Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

[JayD.]

I'm looking for pickups to go into my '84 Les Paul Standard. I want to be able to get as traditional a PAF tone for a Les Paul as I can get. I want to get anything from a nice warm Jazz tone all the way to Cream and Zep style tones. Of these pickups, which is the most true to vintage PAF? Also, is there any other pickups you would recommend?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[AlexR]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Go Seth's.....best of the bunch.

 

[JayD.]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Go Seth's.....best of the bunch.

Have you played all these sets? If so, Could explain why you like the Seths better than the others?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

57's are....well....both harsh and muddy at the same time. The originals designed by Tom Holmes were ok, but they changed some of the specs/materials to cheapen production and lost the tone.

The ants are good pickups, but they are a very soft tone - the weakened A2 mag makes them a little saggy.
The Seths I've not tried, but they are like the Ants as reports make them, but with the addition of a full strength mag.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Go Seth's.....best of the bunch.

+1. Seth's set the standard worldwide for PAF's. The tones are exceptional: rich, open and 3D. They were designed by Seymour Duncan and Seth Lover himself, the guy who invented PAF's for Gibson in the mid 1950's You can't get any more authentic than that.

'57's are nothing to get excited about, kind of blurry-sounding with a dull high-end, especially in LP's. They're way overpriced and a run-of-the-mill PAF. God only knows why Gibson puts them in so many models, but many get swapped out. If you want a good Gibson PAF, get Burstbuckers (not BBP's).

Ant's have aged (degaussed) A2's. As it is, fully-charged A2's don't have much treble or output, and aging them reduces those qualities even more. Weak and muffled in my LP. Some us here with Ant's have swapped out their magnets to get some treble in them.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Of the three I'd go with Seths. I prefer the tone. The Ants are a little mellow and the 57's are great but not quite the equal of the Seths.

But, of course, if it was my Les Paul and I was going to use Duncans, I'd put nickel covered Pearly Gates in it. With vintage style braided cables...not modern 4 conductor cables.

And I'd experiment with wiring the tone controls modern vs. 50's. I'd probably go with modern - but I'd see what sounded best to me in that particular guitar.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

I have all three. I prefer the Seth's in my SG/LP reissue. The Ants sound amazing in my '87 LP Custom (my personal favorite pickup). The '57 Classics are fine, but aren't as rich or articulate as the other two.

 

[JayD.]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

You 87' LP Custom has a ebony board correct? My LP is a standard. Do you think my rosewood board would rob too much high end?

I have all three. I prefer the Seth's in my SG/LP reissue. The Ants sound amazing in my '87 LP Custom (my personal favorite pickup). The '57 Classics are fine, but aren't as rich or articulate as the other two.

 

[JayD.]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

It would seem that Seths seem to be the preferred pickup so far. I think I'll definitely take the 57' classic off the list. My friend is putting pearly in his guitar soon so I'll have a chance to try that as well. Is there any other PAF from another pickup company that I should be looking at? I've heard clips of the Sheptone tributes and the Fralin PAF. Would any of there be preferable to the Seths or Ants?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

It would seem that Seths seem to be the preferred pickup so far. I think I'll definitely take the 57' classic off the list. My friend is putting pearly in his guitar soon so I'll have a chance to try that as well. Is there any other PAF from another pickup company that I should be looking at? I've heard clips of the Sheptone tributes and the Fralin PAF. Would any of there be preferable to the Seths or Ants?

There are so many pickup makers these days that it can get confusing fast. Any pickup you mention will have players who swear by it.

The only humbuckers I've found that I think are clearly equal to the best Duncans are those handmade by Tom Holmes and those go for just under $1000 a set!

And it's not like they're four times better than Seth Lovers or Duncan Pearly Gates.

To my ears, a nickel covered set of PG's are very similar to the Tom Holmes.

I'd go with Seths or PG's.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Another vote for the Seths...I have em in my own LP! Didn't care at all for the Gibson 57s.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

57's are great but not quite the equal of the Seths.

That's an understatement.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

I'd go with Seths or PG's.

There are some PG fans here, god bless them, but I sold my set as I could never get the quality of tones I wanted from them. But that's in an LP, they sound different in Strats. On the other hand, I have half a dozen sets of Seths. To me they have few equals.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

That's an understatement.

A lot of dislike for 57 Classics comes from them being used with something other than 500K pots.

They sound dark and lacking in treble with 250K or 300K pots.

Gibson, of course, used 500K pots in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, etc.

But for whatever reason Gibson started putting, I believe, 300K pots in their guitars by 2000...much like you do with your import Epiphone guitars Bluesman.

That's a guaranteed tone killer.

My 2000 Gibson ES-335 came with 57 Classics originally and, I believe, 300K pots and it sounded dull until Jol Dantzig kindly offered to rewire my ES-335 with 500K pots.

Made a huge improvement in the tone and the treble I remembered being there in every other real Gibson ES-335 I'd ever owned was there again.

I don't use 57 Classics in anything and my ES-335 has Tom Holmes humbuckers in it, but 57 Classics sound a lot better with the "right" pots.

But all that said, I like Seth Lovers, Pearly Gates and AII Pros - all are alnico 2 humbuckers.

And if a player wanted something slightly warmer, with a slightly hollow character, the Antiquitys are great.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

I've had all three in Les Pauls and I also vote for the Seths.

'57 Classics just sounded all fat and muddy to me. Didn't like them at all.

Seths - Warm but clear, honky mids, bags of character. Perfect for "nice warm Jazz tone all the way to Cream and Zep style tones"

Ants - Similar to Seths but slightly less output and slightly less high end. Absolutely fine pickups but I like that little extra from the Seths.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

You 87' LP Custom has a ebony board correct? My LP is a standard. Do you think my rosewood board would rob too much high end?

No, I don't think so. I've never noticed a big difference between the ebony & the rosewood fingerboards on other LP's

The Ants have a nice top end that cuts through nicely

(Yes, my Custom has an ebony fretboard)

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

There are some PG fans here, god bless them, but I sold my set as I could never get the quality of tones I wanted from them. But that's in an LP, they sound different in Strats. On the other hand, I have half a dozen sets of Seths. To me they have few equals.

Totally agree..Not a fan of the PG in my LP and I hated the 57s even more..To me they were actually harsh and not warm in my guitar/setup. The seths are awesome! Also I much prefer a Seth neck over the PGN.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

84? First thing to check is your pots. Gibson went as far as using 100k pots....yes you read that correctly 100k pots. So put a meter on the shell and the hot lug and see what it reads. If it reads 100k change the pots first then report back if you still need pups, and if so what you want to change. Also check out the back of the pups and tell us what they say.

As to new pups....anything but 57 Classics...

To me all Gibson pups since the Shaws have a grainy quality I just don't care for. Going with the list you tossed up you have to ask yourself if you want a PAF as it existed on paper and would have sounded new, or do you want a PAF as it was and aged for 50 years and then tossed in your LP.

Some guys love the deguassed magnets, some don't. You'll know in short order how you feel about em. They are high sensitive, so you might have to fiddle with them for a few days while playing through your rig before getting dialed in correctly. What that means is the delicate balancing act of raising the whole pup, raising 2 or 3 screws or a combination of both.

I started with Ants, but I went with a Seth neck in my R8 and Custom Shop '78 made with Seth parts for the bridge. The Seth neck is warm and smooth, and the '78 is vintage hot, aggressive and chewy. I was trying to go with the idea of tossing in a a set of pups and them aging around the guitar.

 

[JayD.]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

I use a Jazz neck/Custom 5 combo in all my other guitars. How would that set do in a LP. Just curious..........

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Antiquites, Seths, or 57' Classics?

Sounds like the Seths are the way to go. Everyone might disagree here and there, but seems like the commonality is the universal love for the Seth Lover.

Me too. My old Hamer Studio came with a JB & 59 combo (or maybe it was a JB & Jazz combo - can't remember) but for a while it was sort of my humbucker test guitar.

I put Fralins in it, then a Antiquitys in it and then tha Seth neck & Custom 5 (to bright for me) and then stuck with a set of the Seths.

So five sets of pickups total and the Seths were my favorites. More output and clearer highs than the Antiquity.