A Seth Lover Sunday Morning

[jazzguitar14]

I just finished putting an older Duncan SL in the neck of my tele... And:

I really like it! I was running a very hot Lawerence/Gibson Jazz Pup previously and was never able to get a good balance between neck and bridge. (Bridge Pup is a vintage ESP Tele). Now the Volume output between the two is very nice without a major difference in Pup height, they also compliment eachother well in the mid position.

The Lover has a great deep tone, kinda "woody" but still has great clarity, dynamics, and sustain. Could be a keeper!!!

BUT: the funny thing is it took my over an hour to figure out that the braided cable was shorting my control plate. The guitar sounded great with the plate open, then I'd screw it back down and -- no sound... HA HA... Over and over again. Finally I rerouted the wire and everything is fine, but had to have a little laugh at myself for that one...

Happy Sunday everyone...

[yegbert]

I put one pickup on my Christmas wishlist this year, a Seth Lover neck model. I plan to try it in my Squier Fat Tele, which right now has a waxed potted Gibson Burstbucker #1 in it.

I ran into the same issue with the braided cable shorting my switch out. I was chasing it for a while because I still have one of those (stock) rectangular pickup switches in that Tele, and I've found them prone to getting shorted out when the solder on a connection melts and runs down and bridges the switch contact to the metal frame of the switch.

The lead and shield on this pickup I'm using were a little too short and I had to extend them both, and since I used something other than shield for the extension, that ironically helped me resolve my problem. I was able to shove the shield completely back into the passage from the pup rout, to keep it from touching the contacts on the switch.

[Ringo]

I just put a Seth Lover in the neck position of my Tele a few weeks ago. I really like it, it's not real hot pickup so it still has good clean tones and sounds great with some OD.
I've been trying some different bridge pu's, I had a Dimarzio VV in the bridge and it sounded good, but I ran across a deal on a Lollar so I thought I'd try that, if it doesn't work out I'll probably go with a HOT VV.

Just a thought but why would the braided lead short out the guitar if it touched the control plate? the pots touch the control plate and they are grounded. The braid must have been touching some of the contacts on the switch.

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by Ringo

Just a thought but why would the braided lead short out the guitar if it touched the control plate? the pots touch the control plate and they are grounded. The braid must have been touching some of the contacts on the switch.

The only thing I can think is that they used it in the neck spot, so they may have reversed the leads to avoid phasing issues.

The SL's have a lead and the braided shield only, right?

[yegbert]

I guess I overlooked that subtlety of jazzguitar14's post. Mine was contacting the switch contacts.

Yes, the standard configuration of a Seth Lover is one lead and a braided shield. But you can order one with "4 conductor" instead, in which case there is a conductor to the end of each coil plus a shield. And from what I've heard on the Duncan forum, I believe that a Duncan dealer can order you a pup with that type of change at no extra cost.

[jazzguitar14]

Yes the braided shield was hitting the switch / not the control plate.

played a gig w/ it Sunday night and everything worked great / Nice Pup!!!

[supa_scoopa]

Has anyone tried a Duncan single coil sized humbucker, like the Lil 59 in the neck position of their Tele?

[Wild Rice Chris]

The Seth Lover is a great bucker for tele neck spots.
The 4-conductor is worth it, this one is 4-conductor and zebra coils/no cover:

[refin]

I used to get the grounding out problems too,and then I started running shrink tubing over the braided wire.....it's easy to cut off later.

[Wild Rice Chris]

Or a bit of electrical tape in a pinch.

[Bones]

I just got done installing a Seth Lover in one of my teles and i really like it as well. I play a lot of blues and I like that the lows stay clean. And I agree that the middle position is really quite nice although I am experienceing a bit of a volume drop in the middle. Not too bad , but it's there.

I too shorted out the swtich, but I figured it out and just was more careful about cramming everything back in.

[yegbert]

Originally Posted by Bones

I just got done installing a Seth Lover in one of my teles and i really like it as well. I play a lot of blues and I like that the lows stay clean. And I agree that the middle position is really quite nice although I am experienceing a bit of a volume drop in the middle. Not too bad , but it's there.

Maybe out of phase with the bridge pup? What bridge pup are you using it with?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by yegbert

Maybe out of phase with the bridge pup? What bridge pup are you using it with?

Just a stock Tex-Mex from a Nashville Deluxe.

[yegbert]

Bones,

It probably is out of phase then; my Fender bridge pups are out of phase with typically wired Duncans and Gibson buckers. One symptom of that out of phase setup is reduced volume in the middle position.

I believe your bridge pup is one without a baseplate and a lug on the one lead to ground the bridge plate, right? Remove that lug from the bridge pup screw and isolate it (tape or shrink tubing); ground the bridge plate with a separate wire to the pot back; and then you can switch the two bridge pup leads where they connect to the pot ground and switch.

That's what I did to pair my Fender Classic Series bridge pup with a Duncan bucker, and later with a Gibson bucker.

If you use a typically designed Duncan Tele bridge pup instead, it will be in phase with the Duncan bucker when wired per standard instructions.

[Bones]

Originally Posted by yegbert

Bones,

It probably is out of phase then; my Fender bridge pups are out of phase with typically wired Duncans and Gibson buckers. One symptom of that out of phase setup is reduced volume in the middle position.

I believe your bridge pup is one without a baseplate and a lug on the one lead to ground the bridge plate, right? Remove that lug from the bridge pup screw and isolate it (tape or shrink tubing); ground the bridge plate with a separate wire to the pot back; and then you can switch the two bridge pup leads where they connect to the pot ground and switch.

That's what I did to pair my Fender Classic Series bridge pup with a Duncan bucker, and later with a Gibson bucker.

If you use a typically designed Duncan Tele bridge pup instead, it will be in phase with the Duncan bucker when wired per standard instructions.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I did try a Duncan Broadcaster in the bridge, but it just wasn't the right pup for that particular use..

[red57strat]

Originally Posted by refin

I used to get the grounding out problems too,and then I started running shrink tubing over the braided wire.....it's easy to cut off later.

The braided pickup leads in my ES-135 have heatshrink tubing on the from the factory wherever they could possibly contact any other electrical connection.

I have a set of Seth Lovers in my Les Paul and love them so much that I'm considering a set for my ES-135. They sound awesome and are only about $100 used.

[Bones]

Yegbert, I tried your suggestion and it worked!

Thanks for the tip.