Colossal Disappointment...

[LtKojak]

the Seth Lover is a very dark sounding pickup

I beg to differ here.

The Seth Lover is anything but dark, specially the bridge p'up.

[joegore]

I beg to differ here.

The Seth Lover is anything but dark, specially the bridge p'up.

+1. Seth Lovers are SERIOUSLY not dark.

There's something wrong with this picture — and changing amps isn't going to fix it. That pickup should sound clear and bright, even through the cheapest solid-state practice amp.

[speed2dirt]

I say take the guitar to a tech and have him wire it up with the SD Liberator. That way you'll have the wiring correct and never have to mess with it or soldering again in this guitar. I have one in my guitars and it really is awesome for quick pickup changes. If the pickups still don't sound right after that, exchange them for a new pair. The next time you can do the install with just a screwdriver.

P.S. I definitely recommend you posting a thread here before you buy a set of pickups. The guys will ask some key questions but ultimately steer you in the right direction for what will work best with your guitar/amp.

[formula73]

+1. Seth Lovers are SERIOUSLY not dark.

There's something wrong with this picture — and changing amps isn't going to fix it. That pickup should sound clear and bright, even through the cheapest solid-state practice amp.

This. I've had a BUNCH of cheap amps in my time and have been able to get at LEAST a tone that was somewhat representative of the guitar/pups, every time. I play through a cheapo Behringer on my desk in my office and it sounds fantastic.

There's something wrong with the wiring, here. Either a pot is part cooked or something is soldered to the wrong place or the caps gave up the ghost or SOMETHING. Before the OP gives up, take it to a tech.

[GilmourD]

Anybody else feel like we got trolled?

[blueman335]

I find it extremely hard to dislike A2 in the Seth Lover. Mine are tight and really, really full of tone in all dimensions. It makes my Pearly Gates sound a bit flat and my Custom Custom compressed in comparison.

That being said, I'm actually kind of intrigued with the idea of UOA5 in a Seth Lover.

I love Seth's too, one of my favorite PU's, but not everyone has the same tastes. Like you, I think they're noticeably better than PG's.

Kojak is a big fan of UOA5's in Seth's; I haven't tried it yet myself.

[arellanon]

Anybody else feel like we got trolled?

NGD Letdown by iceman79 2.0 maybe?

[BRHGM]

Seth Lovers are definitely not dark. If anything, they are brighter than many neck pickups, but not too bright. You many want a PG if you need a hotter neck or a Jazz for a brighter neck. I love my Seth neck pickup in my Sg. It's a great sounding pickup with nice harmonics and good tone even with distortion.

[King IzzO)))]

The username pretty much sums up this thread, nice work, troll.

[dumb]

UPDATE.

The first night, I managed to tweak the Seth Lover bridge pickup until I got it to give me exactly the tone I wanted, while I couldn't do anything to get the Phat Cat beyond mediocre.

Day 2, I tried more re-wiring, and then my dad offered to re-wire, but nothing was working on the Phat Cat. That evening, I went back to the store and switched the Phat Cat neck for another one on the off chance that the first one was just a dud.

The replacement Phat Cat is beautiful - and it's a perfect complement to the Seth Lover bridge humbucker.

The Seth Lover is very clear, bright, and jangly, while the Phat Cat is clear (less so than the Seth Lover, but clear nonetheless), loud, and raunchy. Put them together, and the Phat Cat rounds off the edges on the Seth Lover, while the Seth Lover adds definition to the Phat Cat.

Everybody makes a dud every once in a while, so this really shouldn't be held against Seymour Duncan. Major props for awesome pickup design, major props for awesome customer service, and thanks to all of you*** for hearing me out.

***Except King IzzO))).

[dumb]

PS One thing cool about the pickup upgrade is that now, a couple cheap pedals I'd given up on sound awesome. I have an Ibanez FZ7 fuzz pedal - the one with the "damage" switch - and now I can listen to that at 100% damage and enjoy it. Even my Joyo Voodoo Octave fuzz pedal sounds good.

[UberMetalDood]

UPDATE.

The first night, I managed to tweak the Seth Lover bridge pickup until I got it to give me exactly the tone I wanted, while I couldn't do anything to get the Phat Cat beyond mediocre.

Day 2, I tried more re-wiring, and then my dad offered to re-wire, but nothing was working on the Phat Cat. That evening, I went back to the store and switched the Phat Cat neck for another one on the off chance that the first one was just a dud.

The replacement Phat Cat is beautiful - and it's a perfect complement to the Seth Lover bridge humbucker.

The Seth Lover is very clear, bright, and jangly, while the Phat Cat is clear (less so than the Seth Lover, but clear nonetheless), loud, and raunchy. Put them together, and the Phat Cat rounds off the edges on the Seth Lover, while the Seth Lover adds definition to the Phat Cat.

Everybody makes a dud every once in a while, so this really shouldn't be held against Seymour Duncan. Major props for awesome pickup design, major props for awesome customer service, and thanks to all of you*** for hearing me out.

***Except King IzzO))).

What store did you get them at? I'm surprised that they exchanged it for you even though you already installed it. No one ever does that so it sounds like you lucked out. I've had my shared of wiring issues. Last time it was my JB. I thought it sounded muddy, but it because of the S1 switching crap they put into the American Deluxe strats. Once I weeded all of that crap out and installed plain 250k pots and a 3 way switch (HH configuration), the JB sounded right. Glad to hear that it worked out for you.

[gibson175]

UPDATE.

The first night, I managed to tweak the Seth Lover bridge pickup until I got it to give me exactly the tone I wanted, while I couldn't do anything to get the Phat Cat beyond mediocre.

Day 2, I tried more re-wiring, and then my dad offered to re-wire, but nothing was working on the Phat Cat. That evening, I went back to the store and switched the Phat Cat neck for another one on the off chance that the first one was just a dud.

The replacement Phat Cat is beautiful - and it's a perfect complement to the Seth Lover bridge humbucker.

The Seth Lover is very clear, bright, and jangly, while the Phat Cat is clear (less so than the Seth Lover, but clear nonetheless), loud, and raunchy. Put them together, and the Phat Cat rounds off the edges on the Seth Lover, while the Seth Lover adds definition to the Phat Cat.

Everybody makes a dud every once in a while, so this really shouldn't be held against Seymour Duncan. Major props for awesome pickup design, major props for awesome customer service, and thanks to all of you*** for hearing me out.

***Except King IzzO))).

Win.
I knew there had to be something wromng with the wiring cos epi humbuckers are as useless as **** on a bull. Glad it worked out for you.

[LtKojak]

UPDATE.

The first night, I managed to tweak the Seth Lover bridge pickup until I got it to give me exactly the tone I wanted, while I couldn't do anything to get the Phat Cat beyond mediocre.

Day 2, I tried more re-wiring, and then my dad offered to re-wire, but nothing was working on the Phat Cat. That evening, I went back to the store and switched the Phat Cat neck for another one on the off chance that the first one was just a dud.

The replacement Phat Cat is beautiful - and it's a perfect complement to the Seth Lover bridge humbucker.

The Seth Lover is very clear, bright, and jangly, while the Phat Cat is clear (less so than the Seth Lover, but clear nonetheless), loud, and raunchy. Put them together, and the Phat Cat rounds off the edges on the Seth Lover, while the Seth Lover adds definition to the Phat Cat.

Everybody makes a dud every once in a while, so this really shouldn't be held against Seymour Duncan. Major props for awesome pickup design, major props for awesome customer service, and thanks to all of you*** for hearing me out.

***Except King IzzO))).

To be completely honest, I did smell of trolling too, but I gave the benefit of the doubt.

[AudioWonderland]

I'm wondering if what he's hearing is the sound of what that amp actually sounds like?

Dumb, try playing through a decent tube amp and get back to us.

I am wondering if the amp simply needs to be dialed in again. With such a drastic shift in pickups there would most certainly be a need to dial the amp in again

[blueman335]

To be completely honest, I did smell of trolling too, but I gave the benefit of the doubt.

You have a keen nose, sir.

[sosomething]

Has anyone considered that the pickups might be wired out of phase in the middle position?

[dlc1953]

You have a keen nose, sir.

If it is.Got the same one on TGP.

[dumb]

What store did you get them at? I'm surprised that they exchanged it for you even though you already installed it. No one ever does that so it sounds like you lucked out.

It was a local shop, and mine was a special circumstance - I already had about $50 store credit. I did a sell-in where I got about half value cash back, and that combined with store credit was enough to do the exchange.

[dumb]

To be completely honest, I did smell of trolling too, but I gave the benefit of the doubt.

How magnanimous of you.

I am wondering if the amp simply needs to be dialed in again. With such a drastic shift in pickups there would most certainly be a need to dial the amp in again

I screwed around with the EQ, gain, presence, etc., and fiddled with my pedal settings and order to no avail originally. Once I switched in the second Phat Cat, I did more fiddling, only to be happy with the settings I had on everything to begin with.