Seth Lovers in my 157

[JohnCovach]

I just dropped a couple of Seth Lovers in my goldtop 157.  I had to increase the depth of the cavity space for the neck pickup, but otherwise all went well.  It's too late to crank it up, so I'll have to see how they sound tomorrow.

[slider313]

Keep us posted. Do these have covers?

[JohnCovach]

Yep, these have gold covers.  The sound is bright and articulate, and they sound really good overdriven--lots of bite.  I have Seths in both my 155s and they are a bit less aggressive in those guitars, with a bit more air in the sound.  But in the 157, it's very focused.  These are very small differences, however.

 

Tonight I drop Seths into my 575. I have Gibson 57s in my 575 Custom, so it'll be interesting to compare.

[golferwave]

  Hi John,  I'll bet the Seth Lovers sound great in the goldtop.  I've got them in an H-150 and the tone is superb!

[Gitfiddler]

My understanding is that Seths are unpotted and can squeal at high volumes.  I have one in my G&L Bluesboy and it sounds wonderful...until I crank up the amp at a gig.  Then my little piggy starts squealing.  Back off the overdrive and the sweetness returns.

 

In a hollow or semi-hollow body git, Seth Lovers are fantastic and I've often wondered how they'd sound in a 150/157.

 

Please crank up yours and give us a full tone review.

[Thundersteel]

Tonight I drop Seths into my 575.

 

I'm waiting on a Tone Report for this one. My 575 came with Schallers, and I have a set of Seths waiting to be installed in something.

[JohnCovach]

My understanding is that Seths are unpotted and can squeal at high volumes.  I have one in my G&L Bluesboy and it sounds wonderful...until I crank up the amp at a gig.  Then my little piggy starts squealing.  Back off the overdrive and the sweetness returns.

 

In addition to what I wrote above, I tried to get the Seths in my 157 to squeal but they wouldn't.  I know the sound you mean--I used to have a Duo Jet that squealed like that--but even at high volume with lots of distortion, nothing.

[JohnCovach]

I'm waiting on a Tone Report for this one. My 575 came with Schallers, and I have a set of Seths waiting to be installed in something.

 

I got the Seths into my 575 and I really like the sound.  This guitar has a wooden bridge, not a tune-o-matic, and I use 11's with an unwound 3rd.

 

The sound is pure vintage 175, which the Schallers never quite got.  On the neck pickup, the bass response is smooth and full, without too much brittleness on the high strings.  The bridge pickup growls a bit clean, and even sounds pretty good when overdriven, though that's maybe not the best way to use this guitar.  I always adjust the volume between the two pickups by adjusting the height such that there is no significant volume difference, and also so that the sound with both pickups on is pleasing and "honky" enough.

 

For me it was a fun experience to put the same pickups in my 157 and 575.  The difference between the brightness of the 157 and the warmth of the 575 is remarkable. The strings and bridge differences certainly account for some of this, but the role played by the body in shaping the sound would seem to be the prime factor.  I guess Les Paul was right: a solid body electric guitar will sound much different by virtue of the solid body itself.  Of course, I've always known this, but somehow I'm really impressed with the differences after installing the Seths.

 

The great thing about putting in a pair of pickups is that it gives you a chance to really clean the guitar up.  And a touch of lemon oil on the fingerboard removes dirt, making the wood appear richer and the MOP really shine.  So I'm really enjoying these guitars--it's almost as good as having a couple of new ones!

[Gitfiddler]

I know this thread started out about putting the Seth's into your H-157, but thanks for the great H-575/Seth Lover review!

 

I've wanted to drop either a set of HRW's or Seth's into my H-575 Custom, but the Schalers are 'OK' for the time being.  The cost of HRW's is too steep when you factor in the shipping back to Heritage and all, but maybe down the road a nice set of Seths will make their way into mine as well.

[Thundersteel]

Thanks for the detailed Tone Report, John. That'll give me something to do next weekend!

[fxdx99]

I had Schallers in my 535 - when I first ordered it from Jay, I opted not to spend the extra for seth lovers since I didn't have experience w/either nor this style guitar so didn't have a reference point.  Played the 535 for 4 years w/the schallers and it got out to gigs maybe once/month (if that sometimes).  Was a nice guitar, fit and finish is superb, but the tone wasn't really inspiring.  I've been a strat-guy most all my playing (some 30+ years) and didn't 'get' the 535 as much.  So, in goes a set of SD seth lovers and John nails the tone description.  It's more woody, airy, touch sensitive.  Better clean sound, better overdriven sound.  Better sound in the blackface-style amp, better tone in the tweeds.  The 535's replaced my strat as the most often guitar to gigs since the swap.  In fact, it's been the only guitar out to gigs for the last 3 or so months (mental realization... have been ignoring other guitars).

 

So, I'm convinced - it's SDs for me.  The 150 I bought from golfer also have SDs, although I think these are the '59s rather than the seth lovers.  But this guitar sounds great with them with all the same 'goodness' attributes that I found in the 535 swap.

 

I should probably start a post for this, but had 'one of those gigs' last Fri night with the 535/Allen amp that just felt sooo good.  The kind of gig where the playing is great fun and loose.  This was w/a 5-pc blues band - 2 guitars (2nd guitar is a GL ASAT thru a Mesa), bass, drums, and lead singer/harmonica.  Opening band was a young trio who's volume tore some skin off my cheeks, but I'm thinking it'll grow back in time.  But our 2 sets just felt right - the tone's were inspiring, cool improv between drums/guits, soloing was 'going for it' rather than recycling what's safe...  Was just one of those gigs where the smile gest plastered on your face since everything is just right.  The 535 w/SDs sound's SOOOO GOOOOD!!!!!

 

cheers,

randy

[yoslate]

I should probably start a post for this, but had 'one of those gigs' last Fri night with the 535/Allen amp that just felt sooo good.  The kind of gig where the playing is great fun and loose.  This was w/a 5-pc blues band - 2 guitars (2nd guitar is a GL ASAT thru a Mesa), bass, drums, and lead singer/harmonica.  But our 2 sets just felt right - the tone's were inspiring, cool improv between drums/guits, soloing was 'going for it' rather than recycling what's safe...   Was just one of those gigs where the smile gest plastered on your face since everything is just right.  The 535 w/SDs sound's SOOOO GOOOOD!!!!!

 

cheers,

randy

 

fxdx:  Nice post!  Your gig sounds a lot like mine.  And what you had Friday is what we always try for, and nail more often than not, and we're very lucky in that!  Tone is King!  Solos that are dances on the edge, egged on by someone else in the band, and playing chunky rhythm while turned, facing the drummer are what I live for!  I'm a little over-extended on the gear right now, but when I get a few bucks to burn, I'm after a pair of Lovers for the 150!  Been thinking about this for a while, but your post has pushed me over the edge.  Nice sales job; thanks!

 

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