Leaderboard

Well, I scored a used set of 2016 Seth Lovers on FleaBay, reasonable price and already patina'd and "pre-aged" from natural wear and tear, so they look right in this workhorse guitar with its own natural wear and tear. The harshness I heard with the stock 59's is reduced, the Seth Lovers are more bell-like, clear, and I think a step in the right direction for me anyway. I took measurements of inductance and capacitance at 120hz, DCR, and magnetic field strength while they were out. SD-59 Bridge: 5.016 H, 350nF Cs, 59.47 nF Cp, DCR 8.27k, field 40mt at the top screws. SD-59 Neck: 4.191 H, 419.6 nF Cs, 65.84 nF Cp, DCR 7.236k, field 40mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Bridge: 4.76 H, 369.6 nF Cs, 58 nF Cp, DCR 8.202k, field 37mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Neck: 4.00 H, 438.7 nF Cs, 58.84 nF Cs, DCR7.59kk, field 37mt at the top screws. I compared the Seth Lovers now installed in my 1998 H150, with Faber hardware and lightweight locking Gotoh tuners, against my Gibson Custom Shop R0, 60th anniversary edition, with its stock Custom Bucker III pickups in it, unpotted like the Seth Lovers. Both have 50's wiring, paper-in-oil caps. The biggest difference is weight, the H150 being 8lbs and 13oz, the Gibson Les Paul is a svelte 8lbs, 1oz. (not chambered). The Gibson is more lush, with a bit more overtones, the neck being on the dark side and the bridge having a good bit more brightness and snap. It does that, "beefy telecaster" thing. Though both pickups are the same in the set. The H150 with Seths is more forward sounding, brighter, punchy, but doesn't have the same rich overtones as the Gibson. They're quite distinctly different sounding guitars, in spite of their close similarities. Both have the pickups set to the exact same height, both wearing pure nickel strings. With nearly a pound of weight difference between them (about 13oz) I wonder how much is wood and how much is pickups.

When I got my H150 I thought it had Seths in it. It didnt, it had 59s. I cant remember why I thought they were seth's. I loved the sounds I got out of the guitar, cleans, low gain, high gain, neck or bridge. I talked about Seths as though they were the best things. After a few years I found out they were 59s....lol. So I swapped them for seths. Didnt like the guitar so much after that, played it less. Eventually I put the 59s back in and joy was restored. Then I temporarily swapped the guitar with a friend for a gibson R59. When we traded our guitars back to each other the SD 59s were in the case and it had SD antiquities and new potentiometers. He thought he was giving me a gift, a nice surprise. He is a lovely guy, a good friend, he meant well... it had lost some of the immediate rocknroll crack and snap, there was a lazy fizz and ear fatiguing boxy mid honk. It lost some the sweetness and clarity when played through a clean amp. It had lost chug and that deep percussive "thunk" That was 10yrs ago, the SD antiquities are still in it. I never got around to putting it back to original. Sounds great, its a really good sounding guitar. Some where during that 10yrs the pick ups just conformed to my expectations and developed all the traits I liked of the SD59s.

One thing is a clear difference. Tap the cover of a Seth and you will hear a click. No wax. Not a big deal.

This might be a little off course, but if you are looking for low output style PAFs, check out the Duncan Jazz pickup in both neck and bridge, I was taken a back at how good these pickups sounded. A realsleeper set! I liked them better than the Seths and 59's! Great clarity in the neck, and the bridge was perfect for on the edge of distortion sounds with a great mid honk. Here's a set plugged right into my Marshall...

check out Wolfetone Legends too. I have set in my '97 H150 & they are the bomb I like Seth Lovers as well

My buddy got a PRS SE Hollowbody II with the Piezo pickup as well as the humbuckers. I played it through one of the new Fender Vibro champ reissues for hours until he took it from me and said don't you have somewhere you have to be?. I absolutely fell in love with that guitar, and now here I am smitten once again.