A great tribute to the father of humbucker!
As you know, if you are a pickup manufacturer, your catalog must include at least one or several types of PAF-style humbuckers. Otherwise, the International Pickup Manufacturers Association might revoke your production license :) For this reason, nowadays, there are more PAF clones available in various forms than Gibson has produced since 1955. Almost everyone has their own formula for a PAF. Each pioneer, in particular, takes at least one original PAF humbucker that seems right to them and clones it. Because, again as you know, there are PAFs and some other PAFs. They are all PAFs but they are not the same in the manner of windings, magnet types, bobbin colors etc. There are some expertised boutique manufacturers that produce highly detailed clones, and these are often extremely expensive. Of course, it is possible to find genuinely high-quality PAF clones without paying such high prices. When it comes to A2 PAF clones, perhaps one of the best alternatives on the market is the Seth Lover from Seymour Duncan. So, what kind of construction, tones, and values does this pickup have, and who should prefer it? Let's start addressing these questions...
Installation
My Seth Lover(b) sits on my custom fat strat that has an alder body, a Q-sawn one-piece maple neck with a very chunky C profile (> 1” at first fret), rosewood fretboard, Gotoh 510T style stainless steel 2 point tremolo, 25.5” scale, steel frets, Alpha pots, Guyker locking tuners and 009-042 Elixir strings in E-standard tuning. The guitar has an underwound* Seymour Duncan SSL-1(5.05K) neck, Fender Tex-Mex middle. Its primary (unplugged) tone is fairly neutral to warm.
*: What’s underwound SSL-1? You know, it isn’t offical option for SSL-1. It is all because while trying a new cover for my SSL-1, thin wire from outer winds got broken. So i had two options; i had to rewind it or i had to trust my luck, unwind some wire and cross my fingers to see if i could save it. Since i always find that SSL-1 overwound for the neck, i took more wind than enough. It was 6,71K at first and it was too much for neck i think. Now it is 5.90K and it worked great for the clearer neck tone without mud. But the details are another story.
Evaluation
First of all, I should mention that I had purchased the pickup with a gold cover. Since I don't like the idea of pickup covers, I quickly removed it. Luckily, I found reverse zebra coils underneath the cover (although S. Duncan has been calling this as “zebra” for years, which I never understood the reason because Duncans attention to details, tho). Anyway, the thoughts and impressions I'll share are primarily based on the pickup I have, while i have more experience with more examples of other Seth Lovers over the years. I used this pickup in the neck position for a long time, paired with a Dimarzio Virtual Hot PAF in the bridge. I wanted a relatively strong neck tone, and mud was not a primary concern for me with that guitar and pickup configuration at that time.
Let’s read the desciption;
“The Seth Lover vintage output humbucker pickups are the perfect choice for players wanting to transform a solid body or semi hollow into a singing classic rock machine. Nothing but blue sky…
The Seth Lover bridge model gives you that warm, airy, open tone by striking just the right balance of low-end warmth with a smooth but articulate top end. Chords will have a full, open sound, and single notes will have a soft yet articulate feel. The Seth Lover vintage output humbucker pickups are carefully hand built in Santa Barbara to Seth Lover’s original exacting specs. Our butyrate bobbin molds are created by the same factory that built the original P.A.F. mold for Gibson. Other key features include our specially manufactured 42AWG plain enamel mag wire, nickel silver cover, 2.5-inch alnico 2 bar magnet, custom machined metal and maple spacers, and nickel silver bottom plate.
The Seth Lover humbuckers are available with either vintage-correct single conductor push-back braided lead wires or modern 4-conductor lead wires for increased splitting and wiring capabilities. We wind every Seth Lover humbucker on Seymour’s original Leesona winding machine from the early Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, MI., for that unmistakable vintage tone and feel...”
First my measurements;
Seymour Duncan Seth Lover Bridge SH-55b
Magnet – Alnico 2
Advertised DCR: 8,3 K Ohm (it was once 8,1K on the old catalogs) (Series)
Measured DCR: 8,80 K Ohm (Series-measured through guitar)
Measured Inductance @100Hz: 4,80H (Series-measured through guitar)
Unloaded Resonance Peak: 5,9 KHz (advertised)
Measured C: -32,5 nF (Series)
Output: Moderate
EQ (B/M/T) – 6/4/8 (advertised)
Wire Gauge: 42 AWG
Gauss: 250G slug, 220G screw (measured at top center of pole pieces)
Note: When i take the pickup out i will update the values with the ones measured directly from the pickup.
SD Seth Lover includes all the vintage accurate components that a PAF clone should (or is thought to) have, such as butyrate bobbins, screws and slugs, plain enamel AWG42 wires, Alnico magnets, long-legged nickel silver baseplates and covers, single conductor cables with braided shielding, and maple spacers.
When you take the pickup in your hand and start examining it, it gives a kind of "oh, yes, I am really holding a high-quality and different pickup" feeling, and this is a nice thing as a consumer/customer. The signature of Seth Lover looks so cool. On the other hand, yes, the aim here is "vintage accuracy," I know. However, I don't really like those stuff being presented as "magic" or "voodoo" and marketed as snake oil, as if the tone could never exist without these elements. SL is not in this category; Duncan emphasizes "vintage accuracy," but they don't act as if this A2 PAF tone could never exist without these elements. Moreover Seth Lover is truely one of my favourite A2 PAF clones.
When I think of Seth Lover, the first thing that comes to mind is clarity. I mean PAF kindo clarity not a single coil like. It is normal because in theory PAF humbuckers were designed to replace P90s without their hum, right? So some kind of similarity can’t be coonsidered to be surprise. Anyway, These pickups are very clear. Due to their unpotted nature, they sound amazing, especially in full or semi-hollow body guitars. I remember a Heritage H-535 that was loaned to me for a review in the 2010s... It was an amazing guitar with a dreamy tone. I also recall that they gave excellent results in Les Pauls. Of course, what determines the final result here are your expectations and the genre you play. So, if you are after sharp and edgy tones, tight basses, etc., SL might not make you happy, but creamy PAF tone from your Les Paul, you are reading right review :)
I didn't use the neck version for very long, but I've seen relatively wide ranges of DCR values, including 7.00K. Of course, if you're chasing Duane Allman or Jimmy Page tones, it might be difficult with these values. You'd need to look for something around 8K for those tones. Maybe Antiquities from Seymour Duncan line? In the bridge version, I've also seen a wide range of DCR values. It is stated that these models are hand-wound. Is this wide DCR range due to this, aiming to capture some mojo like the old PAFs, or is it just production inconsistency? I don't know. It might be useful to measure them before buying. My sample, for instance, is one of the slightly overwound ones.
If I were to summarize the EQ of the Seth Lover, I would describe the lows as a bit spongy, the hi-mids as pronounced, and the treble as smooth, sweet and warm. I don’t say SL is light JB as i mention mids as “pronounced”. I just want you to imagine a fluety tone of it. But not too dominantly.
Moreover Seth Lover has very sweet, singing tone. Airy. Do you remember the term i’ve used on some of reviews as “3D -depth”. Yes, Seth Lover has that, too. Is it because of unpotted state? Or being handwound? Maybe, i don’t know, whatever.
Seth Lover is very dynamic. There is minimal amount of natural compression with the highest volume but even this is limited. Use a pick or fingers, you’ll hear the difference quite well. Volume pot alterations make you change sound a lot. And, in case some of you may not know, because of unpotted construction of that humbucker, hi-gain situations might be a little bit tricky; be mindful of feedbacks. I did not face that too much but, you know…
Next thing you know is i truely like SL in a HSS guitar. I always like A2 PAF clones in fat strats. If your humbucker is too powerfull, they can crush the tone of your singles and the difference of the pickups gets too much. That’s not happening with my set. There is a sweet balance with the outputs and the tones among them.So if you want a bridge humbucker for your HSS guitars, Seth Lover might given a chance.
Yet, despite everything i have told, i have three minor negative points for it. i) Seth Lover does not have trembucker option, ii) There is 4 conductor cable option but it is not common and iii) There isn’t an option for shorter legs which may be important for some modern guitars. Those three disadvantages clearly and definitely limits its role. Yes, Seth Lover set is a reproduction pickup to the bone of a historic humbucker with the contribution of the man himself, Mr.Seth Lover. However, there may be a “modern version” of it, what do you say? Wouldn't it be great to have a 'Seth Lover Modern' with a Trembucker size, 4-conductors, and in different bobbin colors?
My regular readers may know that i always evaluate/classify the pickups for guitars natural tones: “This pickup is for bright guitars” or “be mindful if your guitar has warm tone”. I don’t need to warn you about anything like that if your guitar does not goes “extremes”. But if you think of using bridge version on the neck, prepare yourself for some muddiness, if the neck position of your guitar has issues already.
Conclusion
Seth Lover set is in my top A2 PAF list. I love almost everything about that set. The sweet tone, the output, the clarity and warmth, the lack of wax potting, the built quality, the idea of how it was designed at first; as Mr.Seymours tribute to the father of humbucker, i even like the smell of it :)
Surely, i have some “i wish that this or that could be like this or that” list, i told you some like a modern version of it etc. I also wish Seth Lover had some versions like “Overwound Seth Lover” (just like Brobucker; its modern grandson with muscles).
Who this humbucker for? If you are following a sweet alnico 2 PAF tone, there you go! Forget about 57 Classics of Gibson; this is the true A2 PAF :) Looking for a humbucker that won’t dominate your singles on the neck and middle? You may like it,too. You play Jazz? Forget about “The Jazz”. This is real pickup to play jazz. Your Gibson SG is too harsh and want something mellower but not muddy? Hear me out mister.
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Seymour Duncan Seth Lover Bridge Review SH-55
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