Alternate to Seth Lover?

[8len8]

So I have an Epiphone Tak Matsumoto (think Les Paul type) with a Seth Lover in the bridge for my 90’s rock playing.

The tone sounds too “spongy” to me. That’s the best way to describe it. Very round low end.

I like how Antiquities sound in my Les Paul (less rounded lows). I wonder if the Antiquity will fix my problem with the Tak, or of the rounded lows could be due to the guitar itself (wood, bridge, etc)?

 

[Hecubus]

Intersting. I find the Antiquities to have more of a "Spongy" tone and attributed it to the weaker magnet. I swapped a UOA5 in the bridge and an A4 in the neck and the Ants became some of my favorite pickups in my SG. If you generally like the Seth but want a sharper attack, try an A5 or an A4 in the bridge and an A4 or A3 in the neck. If you like the rounder tone of the Seth but want less spongy, I recommend the Slash set A2P.

 

[JohnnyN]

I agree on trying some A3 or A4 magnets. I'm a huge fan of A4 magnets. They have some of the sweet tone and compression of A2, paired with some tightness of the A5. They also tend to have a broad EQ,
I have an Epi LPC with Seths and I replaced the neck magnet to A3. A bit brighter, tighter, and with a little less output. Made it the perfect neck PU for that guitar.

 

[freefrog]

I've swapped once the magnet, keeper bar and screw poles of a Seth for those of a T-Top, to repair temporarily the bridge PU of a SG.
It didn't change the Seth in a T-Top but did give it an interesting hybrid voice, with the vocal aspect of the Seth + more tightness and sparkle.

So and albeit I don't see mag swapping as a panacea, +1 on the idea to try other mags in a Seth (if not other parts as implied by my testimonial).

Good luck in your experiments, OP.

 

[8len8]

I’m thinking now that I just bite the bullet and get an Antiquity for this guitar.

 

[AJK1]

So I have an Epiphone Tak Matsumoto (think Les Paul type) with a Seth Lover in the bridge for my 90’s rock playing.

The tone sounds too “spongy” to me. That’s the best way to describe it. Very round low end.

I like how Antiquities sound in my Les Paul (less rounded lows). I wonder if the Antiquity will fix my problem with the Tak, or of the rounded lows could be due to the guitar itself (wood, bridge, etc)?

Only one way to find out….

 

[Axeman16]

I have also found antiquities to have a much rounder bottom end and softer edge to the clarity and balance of Seth lovers. If the Seth's aren't doing it for you, you may want to consider something with an alnico 5 to tighten up the bottom end and add some punch like a 59 if you are partial to Duncan's.

 

[8len8]

I have also found antiquities to have a much rounder bottom end and softer edge to the clarity and balance of Seth lovers. If the Seth's aren't doing it for you, you may want to consider something with an alnico 5 to tighten up the bottom end and add some punch like a 59 if you are partial to Duncan's.

So you say Antiquities have a rounder low end than Seths? That’s not what I hear.

 

[Axeman16]

Well clearly your mileage varies

 

[Classicplayer]

A consideraction to swap to another pickup is not only the guitar's tone character, but the character of the amp(s) you use for '90's Rock (or another recent era of Rock). In my Les Paul Classic, I went from stock ceramic pups to Duncan '59's and finally Duncan Seths. For the past 6 or 7 years my main amp has been an Orange Dark Terror, a “tight”, gain-filled amp that can be ”warm” sounding. The Seth's A2 magnets seem to allow the amp's character to be heard a bit more so than the guitar's characteristic tone signature (deep round lows on the neck pup and bright highs, yet softer lows from the bridge).

In the OP's guitar, I should think that the set of orignal Duncan “Slash” pups would work well. Slash was/is of the opinion that he prefers that his amps do most of the heavy lifting with respect to tone.

Classicplayer

 

[Elmore]

I changed from Antiquities to Duncan Whole Lotta Humbuckers. I wanted to stand out in the mix with a Telecaster player. It worked. WLH are now my favorite. They are A5.

 

[jbash]

Seths are a little bit edgier and aggressive than a Antiquity. The Ant is more compressed and has more of that sponge-y character, due the aged magnets.

If you already have an Ant in one guitar, put it into the Seth loaded guitar and see what happens. Comparing pickups in two different guitars is not a good way to make any real conclusions.

Or just swap some magnets- cheap and easy to do.