Seth Lover or Antiquity

[jwaltb]

Hi all. Would like some advice.... I have a '75 LP Deluxe that's been routed for full size humbuckers. I currently have an older Jazz neck and a Pearly Gates bridge. I'd like to add something to brighten up the neck a bit as I find the jazz a little too dark and bass heavy for my tastes. Also, the pearly gates seems to be too one dimensional or "flat". Not bad distorted but I don't care for the clean sound. Been reading a good bit about the antiquity and seth lover sets. Would any of you care to suggest one over the other, and what differences you find between the two? Or... if you have a different idea, I'd like to hear it.

THanks,
Jim B.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

- Seth's have a great open 3-D sound, highly recommended. I have a few Seth sets and love them.

- JazzN's are a relatively bright HB. To get it brighter, you can wire a push-pull for coil cut or parallel.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

The Jazz is going to be the brightest neck pickup out of the bunch... the Antiquities and Seths are a little more "open" sounding due to their lack of wax potting. They don't quite have the upper midrange presence that the Jazz has... that's why people usually consider the Jazz one of the brighter humbuckers out there. The Seth Lovers have a lower midrange presence with a darker attack... the Antiquities are more balanced but have a subdued attack.

You mentioned the pearly gates as "flat". The Pearly Gates is all about the attack with very little bloom... lends itself to articulation & has neat and pronounced "sonic edges" but could be perceives as flat for those looking for a PAF with bloom. FWIW, the Antiquities humbucker set have a TON of bloom... this makes the pickup seem more lively and gives it a great amount of depth. Not brighter though... but certainly not flat sounding.

One thing you could do, is the capacitor in series with the neck pickup mod... the Antiquities with that mod would give you the depth you are looking for but with tighter bass.

 

[Stickymongoose]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

If you've got a meter handy, you might want to check the neck pot values. Even if your tone pots are marked 500k, the tolerance on those parts is pretty bad. If you've got one that came out closer to 300-400k, it's going to sound like your tone knob is always rolled down slightly. The tone cap values can be off in the same way. You could also try a lower value cap in there. I've gone with .02 or .01 caps with some humbuckers, which also makes the tone control more useful for me.

That said, I'm a Seth fanboy. I'd put those in my cat if it would stay still long enough.

 

[jwaltb]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

All good responses. Thanks, much appreciated. I believe I'll give these a try before going further.

JB

 

[superpete]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

havent used an ant, but the seth in the neck of a les paul sounds almost too good to me. i've used PGn, 59n, WLHn, 496r, 490r, and a 57 classic in the neck position of les pauls and the seth was my favorite by far.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

Ant... PGn, 59n, WLHn, 496r, 490r, and a 57 classic in the neck position of les pauls and the seth was my favorite by far.

+1. Same here. Seth beats them all, hands down.

 

[Stickymongoose]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

On a sort of related note, has anybody seen the sellers on Amazon offering Antiquity sets for way below normal prices? I almost ordered one when I got my last pair of Seths, but chickened out. They're shipping from overseas, so it would take forever to get straightened out if they aren't as described. I'm guessing they're either fake or mislabeled. If not, they'd be a steal. Maybe something I should just contact SD directly about.

edit: Email sent, I'll let you know.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

A JAzz being too bassy and heavy and a PG being too "flat"?
That doesn't make sense to me.
What amp are you using?
Also...what value pots are you using?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

Yeah the descriptions go against my own experiences, but that happens sometimes. Maybe the wood is really mid or bass heavy? Maybe there is a wiring issue? Wore the pickups directly to the jack to rule out any other issues first. However, a Seth set has improved every single LP I have heard them in.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

Yeah the descriptions go against my own experiences, but that happens sometimes. Maybe the wood is really mid or bass heavy? Maybe there is a wiring issue? Wore the pickups directly to the jack to rule out any other issues first. However, a Seth set has improved every single LP I have heard them in.

+1. Some guitars/woods are noticeably brighter or warmer than the norm.

I can't see anyone wanting PAF's not being excited about having Seth's in their guitar.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Seth Lover or Antiquity

FWIW, Pearly Gates, Seth Lover and Antiquity bridge and necks go great together depending on what exact configuration can get the tone and feel you are looking for.