Ibanez AFJ95 - Seth Lover Pickups?

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 09:04 AM

I am considering changing the Super 58 Custom pickup in the neck position of my Ibanez AFJ95 perhaps for a Seth Lover PAF. I love the guitar and use it for gigs and teaching but would prefer a slightly edgier sound. The construction is all laminated with 15 ¾" body with flame maple back and sides and a spruce top.

Has anyone experience of this pickup in a similar body spec' I wonder? All input gratefully received.

David

**BigMikeinNJ** · 09-08-2016, 09:09 AM

I've popped Seth Lovers in many guitars, the closest to what you ask was a guitar I gifted a friend, a Yunzhi copy of a AR680... Also used one in my Mr Wu Blondie, a Seth is about as close to the original PAF sound as you will get and they are a great value at around $105.00 american in gold. Your price may vary in Europe but the performance boost won't. Have your tech gut the wiring and pots and output jack too - you will be glad you did. So out the door maybe $250.00 to do all that but it'll be a surprisingly sweet sounding axe after that...

Good luck

TH · 09-08-2016, 09:15 AM

"Edgier" is not the first word I'd think of when it comes to the Seth Lover. I love that pickup, but maybe I don't know what you mean by that. Maybe it is edgier. It'd definitely improve your note definition and it'd bring out a vocal quality in the notes. I think the Duncan Jazz fulfills that requirement, but then again that's my ear and I'm in the minority on that one.
Did you know Duncan lets you try out the pickup in your guitar and if it's not everything you hoped for, they have a return guarantee? Nice folks. Good pickups. Try it. It's the only possible way to know. Everyone's got an idea about what edge is but you'll know as soon as you feel it. Go for it. In my opinion, it's a step in the right direction. A big one.

One opinion though
David

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 09:36 AM

I think edgier for me is as you describe - eg better note definition and more musical, not 'edgier' as in agressive. Thanks for the input.

David

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ

I've popped Seth Lovers in many guitars, the closest to what you ask was a guitar I gifted a friend, a Yunzhi copy of a AR680... Also used one in my Mr Wu Blondie, a Seth is about as close to the original PAF sound as you will get and they are a great value at around $105.00 american in gold. Your price may vary in Europe but the performance boost won't. Have your tech gut the wiring and pots and output jack too - you will be glad you did. So out the door maybe $250.00 to do all that but it'll be a surprisingly sweet sounding axe after that...

Good luck

Thanks for that Big Mike. 135€ here but clearly not over the top. Surprising that there are ( seemingly ) no clips of the p/u in an archtop on You Tube?

David

**Frank67** · 09-08-2016, 12:00 PM

**Frank67** · 09-08-2016, 12:01 PM

**Frank67** · 09-08-2016, 12:02 PM

I like it a lot. IMHO as good as it gets for humbuckers.

**Hep To The Jive** · 09-08-2016, 12:44 PM

Isn't it Super 58 what John Scofield has in his Ibanez? If so I would never change them for anything.

**BigMikeinNJ** · 09-08-2016, 12:50 PM

That 'Round Midnight clip was great !!!

**newsense** · 09-08-2016, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive

Isn't it Super 58 what John Scofield has in his Ibanez? If so I would never change them for anything.

Yes, but there are 57 varieties of Ibanez Super 58s

**Papawooly** · 09-08-2016, 01:17 PM

The L5 Studio I bought last summer has the Seth Lover...

Please see clip below of Ron Jackson playing it...

TH · 09-08-2016, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive

Isn't it Super 58 what John Scofield has in his Ibanez? If so I would never change them for anything.

Yeah but that's HIS sound. He makes it sound that way because he's Sco.
Also, he can play a stella with a microphone into an old cassette recorder and he'd still sound like Sco. And that's not a jazz box he's playing, and he plays his bridge pickup too as a part of his sound.
When he first got his guitar from Ibanez, he'd been playing an old 335 with PAF's in it. The neck went south on that guitar and he got a nice deal from Ibanez. At first, for a while, he had a hard time getting used to the sound, but the guitar was solid and a great player. That sound was the last thing he got used to, but his playing was always him and much more important than anything that could be stopped by a sound he didn't take to at first. So it became his sound. He owned everything about his music and players love that guitar for what Sco made it into.

But it's not for everyone. Maybe for blackcat he has PAF in mind and that'll become his sound. Then he becomes famous and everyone says "Hey, I'm in love with Duncan Seth Lovers!" as it goes.

Also, there are some who say the old vintage 80's Super 58's had a sound all their own. I don't know about that. But I know there are are lots of people who say "Hey I bought a guitar just like his and somebody made a mistake, I don't sound anything like that." Ha ha.

But Hep, I hope you do have an old 200, or get one. They're nice! And good luck getting Sco's sound!

David

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 02:32 PM

Originally Posted by newsense

Yes, but there are 57 varieties of Ibanez Super 58s

In the AFJ95 they are the so called Super 58 'Custom' models - not the same.

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

Yeah but that's HIS sound. He makes it sound that way because he's Sco.
Also, he can play a stella with a microphone into an old cassette recorder and he'd still sound like Sco. And that's not a jazz box he's playing, and he plays his bridge pickup too as a part of his sound.
When he first got his guitar from Ibanez, he'd been playing an old 335 with PAF's in it. The neck went south on that guitar and he got a nice deal from Ibanez. At first, for a while, he had a hard time getting used to the sound, but the guitar was solid and a great player. That sound was the last thing he got used to, but his playing was always him and much more important than anything that could be stopped by a sound he didn't take to at first. So it became his sound. He owned everything about his music and players love that guitar for what Sco made it into.

But it's not for everyone. Maybe for blackcat he has PAF in mind and that'll become his sound. Then he becomes famous and everyone says "Hey, I'm in love with Duncan Seth Lovers!" as it goes.

Also, there are some who say the old vintage 80's Super 58's had a sound all their own. I don't know about that. But I know there are are lots of people who say "Hey I bought a guitar just like his and somebody made a mistake, I don't sound anything like that." Ha ha.

But Hep, I hope you do have an old 200, or get one. They're nice! And good luck getting Sco's sound!

David

Thanks David, but who mentioned Sco'?

David

TH · 09-08-2016, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by blackcat

Thanks David, but who mentioned Sco'?

David

Post #9. A post in favour of the Super 58 used by him.
David

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

Post #9. A post in favour of the Super 58 used by him.
David

Noted, but not sure where I mentioned either Sco', the original Super 58s or for that matter P90s. Getting lost here!

**blackcat** · 09-08-2016, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by blackcat

Noted, but not sure where I mentioned either Sco', the original Super 58s or for that matter P90s. Getting lost here!

I ought to add that I am a fan of Sco' and also like the sound of the original Super 58s. However...................

TH · 09-08-2016, 03:28 PM

Heh, sometimes we forumers talk amongst ourselves. I wasn't responding to something you wrote. That was Hep's post. He mentioned that he liked John Scofield's sound and suggested that was good grounds to love the Super 58. I responded to him a few posts later that maybe that was a good criteria for a choice, maybe not necessarily.
All of which is a digression from your original post, but that's the way things work around here.
I'll try to keep to the Original Post topics on threads where you've started them.

David

**Longways to Go** · 09-08-2016, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

"Edgier" is not the first word I'd think of when it comes to the Seth Lover. I love that pickup, but maybe I don't know what you mean by that. Maybe it is edgier. It'd definitely improve your note definition and it'd bring out a vocal quality in the notes. I think the Duncan Jazz fulfills that requirement, but then again that's my ear and I'm in the minority on that one.
Did you know Duncan lets you try out the pickup in your guitar and if it's not everything you hoped for, they have a return guarantee? Nice folks. Good pickups. Try it. It's the only possible way to know. Everyone's got an idea about what edge is but you'll know as soon as you feel it. Go for it. In my opinion, it's a step in the right direction. A big one.

One opinion though
David

nice to see somebody else likes the Duncan Jazz other than me

I'm not really a big Seth Lover fan -- I put one in an Ibanez AS 73, and it was a noted improvement, but I never really loved that set up. I always thought that pickup was too airy & thin (trebly?) for my preference. Maybe just the wrong pickup in the wrong guitar with the wrong player. I'm more of a Gibson classic 57 or burstbucker fan.

**newsense** · 09-08-2016, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by blackcat

In the AFJ95 they are the so called Super 58 'Custom' models - not the same.

True - but on new Ibanez the Super 58 Custom no longer exists - they have been subsumer into a generic category of Super 58s. Just a casula look at he Ibanez parts catalogue will show you just how many different Super 58s there now are. They can't all be the same spec as those on the Sco models.

**newsense** · 09-08-2016, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Longways to Go

nice to see somebody else likes the Duncan Jazz other than me

+1 on the Duncan Jazz. The neck pickup in my ava(gui)tar is allegedly a Jazz II - which isn't actually in the SD catalogue, but works really well.

**blackcat** · 09-09-2016, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by TruthHertz

Heh, sometimes we forumers talk amongst ourselves. I wasn't responding to something you wrote. That was Hep's post. He mentioned that he liked John Scofield's sound and suggested that was good grounds to love the Super 58. I responded to him a few posts later that maybe that was a good criteria for a choice, maybe not necessarily.
All of which is a digression from your original post, but that's the way things work around here.
I'll try to keep to the Original Post topics on threads where you've started them.

David

Completely understood - no problem at all

**blackcat** · 09-09-2016, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Longways to Go

nice to see somebody else likes the Duncan Jazz other than me

I'm not really a big Seth Lover fan -- I put one in an Ibanez AS 73, and it was a noted improvement, but I never really loved that set up. I always thought that pickup was too airy & thin (trebly?) for my preference. Maybe just the wrong pickup in the wrong guitar with the wrong player. I'm more of a Gibson classic 57 or burstbucker fan.

How would you describe the qualities of the Classic 57' and it's suitability for a small bodied archtop with laminated spruce top?

**Frank67** · 09-09-2016, 11:14 AM

I do not think the classic 57 is a world apart from the Seth Lover. The lovers are unpotted, unlike the 57s. That does make a difference and I prefer the SL.