My Seth is muddy - should it be?

bgood

bgood

New member
I have a SD Seth Lover in my ASAT bluesboy and it's muddy. The only reason it's still there is that when combined with the bridge pup it sounds incredible. I want to get more bite and edge out of it and less WOOF. I guess I mean more modern bucker sounds.

I have the bass end of it down to the pickguard. high side pole pieces up a little. Any ideas for me? Is this normally a VERY warm PUP?

BTW - at high volume - it's much better, lower to mid volume is when it's overly middy and at low volume it's just plain mud.

Comments appreciated.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

bgood said:
BTW - at high volume - it's much better, lower to mid volume is when it's overly middy .
Click to expand...


Amp? Wattage? Speaker power?

It sounds better at high volume...BIG hint right there. Yes, it is a warm pickup. It's supposed to be. But if you're playing a 100 watt stack, it's understandable that you have to get it going a little before it starts to sound good.

Another thing...

Pickup height makes a big difference for me, I like them high. Seems brighter to me, not darker. So if you raise that sucker (3/32" ?) you might see some nicer results. Give it a shot. Play with it.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

Well the reason it might sound better louder is because cranked amp has more presence to it and less compression.

Also yes like what korovamilkdud said, pickup height. The lower it is the more boomy the low end gets which is probably why its so muddy sounding. You will probably want to raise it up high to tame the lose bottom end you have from the bass side of the pickup being inside of the pickguard.

Also, the pickup is warm. I've never used them but it was because they are so warm from what I heard. A Jazz, PGn, A2P are some options with the A2P being the warmest of them. I like bright neck PUs and for awhile I used a PGn.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

I've only ever used a Seth bridge and that was as clear as a bell.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

It shouldn't be muddy at all. Pots, caps, bad solder joint? Your top end is going somewhere besides the output jack.

It's there somewhere...
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

ACH91332 said:
Also yes like what korovamilkdud said, pickup height. The lower it is the more boomy the low end gets which is probably why its so muddy sounding. You will probably want to raise it up high to tame the lose bottom end you have from the bass side of the pickup being inside of the pickguard.
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What they said. Lower pu height = bassier, less highs, and yep, more mud.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

bgood said:
I have a SD Seth Lover in my ASAT bluesboy and it's muddy. The only reason it's still there is that when combined with the bridge pup it sounds incredible. I want to get more bite and edge out of it and less WOOF. I guess I mean more modern bucker sounds.

I have the bass end of it down to the pickguard. high side pole pieces up a little. Any ideas for me? Is this normally a VERY warm PUP?

BTW - at high volume - it's much better, lower to mid volume is when it's overly middy and at low volume it's just plain mud.

Comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

The very design of this p'up makes it smooth and warm but no muddy at all... what p'up do you have at the bridge position? Seems that you're having the dreaded 490R/498T syndrome, which's nothing but a bad magnet pairing.

We're all ears!
 
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Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

bgood said:
I want to get more bite and edge out of it and less WOOF. I guess I mean more modern bucker sounds.

Comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

The obvious comment is, if you desire modern HB sounds, why did you purchase a model that is intended to emulate the original vintage design - right down to "oversights" such as single wax potting.

On a more helpful note, if the body of the ASAT BB is Ash, it would be expected to have strong treble and bass resonances but not as much midrange as Alder or Mahogany. Hence, your actual problem is not excessive low end but insufficient midrange.

I suggest changing to a Pearly Gates N humbucker with metal cover.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

Thanks for all the responses. Not sure on the values of the pots or cap is as I have not had the guitar apart. The Bluesboys are designed with the PUP pair from the ground up. The bridge is a G&L MFD tele bridge.

I suspect my lack of understanding on PUP height is causing it. I have the Seth really low - thinking that would have helped. Apparently from the comments it has the opposite effect. I'll raise it up high and play it at rehearsal tonight.

volume - no 100 watt stacks. dimed Tweed Deluxe or an 18 watt clone are my usual amps - pretty mid heavy I realize. I'll probably be running it through a Twin Reverb tonight which should give me plenty of high end. After raising it up and putting it through the TR - if it's still muddy it will be gone. I'm hoping not.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

Robert S. said:
It shouldn't be muddy at all. Pots, caps, bad solder joint? Your top end is going somewhere besides the output jack.

It's there somewhere...
Click to expand...

Yes! I bet this is it. A bad solder joint can make any pickup sound horrendous. Try soldering everything again.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

G & L has been using Seths in Bluesboys for several years now, so I'd suspect the problem is not the pickup.

If you're playing through a tweed Deluxe, try the #2 input and see if that helps. Lots of folks have problems getting humbuckers to have a clean tone through those amps.
 
Re: My Seth is muddy - should it be?

WOW Just raised it up to about 1/8 of an inch below the strings mostly even across. BIG improvement. Did a few minutes through my Trinity sIII. Big smile on my face. I found the high end. THANKS

I can't believe I was so sure that raising it up would make it worse I never even tried it.
 
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