Peter Green mod on SD Seth Lover pup

Del Pickup · July 21st, 2008, 08:07 AM

I have an SD Seth Lover in the neck of my tele with an SD Broadcaster pup in the bridge.

I'm putting together a Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac themed gig for our local blues club and was getting a fancy for a Les Paul to get that out of phase Greeny tone but someone on another thread (where I was looking for reasons NOT to get an LP!) came up with the comment that you can flip the magnet on a Seth Lover to get that out of phase tone.

I realise that with a single coil in the bridge the mid position won't be exactly the same as having 2 humbuckers but would this be a cheap way to get somewhere close to that famous out of phase tone? If it would work then the next question is how easy is it to dismantle a Seth Lover pup and do this? Is it best left to someone who knows what they're doing or can it be done relatively easily?

ShortBuSX · July 21st, 2008, 11:43 AM

Ive got an Epi LP that I did the magnet flip on to get that out of phase tone, its subtle and does take some time to get used to controlling it.

Flipping the magnet is easy, there are videos on Youtube that I found before doing mine.
But once I got done with it and all the trouble, somebody asked me, "Why dont you just get a Phase 90?"...and I guess my reply was that I never really knew what a Phase 90 did, but now it makes sense to me and in the future I think Id go(suggest) that route instead.

boris bubbanov · July 21st, 2008, 02:48 PM

I've achieved the out of phase sound by matching the Seth Lover up with another brand, such as Fender, as by practice in stock form these guys are out of phase.

I don't find the out of phase sound subtle at all. The biggest challenge is in matching the outputs of the two pickups; You will usually get three pickup setting with decreasing levels of sound, going from position 3 to position 1.

I intend to try a No-Caster bridge pup next as its henries is pretty high.

tjalla · July 21st, 2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShortBuSX

But once I got done with it and all the trouble, somebody asked me, "Why dont you just get a Phase 90?"...and I guess my reply was that I never really knew what a Phase 90 did, but now it makes sense to me and in the future I think Id go(suggest) that route instead.

The MXR Phase 90 is a phaser pedal - got nothing do do with Peter Green tone... that person has no idea what's going on.

tjalla · July 21st, 2008, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

I've achieved the out of phase sound by matching the Seth Lover up with another brand, such as Fender, as by practice in stock form these guys are out of phase.

I don't find the out of phase sound subtle at all. The biggest challenge is in matching the outputs of the two pickups; You will usually get three pickup setting with decreasing levels of sound, going from position 3 to position 1.

I intend to try a No-Caster bridge pup next as its henries is pretty high.

Yea, on a tele its hard if you only got the one vol pot... you need to blend out a bit of either PU to get the best of the out-of-phase tones.

red57strat · July 21st, 2008, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjalla

Yea, on a tele its hard if you only got the one vol pot... you need to blend out a bit of either PU to get the best of the out-of-phase tones.

Yep. You won't even get close Peter Green's sound with one volume pot.

Seth Lovers come apart very easily because they're not wax potted. They have to be re-assembled properly or they'll feedback.

Del Pickup · July 21st, 2008, 06:36 PM

Sounds like this won't be the answer then. No point in doing it if it won't get close to the tone I'm looking for. It was just an idea..........obviously not a very good one!!

vegetablejoe · July 21st, 2008, 11:41 PM

Without messing with the pickups, you can get an OOP tone/setting by replacing the 3-way switch with a 5-way "Mega" switch. IIRC, it's a Dimarzio-made switch. The other added tone is b+n in series in-phase.

But you will still have only 1 vol. pot in a tele. And, as has been said, the beauty in OOP is having 2 vol. pots to control the tone. Adjusting just the tone pot is not quite the same thing. But try it anyway; you may like it.

I've been wanting to custom order a 4-wire Seth Lover pickup myself for the OOP option, but those just cost too much.

tjalla · July 22nd, 2008, 03:21 AM

I'm getting an Antiquity neck bucker coming in soon, and if that is out of phase with my Fred Stuart bridge PU, I'm gonna try individual vol pots (500k on bucker, 250k on bridge).

Del, you can go concentric vol/tone pots ie one on each PU to get a LP setup on a tele, if you so desired.

July 21st, 2008, 08:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Del Pickup Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Zealand Posts: 623 5 Photos	Peter Green mod on SD Seth Lover pup I have an SD Seth Lover in the neck of my tele with an SD Broadcaster pup in the bridge. I'm putting together a Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac themed gig for our local blues club and was getting a fancy for a Les Paul to get that out of phase Greeny tone but someone on another thread (where I was looking for reasons NOT to get an LP!) came up with the comment that you can flip the magnet on a Seth Lover to get that out of phase tone. I realise that with a single coil in the bridge the mid position won't be exactly the same as having 2 humbuckers but would this be a cheap way to get somewhere close to that famous out of phase tone? If it would work then the next question is how easy is it to dismantle a Seth Lover pup and do this? Is it best left to someone who knows what they're doing or can it be done relatively easily? __________________ Someone told me that my tone is in my underpants. I'm not sure if that's good or bad......

July 21st, 2008, 02:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
boris bubbanov Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Orleans, LA + in the past Posts: 8,563	I've achieved the out of phase sound by matching the Seth Lover up with another brand, such as Fender, as by practice in stock form these guys are out of phase. I don't find the out of phase sound subtle at all. The biggest challenge is in matching the outputs of the two pickups; You will usually get three pickup setting with decreasing levels of sound, going from position 3 to position 1. I intend to try a No-Caster bridge pup next as its henries is pretty high. __________________ Bubban0v

July 21st, 2008, 06:36 PM	#7 (permalink)
Del Pickup Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Zealand Posts: 623 5 Photos	Sounds like this won't be the answer then. No point in doing it if it won't get close to the tone I'm looking for. It was just an idea..........obviously not a very good one!! __________________ Someone told me that my tone is in my underpants. I'm not sure if that's good or bad......

July 21st, 2008, 11:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
ShortBuSX Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Florida Age: 36 Posts: 308	Ive got an Epi LP that I did the magnet flip on to get that out of phase tone, its subtle and does take some time to get used to controlling it. Flipping the magnet is easy, there are videos on Youtube that I found before doing mine. But once I got done with it and all the trouble, somebody asked me, "Why dont you just get a Phase 90?"...and I guess my reply was that I never really knew what a Phase 90 did, but now it makes sense to me and in the future I think Id go(suggest) that route instead.

July 21st, 2008, 11:41 PM	#8 (permalink)
vegetablejoe Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Manila Age: 52 Posts: 121	Without messing with the pickups, you can get an OOP tone/setting by replacing the 3-way switch with a 5-way "Mega" switch. IIRC, it's a Dimarzio-made switch. The other added tone is b+n in series in-phase. But you will still have only 1 vol. pot in a tele. And, as has been said, the beauty in OOP is having 2 vol. pots to control the tone. Adjusting just the tone pot is not quite the same thing. But try it anyway; you may like it. I've been wanting to custom order a 4-wire Seth Lover pickup myself for the OOP option, but those just cost too much.

July 22nd, 2008, 03:21 AM	#9 (permalink)
tjalla Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,894 7 Photos	I'm getting an Antiquity neck bucker coming in soon, and if that is out of phase with my Fred Stuart bridge PU, I'm gonna try individual vol pots (500k on bucker, 250k on bridge). Del, you can go concentric vol/tone pots ie one on each PU to get a LP setup on a tele, if you so desired.