Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

[poundthecheddar]

I am wondering how similar these two sets of pickups are. I am wondering if the alnico II's are a cheaper alternative to the Seth's. I am on a tight budget and I like the tone of the Seth's but wonder if the alnico II's are close to the same thing.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

I wouldn't say they are all that similar to be honest. I love the tone of Seth's in the right guitar. That being said, I use my Alnico II Pros every day and I really love them. The A2P's rank higher than the Seth's on my list.

 

[poundthecheddar]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Thanks for the reply SnakeAces. Could you explain how they are different. I was planning to buy Seth's but the lack of waxpotting, and the extra cash knd of turnd me off. I was thinking about the 59 set but I am putting the pickups in an Epi Dot and which is a fairly bright guitar so I think I might be better of with a warmer A2 type pickup. I also intend to play some Joe Pass style jazz so I wonder if the 59 neck might be too boomy for that application.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Thanks for the reply SnakeAces. Could you explain how they are different. I was planning to buy Seth's but the lack of waxpotting, and the extra cash knd of turnd me off. I was thinking about the 59 set but I am putting the pickups in an Epi Dot and which is a fairly bright guitar so I think I might be better of with a warmer A2 type pickup. I also intend to play some Joe Pass style jazz so I wonder if the 59 neck might be too boomy for that application.

Well, both the Seth's and the A2P's have A2 mags. That being said, I find the Seth's to be a bit more open with a touch more sparkle. I think the Alnico II Pro has a slightly bigger low end. They are similar on mids but the A2P has more rounded highs but still very defined.

The 59's are nice too. If you find any neck humbucker to be boomy in a guitar an easy solution is to use a no-load tone pot with a lower value cap like 0.010μf. Pretty much works every time. I use this setup with my Alnico II Pro neck humbucker too and it sounds fantastic.

 

[poundthecheddar]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Well that is is very informative. On a slightly different topic. I am thinking of going from a set of 10's to a set of 9's and I have heard alnico II's sound too thin with 9's. Do you have any opinion on this issue?

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Well that is is very informative. On a slightly different topic. I am thinking of going from a set of 10's to a set of 9's and I have heard alnico II's sound too thin with 9's. Do you have any opinion on this issue?

I couldn't say. I've been using 10's on all my guitars since the year 2000 now. I'm sure somebody could chime in on the matter around here.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

I have heard alnico II's sound too thin with 9's. Do you have any opinion on this issue?

Yes. Don't trust the source!

 

[poundthecheddar]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

"don't trust the source" ha funny

 

[blueman335]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

I am thinking of going from a set of 10's to a set of 9's and I have heard alnico II's sound too thin with 9's. Do you have any opinion on this issue?

Not true. All I use is 9's. Choose the string gauge you're most comfortable with. I have a friend who's a fulltime musician that I took lessons from, that tried to get me to switch to 10's, but after being here, I learned how to get a full, heavy sound from 9's, and I can't bend nearly as well with 10's. Why screw up my playing for strings someone else says I should use? There's a lot of other factors to tone besides strings.

 

[poundthecheddar]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

That is good info blueman, thanks

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

if you are going to play joe pass style jazz, you should consider going for heavier strings. 9's are pretty wimpy even on the long scale of a fender axe. With the slacker tension of a 335, 9s are just too flappy under the right hand. For joe pass style jazz you want heavy picks and heavy strings, and a super low action. Have a look at some flatwounds too because they minimize noise when playing clean and sliding chords around.
Re: a2p. they are great for jazz. i have one in the neck of my 175. The real key to getting a great jazz tone tho, is what kind of amp you are running through.

 

[ItsaBass]

Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Seths are generally cleaner and clearer than A2Ps, in no small part because they are a bit lower in output. This especially holds true when comparing the two neck models to each other. They are very notably different sounding pickups. The A2P neck is noticeably hotter and muddier than the Seth neck (though not muddy in the grand scheme of things).

The two bridge models are closer in tone. IME, the A2P bridge seems a little hotter (in terms of output), yet brighter than the Seth bridge. The Seth is a little bit warmer and quieter - more "laid back."

I would say that the A2P bridge is a very good "poor man's" alternative to the Seth bridge. They're not too far from each other. However, I wouldn't try to replace the Seth neck with a cheaper alternative. There is no other Duncan pickup that does what it does nearly as well as it does.

I would go for a used Seth set myself. That way you'd get the Seths, but below the price of brand new A2Ps.

 

[Studioplayer]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

I use 10s on my guitars and have done so for a long time. They are just a very good all 'round gauge. I've had good results for several styles of music from the Duncan '59s. If the neck '59 is tweaked a bit, there are Joe Pass-like tones buried in it. As stated above, the type of amp plays a large role for Joe Pass tones. I believe he used a Polytone amp many times.

I'm about to replace my own '59s for the a set of Seth Lovers. I'm interested to see if I can get convincing Jazz' tones from the Seth neck pickup. In my own past experience, I've been able to find decent Jazz sounds from most pickups that are not classified as higher output, but rather, lower to medium gain. A lot of that has to do withn the types of chords and chord inversions that I play as well as type of pick and whether I use the rounded side or the pointed side of the pick. A lot of variables to consider in addition to the type of pickup.

Studioplayer

 

[poundthecheddar]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Yes I won't be playing Joe Pass style stuff if I switch to 9's. Thank's everybody. I think I can make a decision now.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Didn't Les Paul play 9s?

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[blueman335]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Didn't Les Paul play 9s?

Is there a list of players with full-bodied tones that used 9's and 8's? A lot of guys have who you couldn't tell by listening to them. I'm against going to higher strings if you can't play as well with them. Why do it?

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Is there a list of players with full-bodied tones that used 9's and 8's? A lot of guys have who you couldn't tell by listening to them. I'm against going to higher strings if you can't play as well with them. Why do it?

Billy Gibbons plays 7s and 8s. He even has signature string sets.

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[Myaccount876]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

Brian May has used 9's and even 8's on a 24" scale guitar. Tony Iommi uses 8's on Gibson scale lengths while tuned down. Smaller strings do not mean crap tone. If you have crap tone, look first to the player, not the gear.

 

[donaldr]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

BB King told Billy Gibbons to try '7s. I thing they have great tone...
I play '10 (DR 10-52) on most of my guitars but I switch lately to '11 (EB 11-48) on my Les Paul. Funny thing, they are as easy to play as my '10.

 

[LesPaulPlayer]

Re: Seth Lover's verses Alnico II?

This could be useless since this is so late after the original post... :smack:

I've swapped back and forth between AIIPros and Seths many times in my Les Paul with PIO caps, CTS pots and 50's wiring. I don't disagree with what others have already posted and will add that the Seths have a more distinctive "PAF" quality to them. They sound slightly microphonic and honky in a way that reminds me of old recordings of players using vintage PAFs back in the day. The AIIPros do lack, IMO, a bit of "magic" in comparison. They are just a bit more "plain" and a bit less complex in the their tone and response. That description makes the AIIPro sound bad, but that would be incorrect. They are great pickups. Perhaps even better than the Seths for heavier, more metalish music styles. But the Seths are closer to a PAF sound if that's what is desired.