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I think the Seth is one of Seymour's best kept secrets. It is a very versatile pickup. It is low output, and I do know that a lot of metal players prefer high output pickups. Does anyone use it for metal, modern or *old school*?

With today's modern high gain amps, I don't see why not. Back in the early days of metal, the only way to get high gain was a hot pickup, a distortion or overdrive pedal and a cranked up Marshall Super Lead. Nowadays, there's amps with all the gain you could want so I could see a lower output pickup like the Seth pulling it off. Hell, I have a Little '59 in my Strat and can do metal with it. My amp does the work.

i heard it sqeak in a high gain setting

I'd like to try a seth for that to be honest...I heard some in a Les Paul classic and they sounded great under high gain through a Mesa Stiletto...

The only Issue I think would be feedback due to the lack of potting, and possibly a little lack of tightness for palm muting. Depends on what kind of quot;metalquot; you are going for... For 70's amp; 80's...hell yeah..for modern nu-metal/death metal stuff, prolly not a great idea.


Originally Posted by Mr_Xi heard it sqeak in a high gain setting

It may -- I don't have a problem with it when I play heavier stuff, but I'm a vintage sort of guy. I generally stick to Blues/ Blues Rock sort of stuff so I'm probably not running my gain as high as others.

I just installed a pair on my Les Paul Custom and they sound good when playing 80s metal.
Check it out:

Crazy Train


Originally Posted by gripweedIt may -- I don't have a problem with it when I play heavier stuff

This has been my experience as well unless you stand right in front of your amp on maximum gain. The nice thing about the unpotted pickups is you can get lots of nice controlled feedback when you need it which far outweighs any disadvantages of potential squeal.

If squeal does prove to be a problem you can always have them potted later.


Originally Posted by Wymore GuitarsThis has been my experience as well unless you stand right in front of your amp on maximum gain. The nice thing about the unpotted pickups is you can get lots of nice controlled feedback when you need it which far outweighs any disadvantages of potential squeal.

If squeal does prove to be a problem you can always have them potted later.

that sounds like a cool idea

Heck yeah! The Seth is pure and beautiful. That means it's just a tone shaper. Metal is what your amp is. If a Seth has never been tampered with, it's cover is pressed on tight, then soldered. On heavy gain, I don't hear it squeal, but you do hear a bit of vintage 'clang' to the sound. Evan told me it's a bad idea to pot them in hot wax because the butyrate bobbins are more sensitive than other plastics. If I use mine with EXTREME gain, it might have a tendency to sound a bit more pingy, but not much at all.

If you listen to the Duncan clips of the Seth with gain, you can compare it's tone to other quot;high outputquot; pickups, and you'll see it has a nicer sound. It's definitely a more open tone than compressed, due to the low output.

I posted earlier on some solutions to the whole sqwaking issue with these. From what I was told, if you pot these, you'll ruin them. All I did was remove the cover, place some double sided tape on the inside and them re-solder the convers on good and tight. I also replaced the mounting springs with foam, or surgical tubing works. This worked great. They'll still go if I'm right in front of the cone and cranked, but other than that they're awesome. I have them in a Les Paul. I love them.

Yes, I think lower output/pure sounding pickups can get much better tone than high output pickups for any style because you don't have that weird compression and tubbiness with the hotter winds! Let the amp and guitar supply the grunt and punch!

I'm really in favor of letting the amp do the job for high-gain... Too many people using EMG '81 through dimed dual rectifiers... they may have awesome gear, they still sound like a boomy metal-zone IMO...

Call me crazy- but instead of a seth, perhaps a 59...you can get them both potted and with covers....pretty darn close to a Seth, just not quot;uberquot; vintage. But still - not a bad second choice.

I'm a big fan of 59's and Seths, but if you want to add more beef to those sets, a good solution is C-5/59 or CC/Seth. Even though they're hotter, the C-5 and CC still have a certain amount of vintage open-ness, but they hit your amp a little harder.

Does anyone know how the Seth Lover bridge compares with the Gibson 498T that's used in the bridge in Les Paul Studios? I've been tempted to try a Seth in my LP.