

[Vihar]

Changing the value of the cap will only effect the tone when the tone control is rolled off.

That's true. However, changing the volume pot to a higher value will bring out the pickup's resonance more. That's what most people who do that perceive as brighter. That's because most (passive) pickups have their resonance (with a regular length guitar cable in the circuit of course) in the high-midrange - somewhere between 2 - 5kHz.

Basically: shorter cable and/or higher volume pot value = brighter and slightly louder sound.

[bolinger]

I had the same issue. Loved the way the guitar played and looked but it sounded thin and "tinney". Essentially I replaced the entire harness, including a switchcraft output jack, a Gibson 57 Classic, swapped the volume and tone pots for 250k (diminish the top end) and installed an .022 uF orange drop cap.
The new sound is fantastic, bright and chimey yet very smooth with a great rolloff.
Word to the wise:
As this all has to be done through the F hole, I do recommend having this done professionally (unless you have an extraordinary amount of patience).

Best of luck

[tomassplatch]

The new sound is fantastic, bright and chimey yet very smooth with a great rolloff.

Best of luck

Thanks for the reply. Wow, you basically changed the whole electronics... you are brave, I just sold mine and got myself a different instrument. Do you happen to have any sound recordings of the guitar?