Would you say, the WLH set is a GOOD PAF remake/clone/copy ?

[Teleplayer]

Thanks Teleplayer.

One would think that the Seth Lover set would be theee most accurate PAF of the lot of 'em.
Seeing as the man himself was involved with Seymour to help in the creation of his very own design (way back, when he worked for Gibson).

I haven't tried those so I can't speak from experience. I got the impression the SH-55 seth lover is suited for cleaner styles like actual Jazz tones. Also the Seth Lover is not wax potted, so that may be a concern.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Clint 55]

I agree with the previous posts. The WLH is based off a PAF, it's a little hotter, but has this midrange grit to it. So it kind of turns out as its own thing. Seths, Ants, and 59s sound the most accurate to me. Jazz/A2P is based of a PAF but is super clean and modern so kind of different. The Slash sounds somewhat PAF-y to me.

 

[orpheo]

I disagree with the alnico 2 pro being akin to a (proper) PAF clone. It's got formvar insulation if I recall correctly (Just like the Jazz, which has anything BUT plain enamel!), that's what gives the Alnico2pro that slightly 'hairy' tone, the edge (balanced out by the alnico2; think of it like salted caramel: sweet and salty at the same time).

The WLH has a more accurate insulation if I recall correctly, plain enamel, and the DCR still falls within Gibson's spec range from the late 50ies. After all, there are original PAF's wound up to 9.2, 9.3K. It's just not typical, but there are examples out there so it's not that far off.

So I guess I'm the alternate voice saying that the WLH is in a way a decent PAF clone.

Joe's pickups are odd. His first set (which I have, by the way) is in structure a PAF clone but not a direct copy. It was made to emulate the tone of that particular les paul and I believe that his other pickups were made with that same mindset: to emulate the tone of that guitar, not perse be a clone of the pickups from that guitar. Same for the Pearly Gates.

Speaking of pickups I wanna try: I tried the proto of the WLH and that was sweet and great and amazing but never the production version. WLH, Saturday Night, Perpetual Burn: those are on my wishlist to try. I've got almost 100 guitars and still no guitar left to try this set

 

[ToneFiddler]

it's POLY coated wire not formvar, but yes not plain enamel.
The WLH is not a PAF clone since it's not modeled after a specific PAF, like for example the Pearly Gates (minus the wax potting) to the Bonamassa stuff.

 

[orpheo]

it's POLY coated wire not formvar, but yes not plain enamel.
The WLH is not a PAF clone since it's not modeled after a specific PAF, like for example the Pearly Gates (minus the wax potting) to the Bonamassa stuff.

Poly. Yeah I wasn't sure

The Pearly and Bonamassa's aren't a PAF clone either; they're made to sound like those guitars, not to emulate/copy the pickups from those guitars.

 

[Lewguitar]

Seth Lover designed the Gibson humbucker and specified 5000 turns of wire on each coil and an alnico 2 magnet.

5000 turns on each coil gives a DCR of well less than 8K.

7.6 - 7.8K is more like it.

So any humbucker hotter than 8K is already out side of Seth Lovers original specifications.

But this is not 1955 and most players want something that gets the sound of today's music.

I do.

Interestingly, Duncan tends to wind the neck pickup closer to the original specs than the hotter bridge pickup in their PAF inspired sets.

Personally, I think Gibson should have done that all along but the players of Gibsons in the 50's were mostly country western and jazz guys who wanted a clean sound.

 

[Mincer]

I haven't tried those so I can't speak from experience. I got the impression the SH-55 seth lover is suited for cleaner styles like actual Jazz tones. Also the Seth Lover is not wax potted, so that may be a concern.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

The Seth not being potted is only a concern if you use a crazy amount of gain and/or volume. But using a lot of gain defeats the purpose of such a touch-sensitive pickup anyway. It shines with cleaner styles.

 

[ItsaBass]

They are like something you might have got with a vintage modified set of Gibson humbuckers. That is, you pulled the Gibson humbuckers from your early or mid '60s Gibson, and sent them in to be Seymourized.

They're beefier in wind than most Pat. No. pickups, T-Tops, and pre-T-Tops.

They sound great IMO. Beefiness with clarity is how I'd describe them. They still have old school output levels, but with an extra aggressive edge.

So, in terms of specs...not much like a PAF, and not much like a Pat. No...but a little of each. They're like Pat. No. in terms of magnetism, but with windings on the beefier end of PAFs. They claim a special winding pattern as well. Whether that's true or not, or what difference it makes, is unclear to me.

 

[Mincer]

Just because I don't think of it as a traditional PAF, doesn't mean that it doesn't sound great. Many people like the fact that it is hotter. The 'hot PAF' type pickup seems to be a growing segment of the pickup-buying public these days. There should be more designs out there with this in mind.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz II]

Truthfully, I think the Seth Lovers are closer in one way: they're weaker than Antiquitys and more like real pafs in that regard.

But they use polished Alnico 2. Not roughcast Alnico 2 like real pafs used.

The sound is not as toothy (like a comb) and textured as Antiquitys.

I prefer the sound of Antiquitys.

Understood . . . thanks

 

[SirJackdeFuzz II]

The Seth not being potted is only a concern if you use a crazy amount of gain and/or volume. But using a lot of gain defeats the purpose of such a touch-sensitive pickup anyway. It shines with cleaner styles.

I encounter zero problems with my Seth Lover set, and a 70's Orange 120W head, (non master vol) cranked to 50-60% Volume

 

[SirJackdeFuzz II]

Just because I don't think of it as a traditional PAF, doesn't mean that it doesn't sound great. Many people like the fact that it is hotter.
The 'hot PAF' type pickup seems to be a growing segment of the pickup-buying public these days. There should be more designs out there with this in mind.

I tend to agree with you on this one.