The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Sorry guys, but I don't post things without thinking them through first. I was asking for opinions on other p/ups, thinking maybe some others have been down this road and found success with, for example, a Seth Lover p/up, which seems to be admired by many, but not that many L5 owners have piped in in several forums that I read.

    Some of you are trying to help, but , apparently did not read my posts.

    I am a working pro, having had, and tweaked many guitars and a lot of experience with different amps. I know a lot, just not how a Seth Lover or similar p/up will work in an L5.
    Others have suggested Lollar low winds. Classic 57's were not around in 1981.

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  3. #27

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    Kent Armstrong is the best one to call for your pup swap. I don't think a Kent Armstrong Handmade costs more than a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover.

    Describe to Kent what you posted here. Kent will have something for you that ticks all the right boxes, I am sure.

    Guitar pickups - Handmade pickups by Kent Armstrong

  4. #28

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    Jimmy Mack,

    You clearly know that something is “off”. Here’s an opinion on the Seth Lover pickups from Seymour Duncan—they sound fantastic. I put them in a $650 Ibanez hollowbody and it sounds as good as my L-5 (which sounds amazing, btw). I like the Seths so much, I bought another set to upgrade another guitar. I think they would be perfect in your L-5. If you decide to replace the pickups, I’d do as Lawson-Stone suggested and make/buy a complete wiring harness to rule out any pots, caps or wiring failures. Just my two cents.

    Roli

  5. #29

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    Ibanez AKJV95 with Seth Lovers. Neck pickup:




    Gibson L-5 with stock Classic ‘57. Neck Pickup:

    Moonlight In Vermont L-5 by Rolijen | Free Listening on SoundCloud


    Please excuse any clams. Was going for a quick sound comparison.

  6. #30

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    Hey roligen, thanks for posting those. Always good to hear other's guitars and playing.
    For whatever reason, I liked the sound of the Ibanez track better than the L5 track. Clearer, sweeter voice!

  7. #31

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    Right?! I had several people say that same thing when I originally posted these a while ago. I’m pretty sure I used the exact same settings, mic placement, etc. That low-end Ibanez turned out to be a real tone machine after installing the Seths.

    I do love my L-5 though. It plays like a dream and I love the sound of it. I really just wanted you to hear how sweet the Seth Lover tone is.

    If I’m feeling up to it, tomorrow, I’ll be rewiring and installing new Seths, pots, caps, jack, switch and wiring harness in either my Epiphone Broadway or my Ibanez LGB30. I’m actually having a hard time deciding which one. I’m confident the upgrade will dramatically improve the richness and sweetness of either of those already very nice guitars. I have 4 nice Gibsons but my Broadway and LGB30 get the most playtime because I leave them out.

    i honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to decide which one gets the makeover. First world problems.

    Roli

  8. #32

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    Just ordered a Seth Lover neck pos. p/up. On Reverb. Seymour's site and MF are out of stock. Buying used! Looking forward to great tone.

  9. #33

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    I ended up installing the Seths in the Ibanez LGB30. I built a new harness with new pots, caps, switch and jack and did the tedious old “fishing” job to pull everything into place. I got it all together and learned that the selector switch was defective. I fished it out and noticed that the contacts were warped such that the neck position (where this guitar will stay 90%+ of the time) wasn’t making contact. A little bending and everything is sorted.

    This makeover turned a nice guitar into a great guitar. Soundwise, it’s incredible. 100% legit PAF tone. I’ll gather the parts and do the Epi in a month or two. I’m very meticulous, but the process just takes me way too long. I am for sure buying the pre-made harness for the next one.

    Good luck with your new SL pickup. I hope it solves your issue and unleashes that beautiful guitar of yours.

    Roli

  10. #34

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    Is it possible that the volume pot in my '81 L5 CES is under 200K ???

    I just opened up the guitar to change the pickup, and decided to read the neck's volume pot (from the p/up hot end of the wire to ground, with the pots on 10) and my multi-meter is close to accurate

    The old pickup has a number on it besides the Pat. # stamped into it. It's an ink stamped # that reads 430 781. On my meter, the R is 8K ohms. Any clue as to what p/up that is?? 490? Shaw? T-top?

    Thanks guys

  11. #35

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    The good news is, and thanks to lawson-stone and rolijen, my eyes (and ears) have been opened to more new insights.

    I pulled the wiring from the L5. Some disappointment and some encouragement. The wiring is sub par but the p/ups are what appears to be Shaws. The pots look like some import leftovers, with average looking soldering, BUT in shielding cans. The shielded cables are not steel braid, and fall apart when attempting to work with them.

    So, moving on, I contacted Pete Biltoft to make a new wiring harness with reliable pots of the better value for h/bers. He will also add a longer lead wire and new cover to the neck p/up which was eroded by off-gassing of the p/guard.

    So for followers of minutia: one p/up has ink stamped numbers (indicative of '80's Shaw h/bers. and the other does not. The one that has no ink stamping, has the white spacers inside, and the bright orange coil wiring, and no "T" on the bobbins. Pete will open the neck p/up to re-cover it, and he can let me know if it has white spacers. It does have the ink stamp #'s.

    I have waiting, for re-installation: the original neck p/up (Shaw?) , a Seth Lover, a SD '59, a Classic 57, and a Gibson T-top.

    THat's it for now.

  12. #36

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    So here we are on July 15, I have a new wiring harness from Pete Biltoft which was sent in a wonderful set-up of a plexiglass template with New 500K CTS pots ready for installation. The old pots (now removed) read from 290K down to 190K.

    He also replaced a p/up cover on a Gibson/Shaw p/up.

    Now I need some time to focus and re-install all of this goodness.

    Can anyone tell me what I'll experience with the Shaw p/up and new pots? I also have on hand: a 57 Classic, a Seymour D. '59, and a Seth Lover.

    I'm kinda jazzed about the SL.

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
    So here we are on July 15, I have a new wiring harness from Pete Biltoft which was sent in a wonderful set-up of a plexiglass template with New 500K CTS pots ready for installation. The old pots (now removed) read from 290K down to 190K.

    He also replaced a p/up cover on a Gibson/Shaw p/up.

    Now I need some time to focus and re-install all of this goodness.

    Can anyone tell me what I'll experience with the Shaw p/up and new pots? I also have on hand: a 57 Classic, a Seymour D. '59, and a Seth Lover.

    I'm kinda jazzed about the SL.
    Good to check the pots first. I once tested tens of pups to make a ’92 Les Paul sound good until I found out that spending 5€ for replacing the pots would have made it.

    I’d go with the Shaw’s. They ’belong’ to the 1981 Gibson.

    Classic 57s (Gibson’s cheapened version on the Shaws) are good but sometimes muddy.

    Seth Lovers are seldom muddy but sometimes even too bright.

    SD 59s have Alnico 5 magnet. Brighter, ’harder’, stronger. I swapped the mag for a Alnico 2 and it was nice neck pu in my ES175. (...’til I changed in the Antiquity...). All of them are in the same ballpark, very similar. The audience won’t know which is which!

    Good luck in Your quest!

  14. #38

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    I’m sure the Shaws will be nice. But, I would try the Seth first. They are typically clear and articulate. Not muddy, but mellow. Not overly bright, but present. In fact, in both cases where I’ve used them, they’ve tamed overly bright guitars and resulted in a more balanced tone across all strings. With two Seths in my Little Georgie Benson I can get very convincing ES-175 tone in the middle position and fat L-5 tone in the neck position. This forum turned me on to them (thank you!).

    Will be getting around to installing a new pair of Seths in my Epiphone Broadway this weekend. I keep my higher end guitars in my office/studio but my Broadway stays in the living room for easy grab and go. While it’s an amazing guitar for the $550 I paid for it, I’ve never loved the overly dull plugged-in tone. The Seths will breathe new life into it.

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by rolijen
    I’m sure the Shaws will be nice. But, I would try the Seth first. They are typically clear and articulate. Not muddy, but mellow. Not overly bright, but present. In fact, in both cases where I’ve used them, they’ve tamed overly bright guitars and resulted in a more balanced tone across all strings. With two Seths in my Little Georgie Benson I can get very convincing ES-175 tone in the middle position and fat L-5 tone in the neck position. This forum turned me on to them (thank you!).

    Will be getting around to installing a new pair of Seths in my Epiphone Broadway this weekend. I keep my higher end guitars in my office/studio but my Broadway stays in the living room for easy grab and go. While it’s an amazing guitar for the $550 I paid for it, I’ve never loved the overly dull plugged-in tone. The Seths will breathe new life into it.
    They will indeed. Same story here. I also was stunned at how good the StewMac Parson Street PAF sounds in there.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  16. #40

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    Friends,

    I finally installed the Seth Lovers in my Epiphone Broadway. While I was at it, I reshaped the bridge saddle a bit to more closely conform to the fretboard radius (the saddle being a bit flatter causing the inner strings to buzz). Now the action is more uniform across all strings. But, the big news is how these pickups completely transformed the guitar. The Epiphone Classic '57s weren't bad at all. But, I had no idea how much better this guitar could sound with better pickups and the Seths are just gorgeous. I‘ll try to record a clip at some point, but for those of you with Broadways, this pickup really opens it up. Mellow, but not muddy (where the Epiphone pickups are fairly dark (almost muddy) and have less clarity. The Seths make this guitar sound very L-5-like with a touch of a Tal Farlow thrown in. I’m getting that L-5 “bark” when I dig in a little. My LGB30, and now my Broadway hang in there with my Gibsons (tonewise) and I'm proud to play them sporting these amazingly good pickups. Enough gushing, but this is guitar number three I've put Seths in and they have significantly improved each. I think they are a safe bet.

    Roli
    Last edited by rolijen; 07-20-2020 at 08:29 AM.

  17. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
    So here we are on July 15, I have a new wiring harness from Pete Biltoft which was sent in a wonderful set-up of a plexiglass template with New 500K CTS pots ready for installation. The old pots (now removed) read from 290K down to 190K.

    He also replaced a p/up cover on a Gibson/Shaw p/up.

    Now I need some time to focus and re-install all of this goodness.

    Can anyone tell me what I'll experience with the Shaw p/up and new pots? I also have on hand: a 57 Classic, a Seymour D. '59, and a Seth Lover.

    I'm kinda jazzed about the SL.
    Pete is pretty great to deal with.

    In terms of putting in the new pots, you will hear a lot more high-end. Those very low resistance values of the old pots means a lot of treble was bleeding off to ground; the resistance of the pots you're installing will have less of that. My guess is that the 190K pot was either the tone or volume pot on your neck pick up. However, the low values may actually have helped the bridge pick up not be so harsh and tinny as it often is. If you find that is the case with the new controls, replacing the bridge pickup volume control with a 250K pot may be helpful.

    If it were me, I would first go with the original pickups and see if the new pots don't solve the problem. In case you were thinking about resale value of the guitar at some point, this will be your best bet. If you still don't like the neck pick up, I would probably default to the Seth Lover pickup of the options you have.

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    Pete is pretty great to deal with.

    In terms of putting in the new pots, you will hear a lot more high-end. Those very low resistance values of the old pots means a lot of treble was bleeding off to ground; the resistance of the pots you're installing will have less of that. My guess is that the 190K pot was either the tone or volume pot on your neck pick up. However, the low values may actually have helped the bridge pick up not be so harsh and tinny as it often is. If you find that is the case with the new controls, replacing the bridge pickup volume control with a 250K pot may be helpful.

    If it were me, I would first go with the original pickups and see if the new pots don't solve the problem. In case you were thinking about resale value of the guitar at some point, this will be your best bet. If you still don't like the neck pick up, I would probably default to the Seth Lover pickup of the options you have.
    Wise words. If it were me, in the end I would test all pickups anyway!

  19. #43

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    You said it Herbie! And so did many others in this thread. Yes, with the options, the guitar and , a soldering iron, I will be trying out all the p/ups, maybe.
    I asked Pete Biltoft about a plug in option to facilitate the testing - he recommended against it - and when I ponder the reality of it, he's right. There could easily be more problems with the plugs - one more (2) connections to worry about.

    But, I am familiar with backing off the volume pot to get a less harsh, and thereby more musical tone from aggressive p/ups. But I'd rather have the excess, and be able to tame it, instead of the other way around, which is what I had in this guitar. Turning my Fender amp TREBLE up to 8 is just not befitting, it leads to other sonic fatigue.

  20. #44

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    I’m excited for you to get that L-5 “bark” back with the restoration of the high frequencies. You’ve got some great pickups to try. If you don’t use quick connectors, won’t you have to gut it over and over?

    I know you’re very experienced so ignore the rest of this response if I’m talking down to you. Just trying to helpful. If I were doing this, I’d Mark with painters tape where the bridge base goes, loosen the strings enough to get them out of the way, Set the bridge aside and gut the guitar. Then, with the pickup cutouts free and clear, I’d take the first pickup, mount it in a ring, then solder a jack direct to the pickup lead. I’d fish that jack through the neck pickup cutout and out the treble f-hole and screw the ring onto the top. String it back up and adjust the bass side of the pickup to 6/64” and treble side to 4/64” and play a favorite tune while recording. Then do the same with the other pickups. Listen to recordings. Heck try it in the neck position even. You’ll probably be able to tell which one sound the sweetest, fattest and juiciest just by trying, but if you get indecisive, use the recordings to choose. Then connect the chosen pickups to your nifty custom made harness once and install it once.

    Each time I gut an archtop, I always think it’s going to be an hour job. But, it always stretches to many hours getting the harness just right so all the connections are perfect, the wiring is neat and tidy and so nothing will show through the f-hole. At the end, I’m always pleased but I swear I’ll never do it again!

    Good luck!

  21. #45

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    Hey Roligen, what are you doing next weekend? You have great ideas, and ... sound experience!!!
    Come on over, and we'll tame this beast!.

    Seriously though, I like your thinking. It is a challenge and a lot of work that will eat up a lot of time. I'm planning on it being worth it.

    Thanks JM

  22. #46

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    Actually, the guitar is gutted right now. All electronics are out, except for the switch and jack - I needed to send the pots to Pete B. for copying. Electronics are a version of 50's wiring.
    The bridge has been marked, strings removed.
    So your method make more than perfect sense.

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Mack
    Hey Roligen, what are you doing next weekend? You have great ideas, and ... sound experience!!!
    Come on over, and we'll tame this beast!.

    Seriously though, I like your thinking. It is a challenge and a lot of work that will eat up a lot of time. I'm planning on it being worth it.

    Thanks JM
    We used to live in western NY. I would have found an excuse to come over!

    Funny thing happened to me on the way to completing this last upgrade—everything went well until adjusting the pickup height. Raising the neck pickup into position was a cinch, but raising the bridge pickup resulted in the pickup wanting to tilt back toward the bridge. Freaky. I’m thinking I must have messed up and cut the bridge pickup wire too short and it’s pulling on the pickup. So, I lower it back down into the ring a little so it will sit flat. Now, it’s not even close to being balanced with that sweet perfect neck pickup. Man, I was starting to dread the thought of gutting the guitar again to fix my mistake.

    Then it hits me... I have an endoscope I got a few years ago to find where a pipe had broken. It’s basically a tiny camera and light on the end of a stiff but bendable USB cable. So I hook it up to my laptop and fish that little camera through the bass f-hole and within 30 seconds I see that I had pinched the bridge pickup wire between the guitar top and one of the pots! It looked as tight as a guitar string. So, all I had to do was pull one knob, loosen the nut on the offending pot, push the pickup wire out of the way, tighten the nut and put the knob back on! Fixed in 1.5 minutes, including camera time. Both pickups at optimal height for balanced fat juicy tone in all three positions of the selector switch. Gotta love tech (or, in this case, the best $25 impulse buy ever)!

    Roli

  24. #48

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    The amazing tool I mentioned in the previous post looks like this:
    Gibson L-5  Improvement-usb-endoscope-jpg
    There are tiny lights inside the head surrounding the camera and the brightness is adjustable via a small thumbwheel control on the usb plug. I think the newer models are better, but this this one works perfectly and was cheap. The new ones are like $22. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....
    Last edited by rolijen; 07-21-2020 at 07:56 AM.

  25. #49

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    Don’t tell anybody but I have changed dozens of pickups in my ES175 1PU by cutting the pickup wire from about 15 cm from the stock pu. After that the change is easy.

    Only bad is that too much loose wire starts to rattle so I have to collect it to a loose package that does not touch the wood inside the guitar.

  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    Classic 57's do have the "patent applied for" sticker.
    A lot of Gibson humbuckers have that sticker, unfortunately.