-
Who here has used both a SD Classic 57 and a Seth Lover in the neck position of your jazz arch top and actually prefer the sound of the Classic 57 ? Please elaborate !
-
02-04-2016 02:40 PM
-
Seth Lover for me. Classic PAF tone, unpotted, rich, creamy, mellow, not boomy ... As good as it gets for me. The classic 57 is ok but I find it a bit bland. Just my 0.02$
-
Curious, what are you using in the bridge position ?
Originally Posted by FrankLearns
-
I have (too) many guitars ...
I have a Heritage golden Eagle with only a neck Seth Lover ... Great!
an Eagle classic with Seth Lovers in both positions ... Works for me.
And a H157 (Les Paul custom) with also Seth Lovers in both positions. The bridge SL also works. It is less cutting than other humbuckers and people who want a more aggressive tone may not want a SL in the bridge ... Works for me though
cheers,
Frank
-
I haven't used the Classic 57 but did recently put a Seth Lover in the neck position of my Epiphone Broadway. Love it. Exactly what I wanted from this guitar.
-
The '57 Classic is nice but can be a bit 'clinical' for me - a little too clear and polite. It goes well in archtops, but I prefer a bit more attitude.
-
Neither. Burstbucker 1 is the best sounding jazz pickup IMO.
-
Interesting, you don't hear that often in the Forum. Originally Posted by jzucker
-
actually burstbucker 1 is a good pick...slightly underwound (6.5k!) with alnico II magnets
from gibby-
On the shop floor of the original Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the earliest Gibson “Patent Applied For” humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with varying degrees of output and tone. The BurstBucker™ line of pickups represents Gibson’s drive to recapture the magic of the original “Patent Applied For” humbuckers. First introduced in the early 1990s, the Gibson BurstBucker™ — Types 1, 2, and 3 — successfully captured the subtle variations of true, classic humbucker tone with historically “unmatched” bobbin windings and Alnico II magnets. They produce an airy, full tone, and when overdriven they achieve a magical distortion with the slightly enhanced highs that made the originals famous. BurstBucker™ Type 1 features a lower output, excellent for the neck position. BurstBucker™ Type 2 features medium output, and is perfect for both positions. BurstBucker™ Type 3 is overwound and hot, which is typically ideal for the bridge position. None of the BurstBuckers™ are wax potted, and all feature vintage braided two-conductor wiring.
Output: 6.5
Position: Both
Magnet: Alnico II
Wiring: 2-Conductor
Details: Historically accurate "Patent Applied For" replica with airy tone and unbalanced coils. Slightly underwound.
cheers
-
Seth Lovers in both positions on my GSR Starfire VI, and love them! That description of the Burst Buckers makes me want to try them.
-
I've tried both the 57 Classic (stock) and a Seth Lover in the neck position of my 175. Both are great, but I do slightly prefer the Seth Lover.
-
I'm probably in the minority here, but I prefer the 57 to the Seth Lover.
Also +1 on the burstbucker.
-
not sure if you can believe gibson's specs. My burstbucker 1 is 7.5k and it's also wax potted which goes against their literature. I have 2 sets of them. Both my '63 and '65 barney kessels have a BB1 in the neck and a BB2 in the bridge. Best sounding humbucker I've ever used! I got stuck doing a fusion gig in december when my semihollow was in the shop and I used my spruce kessel. The BB2 sounded amazing in a distorted robben ford way.
I measured them at 7.5k and 8.2k respectively and it's the same in both guitars. Bought the sets used on ebay for $150/set.
I'd never waste big bucks on a pickup again.
The seths are thin and bright compared to the BBs IMO.
Originally Posted by neatomic
-
I would offer that the Seth's tend to really show what your particular guitar has to offer. That is if it has a nice "acoustic" sound, it will reproduce that (and more) and you'll be happy. If you have a dead sounding guitar, it will to some extend reproduce that too. If you're trying to breath life into a guitar you are somewhat disappointed with I would vote against the SL. The same kind of thing happens often with AI amplifiers: if you plug a dog into one, you'll get a dog out - plug in something with magic and you'll get MORE magic.
-
Had the seth lovers in my BK and it sounded tinny and nothing like the acoustic voice of the guitar. The BB1 sounds pretty much like what the acoustic sound is like. Originally Posted by whiskey02
-
I have had all of the above, I don't find the SL thin (at least not on a 335, LP etc), I did have a 62 BK with a laminate spruce top as well. I had a similar experience with a thin sounding pup, but it was the Lollar low winds. I found a set of patent sticker t-tops when they were still cheap (2008-09) and that fixed the issue. I like the SL in my 335 I'm a fan of this pup, but I can't remember if I ever has them on a full hollow body guitar. That can be a different experience. Although I prefer a brighter pup in a guitar with a fat neck and if the neck is thinner the I prefer a fatter sounding pup. So I'm open to trying and experimenting with any good well built pickup.
-
I've got Seth's in an amazingly resonant Dean solid body; I took it to a duo I used to play in and the other guitarist swore that if he closed his eyes he would bet $$ I was playing an arch top. There are always exceptions, some great guitars don't sound good in some great amps. Another factor that doesn't always get spoken about is each individuals "touch" on their instrument. I'm not a dig in and slam the strings kind of player and my guitars are set up accordingly. A friend who is an amazingly great player but with a much firmer hand played on of my former guitars; I was shocked at the sound he got and I don't think he was terribly impressed until I said "no no no, play it gently. I minute later he says, "wow, this sounds really sweet". There's science and then there's making art with the science.
-
IMHO the Seths are neither thin nor bright but warm, "sweet" and detailed for the lack of a better word. No humbucker will give the acoustic sound of the guitar and neither will the Seth Lover. The one time I tried a burstbucker I found it overly nasal ... Obviously different people have quite different taste here. But I certainly agree that it is not necessary to spend big bucks on pickups. There are several choices among the standard lineup that are pretty much as good as it gets.
-
I love the Classic 57s in my ES-333! I have a Burstbucker #1 in my ES-175 copy (neck position) and that's indeed a great pickup as well, sounds great in that guitar. The Classic 57s give a darker, mid heavier tone, very round and 'brown' but with enough clarity not to sound muffled or lifeless, it's a great jazz pickup imho. The Burstbucker #1 is airier, clearer and brighter but in a good way. Both guitars sound great, but produce different types of tones, but how much the pickups contribute to that is difficult to say. I have tried the pickups only in the guitars they're sitting in, so it's no telling how they would sound in the other guitar. However, I suspect with both pickups you couldn't really go wrong.
I have no experience with the Seth Lovers, but my only negative experience with a pickup upgrade was with putting Seymour Duncan 59s (I think they're named SH-1 now) in an early 90ies Korean Epiphone Sheraton II guitar: the slightly scooped sound of the SDs emphasized the already scooped and slightly thin sound of that all maple guitar: didn't work at all. A pair of mid-heavier (an cheaper) StewMac Golden Age pickups made that guitar sound a lot more expensive.
So what pickup sounds better could also be dependent of the guitar: what sounds good in one guitar may sound blah in the other!
-
Well, Ive seen jzucker videos and I do respect his opinion based on his great tone and the fact that he get's to try a lot of equipment. So I can agree on the sound of the BB 1 and 2 being very good. I recently bought a couple of BB Pros and swapped the magnets to A-2 and tried to get much of the wax potting out of there with a heat gun. They sound pretty good. So, yeah, some good pups are coming from the Gibson people these days. BTW I have an 18" boutique archtop that has a patent sticker T-Top and I've been considering an Armstrong PAF0. This one is suffering from the too bright and thin sound when plugged. So ultimately its a matter of matching the right guitar with the right PUP.
-
Here is how a SL in the neck position sounds ... To me this not bright or thin.
granted I'm not playing like Jack but we were talking tone here, right :-)
-
I remember Seymour Duncan (on this website) saying something to the effect that, by selecting a specific pickup, "sometimes you want to compensate for the natural characteristics of a guitar, and sometimes you want to reinforce them." Originally Posted by abelljo
At the time, I thought that was a very wise thing to say, but I don't recall exactly why I thought so.
-
I have an ES175 with a SL neck and 57 bridge, personally I like the Seth Lover great sounding pickup.
-
Here's a quick sound file of the Epi ES-175 Premium w/ a Classic '57 in the neck position, through a mod'd Fender Blues JR w/ Celestion Creamback, solo @ 1:02
-
Thanks for sharing the nice video Frank, as it's better to let one's ears make the call! Your guitar as it is sounds L5'ish to my ears, but perhaps with a slightly more acoustic timbre? Some have said nothing sounds like an L5 (but an L5), but I disagree with that thought. Jeff Originally Posted by FrankLearns
Reply With Quote
McCoy Tyner, Chick Core comping / chord stabs for...
Today, 05:19 PM in Improvisation