Antiquity vs Seth Lover question

[jazzkritter]

Hi! First post here)))
Curious between the Seth Lover and Antiquity PAFs which would be the optimal choice for an archtop to get a nice mellow but well articulated sound for chord melody.
i see a lot of jazzers swearing by the Seth Lover. I have an Antiquity sitting here, wondering should i go for it and install or get the SL?
thanks in advance!!!
jk

 

[Clint 55]

They're similar. The main difference I notice is the Ant has the aged covers so that makes the sound a little more rustic. Also the winds are slightly different and the Ants have degaussed magnets. You can't go wrong with either set. Just choose which flavor you want. The Seths sound a little warmer and cleaner to me (in the neck).

 

[Blille]

Welcome! I saw your post in the other forum

If you have it sitting there I would definitely try it. It’s a great pickup. And agree with Clint that it is not that different.

If you don’t like it after trying it because of x, y or z, we can then tell you which other pickup would do whatever you need better.

 

[jazzkritter]

Oh the other forum)))
See i have this all maple Ibanez PM200, and have never been happy with the Silent 58 MIJ that was in it. Tried a lot of others (36th, A6, a Super 58, others) but could not get a good warm tone. I have a Fralin Modern PAF in now which i do like alot. But the majority on that other forum keep pointing to the SD SL. So id like to see whats best from the SD line. Maybe i will start with the Ant, im ok with ordering a SL though. First world problems lol.
tnx jk

 

[Clint 55]

The Seth or Ant is gonna be thinner than the Fralin. He makes pretty punchy pups.

If you want to make the Fralin fatter you can put a double thick A2 in it.

The fattest Duncan is gonna be the 59 bridge.

 

[Mincer]

For traditional archtop tone, I'd go with the Antiquities, as they sound amazing for jazz. I have them in an ES335 clone. The Seths seem to excel with a hint of overdrive (pedal or tube amp).

 

[GuitarStv]

I had a chance to play two 335s with the same wiring back to back, one with antiquities and one with Seth Lovers. Seths are slightly higher output from what I remember and the antiquities were a little cleaner. Very similar pickups. I feel like if you played around enough with the heights you could get them to sound the same.

 

[Sprinter]

I was going to ask the same question. My Heritage, H535 has Seth Lover pickups and they're awesome. I'm considering changing the pickups in my '99 Les Paul Standard. After reading the replies here, I'm going to save a little money and go with the Seth Lovers.

 

[Mincer]

I was going to ask the same question. My Heritage, H535 has Seth Lover pickups and they're awesome. I'm considering changing the pickups in my '99 Les Paul Standard. After reading the replies here, I'm going to save a little money and go with the Seth Lovers.

I bet the Seths are the right choice here.

 

[beaubrummels]

In a Les Paul Standard, I'd recommend a Brobucker bridge / Seth neck. More versatile IME. In mine, that pair made my LP sound like Tom Johnston's ES-335.