Hfan Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I saw a decent deal on used Seths with gold hardware. I have a 157 (my avatar pic) with Schallers and I have never minded the Schallers. I know some members almost automatically remove the Schallers and some like them especially it seems in a solid body guitar. I have always wondered if I'm missing something. The 157 is a sweet guitar. Anyone care to weigh in on what improvement or difference if any I would see with a swap? I realize this is very subjective. I love the Seths in my 535 but like I said I also have no problem with the Schallers in the 157. I guess if I get them at a good price there is not much to lose other than time spent installing and removing.
DetroitBlues Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I love my Seth Lovers, but I can't speak for the tone in the 157's. All up to you. Won't hurt to try them and sell them off if you don't like them. I do suggest one pickup at a time though...
SouthpawGuy Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Have my 157 since the summer of 2011 and had a set of Seth Lovers ready for it before I even received it. The stock Schallers are still in there. Probably not much help to you but that's my 2c.
eljay Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 no! my 150lw has seths. love 'em. my 157 has schallers. love 'em. you would trade one nice set of tones for another.
smaj Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I like the Seth Lovers in any guitar, I have them in a 357, 157, 335 and a 150. To my ear , they sound like an old PAF, which was a low output hummer to begin with. I'm not a metal player, you might look elsewhere for that. They have a very defined tone thru their whole range with great clarity. Just me two cents worth.
bolero Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I would go one better & put wolfetone legends in there They are by far my fave "affordable" ( ie non throbak ) paf style humbucker Seths aren't bad though I would say they'd sound better than schallers
eljay Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I guess if I get them at a good price there is not much to lose other than time spent installing and removing. let them be the impetus for a new build! ;-)
rockabilly69 Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I like Seth Lovers, I've had them in two LPs and one H150, and they were good sounding in all three guitars!
DetroitBlues Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I guess if there is one point to make... If the Schallers were so good, why would Heritage use them to create the HRW's?
Hfan Posted March 11, 2013 Author Posted March 11, 2013 yeah, I kind of like the Schallers, kind of remind me at low volumes of a single coil voice and 2 PSPs ago they sounded good with the new amp day KBP Reverb Deluxe on 11 trying to be heard over a Heritage Colonial..what's that you say?
Gitfiddler Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I guess if there is one point to make... If the Schallers were so good, why would Heritage use them to create the HRW's? Maybe because Ren Wall is a multi-patent owning inventor and tone tinkerer who liked that Schallers were high quality German made PAF's that he could further tweak to his personal taste? There's nothing wrong with Schallers...or Seth Lovers for that matter. I've got the sweetest sounding Schallers I've ever heard in a box. I removed them from a 575 so I could drop in a set of HRW's. They sound fantastic. So did the Schallers. Its all about personal taste. That might be why Seymour Duncan did his own take on his good friend, Seth Lover's pickups.
Blunote Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I really like the Schallers and I really, really like the Seth Lovers.
High Flying Bird Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I guess if there is one point to make... If the Schallers were so good, why would Heritage use them to create the HRW's? For the same reason people started salting their food many years ago. We are a curious people.
High Flying Bird Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I have owned both Schallers & Seth's plus HRWs. You can't loose either way.
rockabilly69 Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Seth Lover actually helped in the design of the Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickup.
Hfan Posted March 11, 2013 Author Posted March 11, 2013 Realistically, I have little time to tinker and I have a list of guitars I want to tinker with already that I can't get to. The 157 hasn't been out of it's case in months (I know I know). It's just that I've been on the look out for used (ie low priced) , good quality pickups with gold covers for some time thinking "am I missing something with these often dissed Schallers?" and then these pop up.. Hmm..decisions decisions if anyone else is in the market, they are on the Hamer forum, if they sell I can forget about it ha ha.
fxdx99 Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Pete, I'd swap for seth lovers in a New Jersey minute. I like those pickups a lot. I had schallers in my 535 and didn't care for them. Put in SL and love it. Enough of a difference (to me)... but if you like the schallers already, then you probably wouldn't find the difference as appealing. But shoot, it's so easy to swap out a 157 - I'd do it just to hear 'em.
sonar Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 My take on pickups (remember I have old blown out ears with lots of missing highs now) over the years: Basic Schallers and Schaller hardware worked VERY well for me in an older 140 Heritage. Lively and wonderful decay into harmonic feedback (on THAT particular beat to death guitar). I've tried Seth Lovers and greatly prefer Antiquities or HRW's for a "PAF" sound (my old Barney Kessel had real PAF's, but of course was a hollowbody). I've had Dimarzio PAF's sound good in a solidbody guitar. As was stated these are all fine sounds, just different. I am not as impressed with Seth Lovers or Burstbucker I's and II's as I remain a fan of Antiquity (same thing as a Seth Lover, but "Duncan-aged - which means degaussed a little). Seth Lovers are clearer: Burstbuckers too. Antiquities are a little smokier and lower output. HRW's are great pickups: somewhere between Antiquities and Burstbuckers to my ears. Of course, we're talkin' nuances here. Never cared for the floating Schallers on Eagles. Just my $0.02. ymmv
y2kc Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I have SEth Lovers in my new Kenny Rambow model Heritage and they do exactly what I expect from a paf. This pickup nails it and then some. I have Shallers in my '85 140 and I have to admit they also sound good at certain things. The Seth's are more refined and musical. That new Heritage is a joke. I have never received a guitar from a factory so well set up. Ren is the master. y2kc
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 I saw a decent deal on used Seths with gold hardware. I have a 157 (my avatar pic) with Schallers and I have never minded the Schallers. I know some members almost automatically remove the Schallers and some like them especially it seems in a solid body guitar. I have always wondered if I'm missing something. The 157 is a sweet guitar. Anyone care to weigh in on what improvement or difference if any I would see with a swap? I realize this is very subjective. I love the Seths in my 535 but like I said I also have no problem with the Schallers in the 157. I guess if I get them at a good price there is not much to lose other than time spent installing and removing. Pete, if you dont mind the Schallers, why mess with it? I can see if you have a problem with them, but remember, the grass is not always greener!
rockabilly69 Posted March 11, 2013 Posted March 11, 2013 Or put some fullstrength A5 magnets into those Seth Lovers and really rock the party. I've done that to every set of antiquities that I've owned and it really changed those Ants for the better. It's a simple procedure!
Millennium Maestro Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 I honestly dont think the change would be warranted, Shallers are a great pickup. Seths do however have a unique quality tonally. Technically Schallers are wax potted and the Seths are not potted at all. Most pickups ARE potted which is a very good attribute if you play at volumes. No Huge Imrovemnt in my eyes... Have fun any way you decide to go..
LucSulla Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 I'm kind of doing the same thing now. I am about to get a set of Seth's, which I've had before, and just got a set of the Slash signature Alnico II Duncans, which were originally supposed to replace the Schallers in my 157. I already had the Slash's on the way when I bought the Seth's, but they were just a good deal. Over the same period of time, the Schallers have grown on me, but they are a bit too microphonic when I want to go to high gain stuff. Now I am not sure what I want to put where. The Seth's have gold covers, which are a match, and I would like to keep the look of the guitar. However, I am really interested in giving these Alnico IIs a spin in something as well. And Seth's, at least for me, worked fine for high gain many moons ago. I had them in a LP studio while I was playing in a hard rock band, and I dug the way they sounded. Of course, I wasn't quite as picky back then, so who knows? I was just of absolutely no help, wasn't I? :-p
bolero Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 ha...well swap them all in & give us a tone report on what you think:D everyone hears things differently, and has different ideals of tonal bliss...reading on the internet only goes so far
mark555 Posted March 12, 2013 Posted March 12, 2013 All I can tell you is that I took the schallers out of my 555 and replaced with Seymour 59's and got a huge improvement. However, personal taste is what it's all about.
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