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I've heard great things regarding the Seth Lovers, and I'd love to heat from those who have played the Lover alongside the 59 and other comparable pickups.
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03-23-2012 01:31 PM
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Fat Franks give me all the air suspension I want - fat and warm indeed.
Originally Posted by Retroman1969
I'm planning to replace the Ritcheys on the yellow/blue Serotta with a set of Schwalbe Kojacks, since it's really a city bike.
I have the '59 as well as the Lover in a couple of different archtops - both fine pickups for jazz, with excellent rolling resistance and good grip in the corners. Never tried the Jazz.
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>>> Many of us don't have a broad experience base in choosing a pickup and yet they are not a trivial or cheap exercise for most to install. We are therefore compelled to collect what information we can and over-analyze the heck out of it.
Some manufacturers really seem to try to communicate genuine facts as well as the sort of loose impressions that many seem to love. SD comes to mind.
Others depend on vaporous prose and mystique, with an apparently ready-market for just that.
I'd far rather depend on a PU maker that shares the very practical info such as resonant peak (not the whole story at all, but a good objective bit of info), and cuts back on the "PU Genius" cult marketing (long list there).
ChrisLast edited by PTChristopher; 03-23-2012 at 04:35 PM. Reason: re-worded to blunt the content some
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..Believe it or not, these are not bad at all....and they are reasonable...I replaced all 3 of the original pu's that came with my '70's Les Paul...I would've replaced only the seriously tarnished original covers but they weren't removable....so, 'cause the oem's were also microphonic, I put these on to use 'til I decide to send out the originals for rewinding....I have never played them at any volume - just at home...but they sound as good as the humbuckers on my L4-CES ..
FWIW Dennis
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+1. Originally Posted by Gabe
I don't know what they were thinking when named the jazz pickup, 'Jazz'. It's bright and trebly sounding. Definitely not what most of us would consider a "jazz" sound.
I have a Duncan '59 on a Yamaha 311MS Tele and it sounds very nice.
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This is obviously a matter of personal opinion. You spend years trying different guitars, strings, pickups, setups - did I mention amps? It would be great if I could say "there is only one sound, and this is it". There's a clean sound and there's a dirty sound, and I find there isn't one pickup that does both. Like I read Stevie Vai say once about preparing for an album - he tried amps x, y and z; strings a, b and c etc etc. It's expensive and time consuming, but you have to do this to get your sound, or at least one you prefer. On my Gibson HRF (similar to a 335) I changed the original stock pickups to a SD59 + JB (then the AH - sounds too much like him!), then the neck to a SD Jazz, the bridge a Custom. Finally I changed the neck pickup to a Gibson 490R. I found for this guitar, the 490R distorts in a way I like, whereas the earlier choices for the neck were too clinical, too bright, not enough middle. I generally never use the bridge pickup nowadays. But I wouldn't use the 490R for my straight ahead clean Jazz sound of choice. I have a Godin LGX-SA solid which has the SD SH2 Jazz neck pickup - that's my clean sound. Different guitars sound different with different pickups. As I say, it's expensive and time consuming, but I can't think of another way of doing it. I guess it's also fun working towards your own sound. When you don't feel a frustration that something's not quite right - you're there!
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I agree with VitalSigns: I tried a '59 in my early 90ies Epiphone Sheraton and I didn't like it that much (I took it out). I think the '59 is a perfect pu to bring some air and clarity in a heavy sounding Les Paul, but it didn't fit the sonic character of the Sheraton (being an all maple guitar it tends to sound a little hifi by itself and the '59 emphasized that too much.) My point is that a certain pu can be perfect in one guitar but totally off in the other. Trial and error is unfortunately the only way to found out I'm afraid.
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Just to add that a search for a sound can take a long time, but there are compensations along the way. When I got my first Jazz guitar, a Ibanez Howard Roberts, changed the pickup to a Bill Lawrence, got a polytone amp, discovered flat wound strings.. I thought that was it! Then I discovered that the sound I got in my front room didn't translate to a live situation - rats! Looking at the original thread - didn't Joe use a 175, and weren't the pickups the '57s? Something like the SD '59 might work, but then Joe used quite light strings, low action, tiny pick, fingers, light touch..
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I agree with you Jamie, I also thought I had to have an archtop with flats and a polytone to have a jazz sound in the beggining... but Joe Pass has a light touch? Can't agree with that one!
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Well Jorge, compared to Barney Kessel, say - he was very fleet with his runs, at least. I once saw Joe play at Ronnie Scott's. He was completely sozzled. He broke a nail and his amp was having problems. He gave up the solo stuff until he'd sobered up, but played a great set of bop with Martin Drew and Ron Matheson. He said he'd drunk three bottles of wine. Now that's how good he was - it was a great evening of music!
Jamie
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Oh compared to Kessel he had a light touch, no doub about that.. I was just teasing you
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Yes. It does just that for a Les Paul. I put a set of '59 Duncans in my Classic and have kept them in the guitar for about 8 years. I can get some "Jazz" tones from it by rolling the volume and tone back about halfway. Of course it's not that lush hollow body tone, but playing with pick and fingers and a light touch, I think I could fit into a Jazz Trio somewhere. John Abercrombie, for one, played at one time with an Gibson SG. Originally Posted by Little Jay
A '59 can be tamed.
Classicplayer
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One other thought on Joe Pass, other than the night I saw him drunk, nobody asked for their money back.. My second Jazz guitar was an Ibanez JP-20. I never replaced the pickup on that guitar - it kind of suited it, I thought. The only modification I made was to take off the scratch plate - my RH sort of floats. I don't know if the Epiphone is similar (it's sort of odd how there are these "custom" models - the Gibson Barney Kessel (he never used), and Joe Pass only seemed to use a 175) but the Ibanez was an archtop with no block (unlike the 175) - not a goer for a club date with a decent drummer.
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The Duncan Jazz p'up can do Jazz in spades with an Alnico 2 magnet instead of the Alnico 5 it comes with stock.
I actually have an A2 Jazz set in my Gibson L-5 CES copy replacing nothing less than a Duncan Seth Lover set!
HTH,
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I came across this old thread when I was looking into modding my
Godin LGX-SA. I recently finished recording an original project and
I used the Seymour Duncan Jazz Neck pickup exclusively. I did
a lot of DI/reamping and I was quite happy with the results, but
since then I've rediscovered my 2 Gibsons which both have
490Rs. Maybe it was because I wanted the extra clarity on
the lines that made me think the "Jazz" was the biz, but now
it seems sterile and the Gibson pickups sound alive. I have a semi
and a solid Gibson, so it's not that the semi has more resonance.
Anyway, after 5 years I find I'm disagreeing with myself and
getting a 490R. Magnets..
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