Gibson SG pickup comparison. Seth Lover PAF vs Classic 57
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- 1994 Gibson SG 61 reissue with stock pots and caps. Stock classic 57's vs Seymour Duncan Seth Lover's. Volume and tones are all on full all the time. settings across amp, pedals, mic placement, etc is the same at all times. Pickups were set to the same heights (slight adjustment to the Lover's after the video made them better IMO) cheap mic into GarageBand, no compression or EQ. Signal chain is
Zvex box of rock (boost side for light gain, BOR for dirty)
Boss DD-5
Maxon AD999
Divided by 13 EDT 13/29 on class A with mid boost engaged.
i also enjoy sitting in the dark lol
Wierdo 🤣
Man, my own takeaway is Gibson pickups are quite good and don't need replacing.
The difference was more subtle than I expected. In a live environment, as a member of the audience, the difference would be lost. In a studio environment, the guitarist might have a preference. The most obvious difference to my ears is that the 57's seem to have a more crisp attack, and the Seth's a bit softer attack.
Great video! I have a 2013 SG with '57 Classics and I recently put Seth Lover's in a Les Paul that was sounding a bit bland with Burstbuckers. They sound completely different but it's interesting to see how similar they are in the same guitar, which really says a lot about the '57s; they don't get enough love honestly. Seth Lover's are fantastic, I did notice that there was better string separation / balance and a lower output while retaining that bite compared to the '57s. Cheers
Yeah lower output is one of the things I liked better about the Lovers. 57s break up too soon in a not so great way for what I like.
Also, The '57's are wax potted. The Seth Lovers are not. It matters more than most people realize.
@@wayne2150 to add to your comment, my dad purchased me an Ibanez RG350dx when I was 18, it was factory damaged. And half the wax potting was knocked out of the pickups. The humbuckers buzzed and the single coil squealed. Every other 350 or 450 with stock pickups, sounded wonderful in comparison. Wax potting stops lots of problems from random EMF sources we might not even consider as being problematic.
57s are basically wax-potted Seth Lovers although I have read that the Seth’s are designed to have similar treble response to a single-coil pickup
I'm not sure that I agree that he successful in that endeavor, but instead created something that was great on its own merits. One thing is for sure, it's important to have high-quality tone pots with Seths as they're definitely bright, but that's the beauty of the tone control - a control that's far too often unused with players.
Anyway, I think the SD Seths are fantastic pickups, but I would never swap out the '61 Burstbuckers in my SG. They're just too perfect in there. 👍
I love my '57 classics 'cos they sound like the Real Thing - I do not know what the RealTthing is but I do know that my '57 classics sound like it !
Classic 57 all day every day.
Nice comparison and very consistent playing! Seth Lover's are a little sweeter and smoother sounding and the '57 Classic's are a little more edgy and dynamic sounding. Depends on what tone you're looking for.
I listened to the comparison again 6 months later and add to my original comments. In my opinion, the Seth Lover's have a slight advantage for the clean sounds and the '57 Classic's have a huge advantage for overdriven/distorted sounds. The Seth Lover's being unpotted and slightly lower output are probably the main reasons. Also, the '57 Classic's seem to have a bit more lower mid's that makes them sound fuller when some drive is added which makes the Seth Lover's sound like they're missing something by comparison. So, in my opinion if you play primarily clean/clean-ish styles the Seth Lover's may be better, but for everything else the '57 Classics are probably the better choice. All this is generally speaking, of course, because the guitar that you're putting them need to be taken into consideration.
@@markn4526 I put a Seth Lover in the bridge of my 2017 SG and find more clarity, I also changed the wiring to standard 500k pots which made a big difference. I love the Seth Lover in the bridge but I'm playing crunchy Blues nothing heavier than early zz top
@@citternboy Yup!
I think the 57s sound better. They come through a little clearer without sounding too poky or loud. The Seths are great too, but I definitely wouldn't take out a set of 57s and replace them with Seths.
seths focuses better in the mix that means job done, nice vid dude and playing
It would be better to be in the room with u. The mic and UA-cam processing doesn't really help to much on listening for differences. Gibson pickups sound good. I gave classic 57s in my lp. Sound amazing.
At the 32 mark I thought you were going to start playing Santeria. I’m glad you didn’t.
Ive owned a stock 1961 les paul sg since the eighties. I bought a 2013 sg to gig with and i am totally satisfied with the 57 classics. I dont feel like im settling for a lesser pickup when im playing out.
Good comparison. Both sound good, very similar with Seth’s a little less sizzle and tighter crunch and the 57s more open sounding with the cleans maybe, dang, I don’t know I think I like the Seth’s.
I couldn't tell the difference, obviously they both sound great!
nice demo... i see no reason to swap out those 57s. it's so close and both sound good. i like the 57s a bit more in this demo - they match for clean and sweet, but are just a tad edgier for dirt.
I think if I listened to this demo without having made it, or played both guitars in person I'd probably agree and don't know if I'd pickup on the differences without knowing what I was listening for based on being in the room with them. In person the 57's made me not want to play the guitar besides with a dirty bridge sound. The Seth's made it inspiring for me to play. I think part of it was my ability (or lack there of) to capture the sound. I'm trying a test soon with three pickups in my Les Paul and going to try and do a better job there so I have more to go on after trying them all than my memory
Nice demo! Personally, I couldn't see a reason for switching out the pickups. The differences are so subtle, without a side-by-side comparison, I don't think I would find much of a difference. Though admittedly, I'm not as much of a tone-freak as some players. I switched the 57s on one of my LPs for Seymour Duncans and there was a huge difference. Not necessarily "better", but noticeably more gain when clean and grittier when driven.
It person it was bigger for me, and without having experienced that idk if I’d really tell much difference in this video either. I’m not a huge humbucker guy so the middle and neck positions felt muddy to me with the 57’s and the Seth’s had more snap and clarity more like a single coil. I’ve heard people say these early 57’s are “better” than newer ones but they didn’t do much for me
I have two guitars with both of the p/u's. Out of the nine guitar/p/us combos I have , these two are my favorite. And very, very close in tone.
IF there was ever a video that proved to me what i have been thinking all along it was this video!
These two pickups(37 classic and Seth Lover) sound much too similar to justify changing
however i would still have to feel how they react under my fingers. Unfortunately that cannot
be conveyed on a video. Both of those pu's use A2 magnets so they probably feel very similar in touch
but how do they respond as you play? see these things are why you have to actually try the pu's in person.
Agree you need to try it in person because I can’t watch this video and really tell the same difference I did in person. The 57’s made me consider selling the guitar, the Seth’s made me love playing it. Whatever the reason that is, doesn’t really matter as long as I say “alright I paid X number of dollars for these pickups do I like the guitar that much more now?” If so it’s worth it
@@MrKevbo82 Agreed
I have Seths in a semihollow. They're so clear. Lower output so they should be clearer and less bassy. Great pickups. 57s are awesome though. First world problems choosing!
I bought a semi hollow called a Harper Marilyn that had them in it and that’s where I fell in love with them. Sadly the guitar was shipped to me and UPS dropped it hard enough to crack the back so it was returned to guitar center after having it for three days and trying to decide if I should keep it despite being damaged. That guitar still haunts me
The Seth Lover pups sound a bit higher output to me. That being said they still sound very close to the 57's.
the pick attack is way more pronounced on the Classic 57's. The Seth Lover seems to have compressed the picking dynamics.
You were great on how to get away with murder
I've owned and played many different types of pups in my time and I always end up going back to two of my all time favs, a 57 Classic (designed by Tom Holmes for Gibson BTW) in every type of guitar from Les Pauls to the neck of a Tele (for that Stones Brown Sugar tone) and the original Dimarzio DP100 Super Distortion pup in a LP style axe for all those 80's rock hits! after that it's a toss-up between a dozen or so I like! IMO the 57 Classic is the best mass production pup ever created!
Seth lovers for the win.
The Seth's sounds better.
In my experience with both 57 classics are a better pickup for the sg and the seth Lover is the better pickup for a les Paul.. . 57 classics are a killer sg pickup .They have a wider frequency range which really works for the Sg becuase they are rolled off in the highs and lows and the 57 has more highs an lows then the Seth's seth have looser more spongy bass compared to the 57s .. the seth sounded really good on the bridge here but I found the neck and middle tones too flubby and loose . 57 classics are unique in that they behave like an alnico 5 pickups in the lows and highs . For an A2 pickup they have a robust fairly tight bass and they have more high end than many A2 pickups do . Original SGs had early patent number pickups and the 57 classics are more like patent number pickups than they are pafs and Seth's are straight up 1957 paf clone . On the Duncan forum there are many members who say they could not get on with seth lovers in their SGs
Hmmmm I felt totally opposite. The bridge pickup was fine with the 57’s it was the neck and middle where I didn’t like them and found them muddy and loose. I tend to like brighter guitars and felt way happier with the seths in the middle and neck. I have seen lots of SG people rave about the 57’s but they just didn’t do it for me.
@@MrKevbo82 I’m one of those SG guys that prefers the 57s. Previously I had a Custom Shop ‘93 2 pickup 1957 Black Beauty that came with 57 Classics. I had Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro IIs installed. Got it home - played it for 5 minutes and knew I’d made a huge mistake. It changed the guitars tone and character in a drastic way. The sound was low mid focused. The sonic spread lost detail in the upper mids and all this was a surprise to me. I had the 57s reinstalled within the hour. Expensive lesson. Those same Duncan’s sounded incredible in a friends Gold Top Les Paul.
I put 57s in an old 1996 Epiphone G400 which is a pretty good guitar except for the poor Epiphone pickups from that era. They are perfect for any SG style guitar. I hated them in a Les Paul but they worked really well in a Heritage H150. I think they work well in brighter guitars. I have Seths and they worked quite well in the Les Paul which is darker but I prefer the
Heritage anyway. Both Seths and the 57s worked OK in that.
Years ago I dropped 57s in my LP Classic (orignally had the ceramics) and it was a match made in Heaven.
They sound warmer and smoother for my taste in a Les Paul. My SG 61 already came with the 57s and they definitely are much brighter tonally in that guitar. Almost too bright on a clean setting, but they chime with a good overdrive. Especially through a Marshall. They are about as versatile as you get for Gibson pups. I prefer them over any burstbucker types.
I have a set of seth lovers in my les paul, and I am thinking about trying them in my sg. Mine came with 490r and 490t set. its a 2019 standard, I love the bass or mid character or something more on the duncans I hope they will sound as good in my sg as they do in my les paul.
I had a 2006 standard that was my main guitar in a band for years I believe those came stock with the 490’s? Something about that guitar was perfect and I never did a thing to it, but I’ve since grown to like P90 and filtertron style pickups more than the paf style humbuckers so maybe I’d feel differently now? The Seth lovers had a lower output and didn’t break up as easily which I like and had a lot more definition. I bought them for this SG because I had purchased a really cool handmade guitar called a Harper Marilyn that had Seth lovers and it was AMAZING for the two days I owned it, but UPS murdered it in shipping and I returned it to guitar center 😢
Seth Lovers are good in a Les Paul but in my opinion Classic 57s are brilliant in an SG. If the guitar is bright, Classic 57s work great but not so much so if it's darker.
If you are going for that classic cream 60s tone Eric Clapton had I'd say yes to seth, if you are going for ACDC or anything newer 57s are a good choice.
proper "vs" video. thanks
Les 57 son cool c'est du vintage c'est tout .
Hate to say it. But I am leaning hard toward those 57’s
No reason to hate that! Always go with what you like doesn’t matter the price or what others say! In person the Seth’s made me love a guitar I felt kinda meh about before. Listening to this video I don’t hear that difference though so my inability to capture what I heard
Thanks for this comparison! Did you used fresh strings for both Pickups?
I don’t honestly remember if the strings were fresh, but most likely kept the same strings on the whole time. I just tried some pickups in a les paul and was doing the same just loosen the strings enough to swap pickups and leave the same strings on
@@MrKevbo82 thanks for your reply, i just wanted to be sure the more chime on the seths are not because of new strings after you changed them :)
Seth's!!
thanks for sharing
classsic 57's sound punchier and fuller in this video
They definitely have a little more output than the Duncan’s and I think more mids. To me in person they sounded dark and muddy and really didn’t inspire me to play this guitar. The Duncan’s stay cleaner and have more focus especially clean and felt night and day better to me when installed. I was a bit surprised to listen back and think they sounded much closer than I felt. I can hear those differences but not as much as expected which also may be my limited skill at capturing guitar tones.
@@MrKevbo82I totally agree with you. I swaped the pickups in my les paul and put gibson burstbuckers. They felt muddy with slow pick attack especially the neck pickup was really uninspiring, bridge was ice pick trebly with no body, then put back my seymour duncans (59-jeff beck) and the smile came back in my face. The odd is that i have recorded the guitar with gibson pickups and sounds just fine, full and bassy.
@@chikobaya5031 yeah, I actually recorded these same rifs with both pickups directly into garage band to see if the difference was more noticeable but haven’t really listened to it yet. I was doing a home recording thing for fun and used the Sg with the 57’s straight into GarageBand and it sounded fine and worried me that I wasted money on the Seth lovers (they hadn’t arrived yet) but very happy now
Better no comment, but i'm sure it's not the pickups nor the guitar. It must be the amp.
Man my ear must be bad. I can’t really hear any difference.
It’s not huge and definitely doesn’t come across as well in the recording as in person. The bridge pickups are closer but the classic 57 in the neck is dark and muddy to my ear and quicker to break up in a not so pleasing way. With the classic 57’s I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep the guitar, with the Seth Lovers I really enjoy playing it and find it MUCH more inspiring
Hello, i put seth lovers in my epiphone 2021 Sg standard and also changed the electronics to emerson custom sg prewired kit. I have the same pickups in my epiphone les paul and they are just amazing. In the SG it didnt really worked out. It dont sound like an SG anymore. The typical i call it ringing or clirring sound of an SG is nearly gone.
Also the EAD strings on the neck pickup whatever i do are to deep masses of bass i dont know but do you guys think i have a chance if i put an genuine gibson sg harness back in the guitar?
I don't drink, but when i do i don't practice santaria.
Wut
57s more mellow and warm tone
498 T and classic 57,
Seths are sweeter 57 is darker both great
Gibson Humbucker are Pretty good but the Burstbucker i not really like all the burstbucker plus is okey but seymour are 10 better
Piss all difference maybe the 57 slightly higher output.
Seths in 100% are the best humbs, from any point of view.
Might be right!? I have a les paul I’m trying some different humbuckers in now might have to try them again in that.
the 57s are more organic ,,they breathe as if alive
отличия минимальные ,в слепом тесте не отличить!
Just wondering...how old were the '57 Classics that you used in this comparison?
As far as I know original to the guitar, so 1994
Early 57 classics are very musical sounding. Back when they were wound with original PAF style enamel coated coil wire.
@@cherrysunburst1959 Interesting. The current description for '57 Classics state that they are wound with "enamel-like coated wire"...what ever that means. My question is, even if the wire is not exactly the same as the earlier '57 Classics, does it really make that much of a difference? More of a difference than the different wood of the guitar would make that you're installing them in for example? Isn't that splitting hairs? I'm sure a current '57 Classic would be more similar to an early '57 Classic than it is to a current Burstbucker. I'm just sayin'.
The construction components of the '57 Classic's/Classic+'s are very similar to the construction of the Seth Lover's...nickel plates, maple spacers, etc. They're very similar to the Slash signature Set for that matter. Although the Slash Set has more windings and thus is hotter...I think they sound pretty similar. Again, I'm just sayin'.
@@markn4526 You are right. 57’ classics do now list the enamel coated wire as a feature. They removed that from the description for a while when they started using Polysol in 07. I have found not all ‘57 classics sound the same either. Some better than others. The wood of the guitar, hardware, weight do all affect the tone and resonance.
@@cherrysunburst1959 Polysol?! So I guess it's a good sign that Gibson has returned to using some sort of enamel coated wire for the '57 Classics. I read that they changed quite often over the years. I have them as stock pickups in my '97 ES-335 and my '01 R7 and '01 R9. They sound fantastic. A little different in each guitar due being different guitars, but basically the same character.
I bought a new 2021 R9 last year with Custombuckers that I'm not very happy with. They sound flat and weak with little dynamics, plus the microphonic feedback is killing me. I understand that the CB's vary wildly from pickup to pickup just as the original PAF's did. I'm looking to replace them with either '57 Classic/Classic+, Seth Lover's or the Slash Signature Set. It's a great guitar...other than the pickups.
Worth replacing my 57s with these?
Well, that’s a matter of personal preference and what sound you’re going for really. I found them to be money well spent for me because in person the 57’s sounded muddy and broke up too easy for my tastes. Listening back to this recording I’m surprised how similar they sound but I didn’t do the best job of capturing the sound 🤷🏻♂️
@@MrKevbo82 I got 57 classic and Super 57s in my LP. Im changing everything on my guitar as a little project, and while I'm at it thinking hell I may aswell give it new pickups aswell. They get great reviews anyways. Yeah from the video it was hard to hear a difference
Sure these aren’t the same pup’s? Lol
The differences are negligible. Not worth the expense and hassle
On that I wouldn't agree. For me it took the guitar from "I don't think I want to keep this guitar" to an inspiring guitar to play. I even switched back to the 57's and immediately had the same reaction of "I don't like this" $150 and twenty minutes of my time were well worth it for me.
That’s all that matters... You’ve got to love what you’re playing!