Bridge: Seth Lover vs. JB

[NT02]

I've got the Seth Lover in my Les Paul. It's an awesome pickup. I played a set-neck Telecaster Esquire Custom the other day that has a JB in it, and I was giddy at the tone. I wonder how much that has to do with the differences in guitars. Now I'm thinking about a pickup swap. Can the voices of experience inform me of the differences I can expect with a JB in the bridge position of my LP?

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bridge: Seth Lover vs. JB

The Seth is more balanced and smooth across all the frequencies and has vintage output. If you pull out the Seth and put in a JB, you'll notice a big boost in upper mids, and also a little bit more output that might make artificial harmonics easier to pull off. I like the JB most in guitars that sound a tad hollow. LP's have good mids, so I think the Seth, Custom 5 and Custom Custom are my favorites for Pauls.
The C-5 is like a ballsier vintage pickup like a Seth or 59
The CC is kind of like a JB, except the mids are focused toward the low mids, rather than high mids. Hope that helps.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Bridge: Seth Lover vs. JB

In the average Les Paul (meaning it has plenty of natural beef), the JB would probably would sound pretty good. It would give you more output and probably more bite than the Seth, which even with less output gives you more low end. It can't hurt to try it out -- you can always yank it and put the Seth back in.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bridge: Seth Lover vs. JB

I tend to think of the Custom Custom as the Seth Lover Hot.
The C-5 is like a 59 Hot.
The JB is kind of it's own vibe, which you either like or dislike, due to the bump in upper mids.

 

[NT02]

Re: Bridge: Seth Lover vs. JB

cool, thanks for the responses. I'm thinking I might just try it out.