Tell me which of my LPs sounds best

[VonBonfire]

My new Navi has the Seth’s and so far they are the best PAF I’ve played high gain (except my one off Morning Woods, LoL). They hang in there pretty good compared to other unpotted pickups before squealing.

I've spent lots of time with Seth's, 490's, and '57 classics. The Seth worked better for me in an Edwards LP vs an Edwards ES. The LP was a pretty dark guitar, but the highs on the Seth's are a little too crisp for me. It was usable, just not as good as the '57's in the same guitar. I'm edge of breakup and light OD though. They are pretty resistant to squealing unless you have a lot of volume and gain. I use a Twin so it's a little brighter already so the Seth's were def the lesser combo vs the '57s. With a dark amp or guitar they could easily be the best choice.

I listen to everything with M-Audio studio monitors.

 

[DanTravis62]

Are you all listening with full range studio monitors? I thought R8 was the muddiest, dullest, lifeless of the the bunch.

I was wondering this too - So many people said this was their favorite that I was concerned there was something wrong with my setup

I listened on studio monitors, some 80s sony bookshelves, and sennheiser hd600 headphones, and it was pretty obvious that the dimarzio was bland and had the least clarity by a wide margin

I guess this is a "horses for courses" thing but maybe i just really, really don't like dimarzio pickups - the anniversaries are the tokyo rose of the trailer park i suppose, but I still would never pay money for them that's for sure. Even in a well recorded clip like this, it reminds me of the cheap pickups in the entry level yamaha student guitars that everyone had in the 90s

 

[cardinal]

I played through them all this morning and the R7 seemed like my favorite. The R8 seems like it has dead strings. They aren't that old comparatively, but I've had to slack/tightened them a bunch while doing pickup swapping so maybe that did them in. I like the Dimarzio in the neck, but was underwhelmed by the bridge tone.

I like some things with the Navigator/Seth Lovers (thickness) and dislike others (harsh top end, neck pickup doesn't have the hollow "cluck" I like), but they sound ok.

I've since gotten yet another LP: a Japanese R7 LPC copy (Crews Maniac Sound LED Custom) that had ungodly expensive PAF clones (a similar version still available today is over $800/set even with a weak yen). But this one is my favorite. I should try to record a similar track for comparison. Essentially sounds like the '57 Classics in the R7 LPC but a bit more saturation.

 

[scottosan]

I played through them all this morning and the R7 seemed like my favorite. The R8 seems like it has dead strings. They aren't that old comparatively, but I've had to slack/tightened them a bunch while doing pickup swapping so maybe that did them in. I like the Dimarzio in the neck, but was underwhelmed by the bridge tone.

I like some things with the Navigator/Seth Lovers (thickness) and dislike others (harsh top end, neck pickup doesn't have the hollow "cluck" I like), but they sound ok.

I've since gotten yet another LP: a Japanese R7 LPC copy (Crews Maniac Sound LED Custom) that had ungodly expensive PAF clones (a similar version still available today is over $800/set even with a weak yen). But this one is my favorite. I should try to record a similar track for comparison. Essentially sounds like the '57 Classics in the R7 LPC but a bit more saturation.

The bottom line as well is that recording miss many of the nuances that are more noticeable through an amp in room. After this thread, I thought it would be fun to test my cheapest Aria Pro II LS500 with my 16.4k Whiskey in the bridge and 7.8k/A4 in the neck vs. my Navigator CST with Seth’s. I agree, the neck Seth, while sounding balanced and full, doesn’t have that crispness and hollowness.

The Aria Pro is the first of the 2 in each of the 3 comparisons

https://on.soundcloud.com/U6ekW9RNdnJYiCSw6

 

[DanTravis62]

I played through them all this morning and the R7 seemed like my favorite. The R8 seems like it has dead strings. They aren't that old comparatively, but I've had to slack/tightened them a bunch while doing pickup swapping so maybe that did them in. I like the Dimarzio in the neck, but was underwhelmed by the bridge tone.

This makes a lot of sense, at least from what I could tell from the clips.

The bottom line as well is that recording miss many of the nuances that are more noticeable through an amp in room. After this thread, I thought it would be fun to test my cheapest Aria Pro II LS500 with my 16.4k Whiskey in the bridge and 7.8k/A4 in the neck vs. my Navigator CST with Seth’s. I agree, the neck Seth, while sounding balanced and full, doesn’t have that crispness and hollowness.

The Aria Pro is the first of the 2 in each of the 3 comparisons

https://on.soundcloud.com/U6ekW9RNdnJYiCSw6

The aria pro sounds vastly superior to me Seths sound great to me, but not on the same level as the whiskey

Grain of salt though, I prefer slightly higher output, slightly tighter pickups in general. I'd take a roxy, godwood, or aldrich over a seth lover or 57 classic any day, though I could make the latter "work" if I needed to.