duncan seth lover/antiquity vs 5708/5909 vs burstbuckers

[rumblebox]

this is probably a long shot, but has anyone been able to to A/B seth lovers or antiquities next to 5708's or 59/09's? in the same guitar? i did a search and came up with nothing on google or the forum.

i havent played any PRS new enough to have them, but i've installed a few sets of SH-55 seth lovers in various guitars, and they are, without a doubt, my favorite PAF type pickups thus far. burstbuckers are a semi-close 2nd.

the reason i'm asking is because i'm about to buy a CU22 or McCarty, and i can't afford one new enough to come with the better pups. so i predict a swap happening quickly.

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

While I cannot answer your question as to how these pickups sound in the same PRS guitar, I can say this! I am very fond of the Seth Lovers as well. I have no experience with the 57.08's. From the descriptions of the 57 08's I have heard on this forum, the 5708's may be the closest to the Seths, but I simply do not know. I have a C24 with 59.09's and they are hotter than Seth Lovers, not much, but they are. 53.10's are closer to the Seths than the 59.09's. I have been extremely pleased with how close the 53.10s are to the Seths. I also have a PRS with treble and bass 7 pickups. They may be even closer still to the Seths. I just bought a SC 20th Anniv. with the 7's and still getting used to it. It is quickly becoming my favorite as it likens me to my fondness for the Seths. End of the day, they will not be changed for Seth Lovers. I like my PRS Pickups , maybe more than I think! Hope I helped and was not to confusing.

 

[AP515]

I've got Seth's in my Bernie Marsden, I had Antiquities in a les Paul, and I have 57/08's in a Cu22BRW and in a Mira. Short answer, try the Seth's first. I love 57/08's and if you want to keep your axe all PRS then I recommend them, but the Seth's are (to me) more PAF. The 57/08's are only slightly ... well... different. They are all top shelf, and it's hard to say one is better than another given that they were all in different guitars. Again, if you already know you like Seth's, I'd say go there first.

Now having said that, McCarty's are no slouch. They are great PAF style pups. If you get the Cu22 and get Dragon 2's I can see making the change. They are a more modern sounding pup set IMO.

Good luck with the search.

 

[vance]

I had a similar dilemma recently. I was deciding between 57/08"s, #7's, and antiquities for a new guitar. I went with the #7's because I had 57/08's in a CU24. The deciding factor for me was that I knew I loved the PRS pickups. If you know you love the Seth Lover's go with them. If you have them in another guitar, this is a perfect chance to branch out…Good luck. Let us know what you end up doing.

 

[Tim]

Chris..... (crgtr) must have at some point!!!

 

[Sage]

I haven't tried the third-party pickups you're referencing, but my experience might be somewhat helpful:

I have a 2002 Hollowbody II that I was having a hard time bonding with. The McCarty Archtop pickups that it came with (not the same as the regular McCarty pickups, mind you) were too muddy and didn't have the output I wanted. In 2011, PRS started putting 57/08 pickups into that model and I thought I should try it out. So I took the 57/08s out of a 25th anniversary Custom 24 and put them in the HB2. Huge improvement to my ears.

Trouble was, the 57/08s had brushed gold covers that didn't really match the guitar, and I wanted to return that 25th anniversary Cu24 to stock, so I removed the pickups from the HB2 and went looking for a solution. I wanted a classic Alnico 2 PAF style pickup, and I wanted something that was wax potted since this was a hollowbody. The Seths, the Burstbuckers, the Classic 57s, the 57/08s... none of them are wax potted.

But the GFS Classic II pickups are. So I figured since they were dirt cheap, I'd try them out. After comparing them to the 57/08s, I'd say the 57/08s are better, but not by a whole hell of a lot. Certainly not by enough for me to go hunting down a pair of 57/08s and spending upwards of $400 on them. The 57/08s had slightly more output and clarity. But the GFS Classic IIs got me 90-95% of the way there.

Sorry this doesn't really address the specific pickups you mentioned, but I thought it might be a good data point -- I don't think you're going to see a whole lot of variance between the pickups you cited; they're all trying to recreate the original Gibson Alnico II PAF pickups.

 

[BrianC]

I have 08's and BB's - I would say that the BB neck pup in similar to the 08 neck but even creamier. The 08 bridge pup could be described as similar but BIGGER.

The issue I have with the 08s is they are all so different from each other, even the newer ones...

I think I would go 09's in the future.

 

[rumblebox]

I haven't tried the third-party pickups you're referencing, but my experience might be somewhat helpful:

I have a 2002 Hollowbody II that I was having a hard time bonding with. The McCarty Archtop pickups that it came with (not the same as the regular McCarty pickups, mind you) were too muddy and didn't have the output I wanted. In 2011, PRS started putting 57/08 pickups into that model and I thought I should try it out. So I took the 57/08s out of a 25th anniversary Custom 24 and put them in the HB2. Huge improvement to my ears.

Trouble was, the 57/08s had brushed gold covers that didn't really match the guitar, and I wanted to return that 25th anniversary Cu24 to stock, so I removed the pickups from the HB2 and went looking for a solution. I wanted a classic Alnico 2 PAF style pickup, and I wanted something that was wax potted since this was a hollowbody. The Seths, the Burstbuckers, the Classic 57s, the 57/08s... none of them are wax potted.

But the GFS Classic II pickups are. So I figured since they were dirt cheap, I'd try them out. After comparing them to the 57/08s, I'd say the 57/08s are better, but not by a whole hell of a lot. Certainly not by enough for me to go hunting down a pair of 57/08s and spending upwards of $400 on them. The 57/08s had slightly more output and clarity. But the GFS Classic IIs got me 90-95% of the way there.

Sorry this doesn't really address the specific pickups you mentioned, but I thought it might be a good data point -- I don't think you're going to see a whole lot of variance between the pickups you cited; they're all trying to recreate the original Gibson Alnico II PAF pickups.

It's funny you mention the GFS A2 classic. I have one with an alnico5 mag swap(to match my alnico8 swapped JB), and I'm extremely impressed with its bang:buck.... not as good as seths or burstbuckers, but damn good for a $30 pickup.