SD '59s versus Seth Lover, in older H150

[nuke]

Anyone have direct experience swapping out a pair of Seymour Duncan 59's for a pair of Seth Lovers SH-55 pickups? 

I have a '98 H150 that was a special run with SD59's and standard tune-o-matic bridge/tail from the factory.  It's also a lighter one, about 8-3/4 lbs. I've owned it for over 20 years now. Use it as a work-horse. 

The 59's are ok-ish, but I find them a bit aggressive and in general, I find they have in this, and many other guitars, a treble peak that's a bit harsh. It isn't overly bright, but it just has a peak in the wrong place to my ears.

The original pots from Heritage were like the Norlin era-Gibson, 100k tone and 300k volumes, which darkened it up quite a bit. When a couple of the pots showed wear, I changed them to the more typical 500k and "50's wiring" since I like to roll the volumes up and down a lot while playing. 

I like the low-output PAF sound a lot, clear, articulate, bright but not harsh. A friend put throBaks in his Gibson R9 and that's the direction I'd like to go, but not $900 in that direction.

 

 

[rwinking]

I have the Seth Lovers in my H-535 and I think you are right as far as them being smoother (If that is what you are saying?) especially on the top end. I have  Dimarzio Anniversary PAFs in a couple of other guitars and they seem to have the same great tone and an identical high end. I am not sure that I could tell the difference btw the Seth Lovers and the Dimarzios. I love them both.

[tsp17]

To my ear, Seths are much better, but that’s just me.  I haven’t done a direct swap, but when I’ve played similar guitars with Seths, i notice the musical and textural difference.  Seths are more articulate, organic, smoother and just sound better for what i am looking for.  You may have a different experience.  I’ve had 59s in multiple guitars and only found them to sound great in one.  Even in that one i swapped for a Benedetto B-6 and it was better for my use.  That said, 59s sounded VERY good in that specific guitar (H575).  

 

[eljay]

fwiw, I have a 535 with 59s and one with Seths. The Seths are sweeter and smoother. I plan to sell the 59-equipped guitar but will keep the 535 with the Seth Lovers.

[nuke]

Thanks guys, it is really hard to describe "tone", but I want that nice, bright, but not harsh top end. The 59's are good, especially with more gain/distortion. But I tend to play on the edge of break up most of the time and even sometimes quite clean and bluesy.  The 59's seem to have a peak in the 1khz-2khz frequencyrange that grates a bit on my ears. 

I wish I had money for the ThroBaks, they sounded so incredibly sweet in my friend's R9. 

Now to find a deal on a set...

[bolero]

check out Wolfetone Legends too. I have set in my '97 H150 & they are the bomb

I like Seth Lovers as well

Edited February 7 by bolero
well

[eljay]

On the subject of Wolfetones, I have a brand new set of Wolfetone Dr. Vintage, box never opened, that I'll sell for $190, shipped, lower 48. Dr. Vintage are similar to Legends.

Edited February 8 by eljay

[DetroitBlues]

Can't say I've swapped for them... 

But my 2023 H150 has SD '59 in the neck and bridge and my 1985 H140 has a SD '55 (Seth Lover) in the bridge.  I gig with both of them.

Tone wise, they both sound great, but I get a lot more feedback with a Seth Lover when I've got the gain up a little high.

Either one works well for just about anything, just be mindful of the unpotted Seth Lover's.

Pic for reference:

Edited February 13 by DetroitBlues

[rockabilly69]

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...

 

 

 

[MartyGrass]

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

[nuke]

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. 

Edited February 18 by nuke

[rockabilly69]

On 2/18/2026 at 12:01 AM, nuke said:

I wonder how much is wood and how much is pickups. 

You could always swap the pickups in the H150 and the LP and see if the tone follows the pickups, then you'll know the answer to that  What do I think? Because those pickups aren't potted, I think it's the wood. 

[nuke]

Yeah it’s weird. The Gibson Custom Buckers 3 are un-potted just like the Seth Lovers. The Custom Buckers have alnico III magnets. 
 

I decided to take electrical measurements of the Custom Buckers 3. The neck and bridge exactly the same in the set. They measure up at 4.4H inductance and about 7.4k. I will chalk it up to alnico 3, versus the Lovers with alnico 2 and the 59’s with alnico 5. 

I’ll check the magnetic field too for comparison. Just didn’t have the gauss meter out.  

 

[JeffB]

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.   

 

Edited February 21 by JeffB

[les paulverizer]

My 30-something yrs old H150 came with Schaller pup's, "Golden 50s" I think, which I swapped for Seymour Duncan Antiquities, the a SD '59 in the neck, then I put a first production Gibson '57+ (the Tom Holmes ones!) and it always sounded wonderful.

Not for nothing it's called a pick-up, after all the acoustic sound of the guitar is what every pickup has as the basis for the sound it will eventually produce, unless one goes through extreme processing, then the guitar becomes "almost" irrelevant because 99% of what we hear is the effects: 

Anyway, few years ago I fitted a set of OX4 "Beano" pups on my H150 (I also have a set of OX4 "Jimmy Page" on my Gibson '58 Reissue) and oh my God, who ever said that perfection is not of this world has never tried this combo! It's just "that" sound and it has everything, sustain, thick while extremely dynamic, sensitive to the touch and changes in Volume or Tone controls on the guitar, a perfect EQ with just the right balance of bass - mids & treble....as I said perfect, and these are the only pups that hit me like that, love at first chord.

I have to say that I tend to go for a very simple set up guitar - 1 or 2 pedals - Marshall on crunch, however I am a professional musicians hance at time I h=found myself playing though elaborate set up, both live and in the studio (I used this guitar straight to the console when laying down parts for a Netflix soundtrack...) nevertheless the results have never been short of impressive!

That's my experience anyway...