h535 with seth lovers vs. with duncan 59s ?

[eljay]

hey, folks, beautiful sat. a.m. in colorado, gonna get a taste of summer, today. what better way to enjoy morning coffee than by plotting yet another guitar?

 

my h530 should arrive soon. time to look ahead and i think (today, at least) that i will "need" a 535.

 

i see from wolfe's that some 535s have seth lovers, some have sd 59s, some have other pickups.

 

i'd love to hear you views on seth lovers vs. 59s.

 

share a comment? thank you, eljay

[jblues]

Seth Lovers are not wax potted, they have a real cool vintage mid honk tone. I have a set in a semi hollow and they sound great! The 59s (probably) are wax potted, closer to refined and more modern Gibson 57 Classics tone. Good too. If you prefer vintage go for Seth Lovers.

[Mikenov]

I like both. i found the 59's a little higher output though.

[FredZepp]

The Seths have a nice lively sound , quite open and airy.

 

The '59's have a bit more growl and since they are potted , do very well in really loud situations.

 

I like both.

[t0aj15]

My 535 came with Schallers which IMO just begged to be replaced. After narrowing my choices I decided on the SD 59's and I'm very happy with the choice. Maybe I'll try a pair of the Seth Lover's on one of my LP's.

[Kuz]

Can't speak to the 59s but the Seths are awesume and generally viewed as an upgrade. Very PAF sounding and are to be a copy of the original PAF.

I have had Seths in several guitars and NEVER thought of replacing them. The neck pu is especially PERFECT. The bridge can be a little thin sounding due to the lower output, like the orginal PAFs were.

[peacemaker]

I have the Seths in my 575 & really love them. They seem to have kind of an old microphone kind of sound to them imo...if that makes sense?

[High Flying Bird]

I have always found the '59s to be a little dark or not enough highs.

[GuitArtMan]

Seths are Alnico 2 and are not potted - just like the original humbuckers.

'59s are Alnico 5 and potted like later Gbrand buckers.

The Seths are the tits in a semi-hollow imho.

[GroovieGuitarGuus]

It depends on the style you play.

I use my 535 very often in a 'cover band'. Funk, disco, blues, rock... and lead solo's with enough gain.

Before the 535 was original (With Shallers, not waspotted), lead guitar was dramatic.

Now I have '59 SD's... and the 535 is my main guitar.

If you play Jazz and Blues and Clean/Crunch style... I can imagine that Seth Lover or Antiquities are a good choice (better than '59 SD's).

[FredZepp]

I love the SD '59's in a 150 for a classic rockin' Zep sound.

 

Then again .. all of my Heritage guitars sound awesome.

[Wolfi]

I changed the Seth Lovers in my H 555 and I'm now using SD 59s. For me the SD 59s sound far better. Why ? The Seth Lovers are very good pups if you don't go over crunch. Better you stay in the clean mode. Sometimes I need more or less Gary Moore types of sound, with a bit of gain (Parisienne Walkways etc.). With Seth Lovers you would be lost for this kind of sound. It would far to microphonic with the Seth Lovers.

 

I found the mid honk, which I was looking for with the Seth Lovers, with my 59's. Seymour Duncan do not recommend Seth Lovers for amps more than 40 W.

If you prefer a clean sound, go for the Seth Lovers. If it should scream from time to time SD 59's would be my choice. Even ther German Distributor for Heritage told me, the 59's are far better for my kind of style than the Seth Lovers are.