Seymour Duncan owns the machine the original PAFs were wound on and their Seth Lover-set were designed by Seth Lover, the same guy who designed the original PAFs. Heritage uses the old Gibson plant in Kalimazoo, where the originals where made. Both of them seems more "autentic" than Gibson does, at least to me
Save $800, buy some Seymour Duncans. But seriously, even back in the day folks were replacing the original PAF pickups with aftermarket pickups and swearing by them. So yeah, there is that. A fool and his money is soon parted.
I remember when we bought in to words because of the reputation of the company. Now I’m just going to assume Apple PRS and Gibson Ect are going sell of their reputation at a higher price.
Gibson is a lifestyle and not a guitar brand, if you can't afford it, just work harder. If you don't make enoguh money as a musican to shop at Gibson, that means you are a shitty musican
I own pickups from Gibson, DiArmond, Seymour-Duncan, DeMarzio, Yamaha, Ibanez and custom wound Planet Tone. Plus random others from various makers over time. All of it is subjective to what you personally like and want to play. I had an American Pro Fender Strat for a time and never found the sound I like so it got traded. My 3 most played guitars all have P90s and each is very different structurally: Chambered body Yamaha RSS02T, Semi-hollow D'Angelico DC Premier and hollow body Backlund Rockerbox DLX LTD which originally had 'buckers and now has Planet Tone and Ibanez for total 3 P90s. I have a few 'bucker guitars, including Gibson, D'angelico , Aria Pro II and Yamaha. They get a lot less attention than the P90's. Those $1000 Gibson PUPs sound good but to my ear no better than what came in my 2014 ES335. And I like all my P90s better than any of the 'buckers. Just goes to show, never underestimate the greed of any corporation. Gibson's ads show who they target. Doctors and Lawyers who know who Saul Hudson and Peter Allan Greenbaum are (Slash and Peter Green of the 'Greenie' for the ignorant.).
@@BrianClem Yea. One of my favorites. Originally had 3 buckets but kind of dark tones. Put an Ibanez P90 in the middle, liked it lots better so bought 2 custom Planet Tone P90S to fit the bucker route for neck and bridge. Wired neck and middle out of phase. 5 way switch. Added master volume with treble bleed.
All comparatively great pickups. We live in awesome times. Your demo was spot on and great to listen to. Hopefully people just realize sales ploys are just that and not the be all end all of things. So many choices are should be a good thing. As for me, I dig the custombuckers all the way. 😊
I like the custombucker neck pickup and the 59 bridge pickup. Seth lover was a little darker and like a sheet was over them. Cutting out some high end. The neck 59 was to even sounding. Didn’t really have that Blum thing going on. But that’s my two cents worth. Hearing over RUclips audio.
Good video…from this side of the camera the bridge pickup on the new 59’ set was the winner for me..I heard some tones from that one that couldn’t be matched by any others…the Seth’s were too dark and thin sounding for me and the custom buckers were just a lil brighter than them…do I think they are worth a grand?..no..but they def sound the best to me
What is the guitar being played through? Isn't part of magic of a great pickup is how it responds at volume? For example, using a potted pickup vs an unpotted pickup and how it reacts with the live environment and valve amp. Just some thoughts...
100%! There will be more extensive testing to come. Right now this is through some amp sim cabs to compare the bare tone to tone. I’ve got a Groove Tubes Soul-O 150 itchin’ to let rip when I get a chance. Thanks for checking out the video! Cheers!
I recall Mat Koehler saying on the Les Paul forum that the custombuckers were created to try and recreate the Jimmy Page sound, and A3 magnets capture that tone the best. Original PAFs were all over the place magnet wise, I've heard of A2, A3, A4 and A5 being used. Most boutique winders use A4 magnets for their PAF repros so makes sense for the new limited edition Gibson set to use those too. Plus I heard they hired Jared Brandon for this project and the Brandonwound premium clones had A4 magnets in them Edit: found it! "matkoehler said: Really the Custombucker development was a sonic pursuit by Edwin Wilson based on the pickups in Jimmy Page's #1. It was not so much a historically-accurate PAF clone project as it was a tone quest, and in my opinion Edwin nailed it."
That’s interesting…I always thought Page had a 70s T-top put in the bridge position of his Les Paul. So the Gibson T-type in the bridge with a custombucker neck pickup would have been my first choice for Page tones.
I was trying to remember where this quote sounded so familiar from, and I think I referenced it in my LP Custom video! Yes, good stuff! Thanks for checking out the video!
And then Seymour Duncan produces the SH-18, or "Whole Lotta Humbucker" to reproduce the pickups he wound for Jimmy Page back in the day, and he uses alnico 5's. Go figure.
@@CompanyGripGuitar Appreciate you taking the time to make this comparison video. Was definitely interesting to hear how these new pickups compare to Custombuckers
well, my set arrived here in the UK, a couple of days ago. i will be putting them in my 2018 murphy R9, the only issue for me, is that my guitar has old parts on, & these pups, are brand new & shiny... bling bling, but, if they really do sound better, maybe i'll put some old covers on?... ridiculous amount of money, plus shipping & import tax... if they don't sound better than the OX4 bloomfields i have in now, maybe i'll sell them. also i want to do a demo of the before & after swap out. maybe this weekend?... thanks for your great little video review...
Personally I thought they all sounded the same. I’d like to hear these pickups under a high volume pressure situation like a gig in a small club where the coils of the non-wax potted pickups will vibrate a little and give some harmonic feedback.
Thanks for this - no 'comparison' will ever tell the whole story oand the various caveats you mention are enough to probably stop most people from even bothering to take the time so again, THANK you. I have been playing a 1968 LP Custom since 1974 and don't plan on swapping out the pick-ups anytime soon. Of the 3 the Custom Buckers sounded closest to what I'm used to. I have recently bought a few solid Epiphones with a view to customising them with my guitar tech at Nameless Guitars here in HK. Already put Lollars / 50s wiring and bone nut into a 2020 MIC Casino with excellent results and will be trying Monty's Bethnal Greens, Bare Knuckles PG Blues to see which gets me the Peter Green clean sound I want in my Epi 'Wino', and have been looking at Monty's PAFs (there are 2 or 3) and also Lollar Imperials, both of which look to be what I'm after (for now at least) for 2 other LP style Epis. I have followed the Gibson '57s pick-ups release with interest - conflicting reports but overall 'interesting' but I fail to see the point of these '59s. Ltd. Edition? Like the USD 50K 'Greeny', then the 20K 'Greeny' (a couple sitting in the main agents store here), then the 3K 'Greeny' and, finally, the Epiphone 'Greeny', which some have said is preferable to the Gibson 3K. That didn't take long! Similarly, the '57 pick-ups are now part of what looks to be an extended 'accessories' line from Gibson and no doubt the '59s will join them just in time to piss off the original 1,000 punters who bought them to put in a glass case - altho maybe not, haven't seen any complaints from whoever bought the 50K 'Greeny' version. Kudos for paying for these and taking the time and I'm sure they will find a home in one of your guitars . . . I imagine a Gibson or one of the more recent Epiphones which 'have the bones' to handle upgrades (their LP Ebony Custom and the Canrell 'Wino' both solid and the Ebony fretboards work for me) . . . look forward to the next stage of the journey and, hopefully, a few other reviews showing up around the place! 😄
Thank you for the kind words and checking the video out! Speaking of other reviews, I did do a Epi/Gib Greeny comparison video not too long ago. Both great guitars, but subtle differences for sure. Also - that 1968 sounds like a sweet guitar! Cheers!
I thought the ‘59 Tributes in my 2014 Les Paul Traditional were designed to replicate the original PAF’s. Oh well. I love my Traditional and that’s all that matters. Thank you for the demo. Take care.
You’re absolutely right! That is all that matters. I’m a big fat of Dirty Fingers, and they are widely considered a very gross made for one thing pickup, but I think they can sound great too. To each their own! Hahah. Thanks for checking the video out!!!
If nothing else, you made a great investment. These limited PAF's will surely appreciate in value and likely by quite a bit. Being 100% straight up, the Seth Lovers blew both sets of the Gibson pickups away. More importantly when I compare the tones you got from theSeth Lover's. they were almost identical to any of the tones I've heard from players using original PAF's. I hate to even say this, but Seymour, IMO, has way out Gibson'd, Gibson. I really appreciate your honesty and the way you compared the various pickups. We need more of this in the guitar world of YT. I love that you slapped them into that guitar too. The Seth's had almost that tell tale "woody" type tone I hear from so many LP's. What you've clearly demonstrated to me is huge. It ain't about the guitar at all, it's about what pickups you select. I'm not crapping on the Gibson's by any means, but the Seth's just sounded way mpre Gibson-esque than the real deal in this case. Either way, awesome buy for you. Cheers brother PS..sub'd nice to be here
Thank you for the very kind words and for subscribing. I appreciate that you took the time to say what you liked about the video and the pickups. Really helps me to have this kind of feedback for future videos. I never know if what I’m doing is working or not, so thank you! Agreed, the Seth Lovers were awesome! Cheers!
I want the set that have dynamics. you know, where palm muted notes can have different volume and not be so compressed. That was the sound of our heros.
The pickup were great, all of them. I'd like to know what OD Pedal, amplifier and speaker you used. TBH, it would require an Oscilloscope to differentiate the differences in these pickups. Some people really like Gibson, nothing wrong with that, the Seymour Duncan pickups sounded great too (Seth had a hand in their development). Great comparison, Thank You
I found that my amp and my speakers make a bigger difference in tone than any pickup swapping ever could. Especially when talking about the same style of pickup. So for a 1000 bucks I'd get a used amplifier or proper different speaker cabinet and I'd have more tonal variation. Or you could buy them as investment. Sell em for tenfold the price in the future. At least in that regard Gibson delivers 🤷🏻♂️
@CompanyGrip Thank you for the great video! You did an excellent job comparing specs and great playing! Dare I say I prefer the Gibson Custom Bucker? 😬 Though very close on first listen, I'm hearing a bit more top end and midrange bite in the Custom Bucker that I know would cut through a mix better without EQ. The 1959 Humbuckers sound a bit warmer with a bit less top end and mid range crunch but have this very nice low end bottom harmonics going on that I love compared to the Custom Bucker. This can really be heard at 13:31 and 14:59. Sounds great on its own, but in reality I'd probably just end up rolling it off in a mix. The Seymour Duncan's sound like they're sleeping in comparison to either of the Gibsons - less exciting and a bit dull. Can you do another comparison video of the 1959 Humbuckers vs Custom Buckers when you get them installed in a Les Paul? If you make the audio demo files available for download to compare in our DAW, I'll precisely level match them for us so we will be able to very clearly hear the differences. Thank you!
Gibson CustomBuckers are my hands down favorite pickup ever, so I understand your positioning! And, YES! when I get the perfect guitar I will put them in and A/B them. I actually went to Nashville in February and picked one out at the Garage. Went back to LA and thought about it a bit… called them back about 2 weeks ago, and surprised they still had it! Told them I wanted it, so they sent it to the shop to get set up and inspected and then next day the guy called me back saying they had found a fracture in the headstock, offered to knock $1000 off the price…but, it was too much of a noticeable thing for me, so I declined. You can’t win them all. Something else will pop up. Thanks again for the kind words and for checking out the video!
@@CompanyGripGuitar Oh man! What a story! Ok, I'm subscribed, tuned in and will wait for the video comparing the two Gibson pickups in a Les Paul. An ES-335 would work too if you have one of those!
I've been playing 35 years and playing holy grail acoustics. My favorite pick ups are the one that sound the most" acoustic and natural " clean with the least amount of noise.Happens to be the cheapest Ibenez pick ups (or any modern cheap pickup) from the cheapest Ibenez. I'm convinced it has something to do with the new stronger cheap modern rare earth magnets on the market.
To my ears it sounded like the 59 PAF was liveliest of the three, with the Seth Lover coming in second and the custombucker coming in last. Great demo, though. I just bought a set of the 59 and haven't installed them yet. Glad you installed them in a $400 dollar guitar, because that was one of my questions too - how many people would installed these pickups in a lower priced guitar?
Great video:) SD Seth Lover pickups have been my humbucking choice for years in numerous guitars - they are consistent. Having played many guitars with original PAF's, I can only comment that they can be inconsistent tone-wise. So...paying $1,000 for a set of pickups that are meant to capture the 'sound' of the original PAF is ridiculously over the top....
@@Tecniconta Mojotone has some really great products. Their pickups are good - I have just been a fan of Seymour Duncan since the beginning. If his pickups were good enough for Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix....they're good enough for me:)
I hear what you hear. The other two were not bad but for the price, I'd take the cheapest of the three. I bought a 2019 Epiphone LP with potted alnico 2 "probuckers" with uneven coils. I removed the covers and any visible wax to help make the guitar sound less dark and it worked but I didn't like the look of the exposed coils. I put the covers back on and swapped them into a Squire Tele. Boy was I surprised. They sound great. I bought an off brand set of 490R/498Ts with alnico 2 magnets in both for the LP thinking I was going to get different results... Not my bridge pickup sounds like death. Not thrilled. I think I may have just found my next set.
The use of Alnico 3 and 4 is historically accurate, but it was far less common than 2 and 5. It would have been cool to see them use a short Alnico 5 which is found in some very famous’59 Bursts. If you want a near perfect replica of a PAF with options, buy a set of Throbaks. They look and sound the part. If you just want the sound, the $225 Mojotone’59 Clones do the job. Or just leave whatever pickups you have in the guitar and act like it was 1959 and had no options.
@@CompanyGripGuitar You did a great job on the video. Throwbacks are expensive, but if you have already dropped $6k+ on a guitar it’s a drop in the bucket.
I suppose so. While I did review these very pickups, I unfortunately am not made of money, so I’ll have to thro’ the throbaks on the back burner until later on. Thanks for info though! I’d love to try the mojotones too one day!
Very good video, thanks a lot. It seems that I am the only one but I was enthusiastic about the 59' and found the SD far behind whether in clear or distortion, where they don't have the LP sound I expect (and I have some two...). The value for money of the Burstbuker seems to me the coolest but the 59' have something in addition. A french musician 😊🎸
What’s up! Nice review! I my opinion, I think the Collector’s PAF’s come in 1st. followed by the Custombuckers, and the Seth Lovers last. Not enough difference in the PAF’s and Custombuckets to justify the price, though. I have a ‘60’s Les Paul Standard that I removed the ‘61PAF’s which I think are a little muddy sounding, and installed some Fralin Pure PAF’s. I think the Fralin PAF’s sound just as good as the Collector PAF’s! About half the price as well! In my opinion, if you have Alnico 2 magnet humbuckers, you’re close as you’re going to get to “true” PAF tone. Tone woods in the guitar and amps and speakers all contribute to the finished sound. A lot of variables!
Thank you for the comparison. I was looking at them when they were announced, but didn't pull the trigger. I'm glad I didn't. I think they all sounded ok, but I'm glad I didn't buy the Series 1 pickups. I don't think they are dramatically different from the CustomBuckers I have now.
Custom bucker neck and 59 bridge sounded the best imo. Might buy the neck pickup custom bucker as I still like my T-type bridge pickup the most. I’ve gone through several PAF style bridge pickups and the T-type was the most versatile for my type of playing. I was pretty surprised by this because t-tops are not considered PAFs and t-types try to emulate t-tops. But I highly recommend trying the t-type bridge if you aren’t a fan of burstbucker (or similar) in the bridge.
From what i have heard the reason why there are different magnets in PAFs is becauuse the orginals from 57ish (or whenever it is considered the paf era) to like 1960 (before the les paul changed to the sg style and shape) they had different magnets. It is believed they just used whatever was available to them So it was hapoy little accidents type of thing Orginal pafs apparently all sound very different to each other So yeah its a simple as they add such and such magnet and put together a pickup Not real magic calculations Also i believe that why there are so many opinions over differences between paf pickups, paf style hasnt changed its just as it was
Great demo. I really enjoyed the Seth Lover's I put in an Epiphone I had. I think your reading of their own descriptions summed up everything on how it's all marketing mumbo jumbo. The funny thing to me is that I had never heard of A4 magnets being part of the original PAF formula while I did understand them not being initially wound differently for neck and bridge. Having said all that Ill stick with the 61s in my LP that are within 05 of each other and sound great. Thanks for both buying them and doing this excellent demo.
No lie, the $1000 pickups sound pretty great, but as soon as things got dirty, i found myself enjoying the Seth Lover pickups the most. It's all splitting hairs, though. In good hands they'll all sound good.
great review glad u took a relish to the hilt LOL Relish Trinity .with a company grip bucker that sounds so bloomy and the solo had me waving my lighter
I started playing music in the 60s and what made sound different was the different kind of pickups that they used, even cheap guitars could make their own unique sound. Sorry I'll never understand these high-priced guitar gear. But to me the Seymour Duncan sounded the best !
Great video, I think shorter snippets of song between pups would have showcased the differences a little more. For me the custom buckers sounded best dirty and the 59 customs best clean
Lo and behold, not a massive difference in tone. It's almost like the pickups don't matter as much as the speaker in your cabinet. Great video, nice playing, hopefully people can understand the massive marketing ploy those pickups are.
Hard to tell in videos . I own a shit ton of pickups and they all sound and feel different to me . And if I make a video , it's hard to tell the difference. But in the room it's a big difference to me . Only playing in my bedroom , I hear a ton of difference. If I was playing live , probably wouldn't matter much
The speakers and the ‘type’ of guitar definitely make 80% to 90% of the difference in tone. The only time I’ve seen a significant difference in pickup desirability was when comparing Chinese pickups with USA or British. I couldn’t convince myself the difference was just psychological, the eastern ones seemed to lack ‘clarity’ and ‘space’. That dreaded ‘warmth’ snake oil, but alas.
Within a given type of pickups, different makes/models are just EQ settings anyway. A $150 MXR 10 band EQ pedal will make any humbucker sound like any other.
All of us gear heads (myself included) saying I like A or B or even C when the other 95% of the population that don’t care say they all sound the same. 🤷😂
I thought the Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers were the best-sounding set of the bunch, both clean and dirty. Second place would be the CustomBuckers, but those didn’t have enough treble, a common failing of modern PAF pickups. Both the Burstbuckers and the crazy expensive $1000 set were too mid-forward and muddy. Not awful with distortion, but not great clean. I’m quite familiar with 57 Classics as my 2002 SG Supreme has them. I might have to put a set of Seth Lovers in it. The best-sounding humbuckers I’ve had were the Tim Shaws in a Gibson Heritage 80 Elite Les Paul, and the regular pickups (tarbacks?) in my old ‘67 SG Standard. I used to have a ‘65 SG that sounded pretty good too.
I wasn't even paying attention to this gibson stuff you were talking about.. but at 08:45 of your video I went like ...wait a minute..that's cooooll!!! And now I'm jamming your music..
What is your rig setup? I listened to it once on my phone and all 3 pickups sound alike. After listening on my headphones a second time. There are subtle differences between them but honestly not $1k worth. Just my opinion though. Great video.
Thanks for checking out the video! Firstly, I don’t think they are worth $1000 either just to be clear. 😆 As for my setup, I run a few different versions to see which works out the best depending on the gear. Sometimes I mic up a GrooveTubes amp, but in this case I chose to run it into some amp cabs in Amplitube to get a clearer picture of what was going and so I could automate the clean to distortion transition. Mostly in the name of speed for this video. Cheers!
Ok here goes I have tried most of my life to be a Les Paul guy and had some dandies but I never could but I always loved the bridge pickups of the 70s lesters I’m a single coil guy but after 3 FCS I was devasted so now I’m the Fraser guy after 13 he truly nails what I look for Dean Fraser is a master but back to the pickups I agree on the custom buckers with the gain in the bridge and I really loved the neck tone the best of the 59 humbucker collector very warm and sweet sounding
Thanks for checking it out! I hear ya - I’ve always been a Gib guy, but recently been getting into Fenders more. Great guitars, just never dug the styling of the strat(mostly the headstock, to be honest! Haha). Conversely, I think the Tele headstock is one of the best looking ones out there! But sometimes you can only get that fender tone from a fender(or s-Style, anyway!) Cheers!
The pickups hardly make a difference in Metal tones, but you might notice a difference with clean tones. The speaker and microphone are where your real tone comes from.
Here is an important Variable that didn't need to be part of it being a comparison.. You played on 25.5 Scale Length.. I want to hear a True 24.75 Les Paul ... The Scale Length DOES make a significant difference in tone !! .. But I also found myself agreeing with your final assessment.. I would chose Custom Buckers ..
Great video! I like your choice for comparison. At the same time, i think your choice also reflects why the '59 pafs got so much negative response from a certain section of the internet. Not so much criticism on you, but rather on a good chunk of the community - a lot of comments talk about these being for doctors/lawyers etc. To those i say this: try searching both on RUclips and Gibson forums the type of people that actuallly buy into these types of things - like Throbaks. How about Rewinds? Wizz? Other boutique winders that claim they have time machines etc .. I believe these are being marketed to that crowd. In those circles, this is just another dose of kool-aid for them. Yet, when you see boomer tone junkies put up videos of their new throbaks and what not, you don't see people calling them blues lawyers or white collar professionals (cause they're not to begin with). More often in those videos/streams, the audience always gets assimilated into this ominous tone trance and all the butter and umami start flowing and everyone suddenly develops the ability to hear hypersonic canine-spectrum harmonic overtones. Whereas for these, simply because of Gibson's general exposure and branding, you get the more common (mis?)perception that they're marketed in direct competition to $150 range pickups (or at most the custombuckers). Again, don't get me wrong, the rant was more about the community rather than your video. i think your video is a great comparison and was very fair to the product! In fact, it shows exactly why unless you specifically wanted the flavor of PAFs offered by the 59s, there's probably no reason to pay that crazy price for them (which goes the same for any of the boutique winds).
Thank you for checking it out. And I agree with what you say. On one hand I understand the criticism but on the other I also don’t see the necessary harm in a product like this. Even if someone had the $1000 to buy these pickups, it’s not going to sound 5x better than a set of $200 57’s, or 8x better than $125 Dimarzios. I don’t take any offense at all and I appreciate the comment. Cheers!
The guy who runs the pickup dept was the owner of brandonwound puckups. They are very nice and inexpensive. His former employee owns brandonwound now. I've got a set in my les paul and love them. I think they are 250 a set, roughly. Some other great pickups are made by wizz . Still much cheaper than gibson .. Stop giving gibson your money. I'd even hire a luthier before buying an r9
Hi, I bought a 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 1 I have a question about Average DC Resistance. Rhythm pickup has a resistance value of 7.7k. However, the resistance value of Treble pickup is 8.27k. Is this normal? How about your pickup resistance?
BB 1&2 unpotted would be the closest to original PAF's. I prefer the slightly hotter BB 2&3 set unpotted. When you find an evenly matched set with kohm resistance around 7.5 and 8.5 respectively, they're magical in a LP wired 50's style. Nothing beats the growl of a slightly overwound PAF. Most original sets are much weaker than people will admit.
Love the tones and the plating, what I can hear is that tye seth lover is closer that legend rock sound in so many awesome records. I think the seymour duncan is thr best both in price and quality. Keep rocking 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻
@CompanyGrip wow falling apart, possibly the reason they stopped producing the brand. Thanks for the info, I wouldn't have expected that from Relish. Cheers! Oh ya and I subscribed to your channel. I enjoyed your content.
Thank you for subscribing! The relish has a lot of potential, but to be honest, I feel like they sold the Grade-A pickup swap technology in a very cheap guitar. I’ve had to swap a faulty tone pot already, and before doing this video I had to take out the pickup selector switch, take it apart, and clean and bend the contact tabs because the Neck pickup stopped making contact. Otherwise, it plays nice. But, this is the cheap budget Relish. I sure hope the $2500+ guitars are built better than this. Cheers!
1:38 sounds fantastic 😍 , but for the nostalgic pick up fans, Gibson should really give you a spare set of false teeth to complement the lovely 🌹 case.😅.
Timestamps so we can easily compare the Gibson pickups back to back and then the Seymour Duncan pickups. Gibson 1959 Humbucker Collectors Edition 13:19 and 13:31 Gibson Custom Bucker 14:48 and 14:59 Seymour Duncan Seth Lover 14:03 and 14:15
Thanks for the timestamps. I had to listen closely several times and basically the A4 magnets were slightly more clear than the A3 Custombuckers, which were more clear than the A2 Seth Lovers. What does that tell me? Most people won’t be able to hear the difference if you didn’t tell them they were different pickups. But hey… if one gets you to pickup the guitar more often, that’s the best set of pups.
I felt the same way. I liked the Duncan Seth Lovers the most clean. I thought the Custom Buckers were good dirty and muddy clean. I have a 2013 R8 that came with Custom Buckers. I felt they were muddy from day one when playing clean especially the neck pickup. I replaced them with Duncan Pearly Gates and liked the guitar tone both dirty and clean much better. As far as the ‘59 PAF clones for $1K I didn’t hear anything special about them and would never pay that kind of money. I’ve wound quite a few of my own humbucker pickups and stagger wound the bobbins by about 50 turns with Alnico 5 magnets. I got a very nice PAF vibe from those sets. I might have to wi d a new set soon, I haven’t made any in 10 years. I used to make them to sell and rewound broken pickups for people. Quit doing it because the time you put in it is not very profitable when Chinese pickups can be bought for $20 or less. Can’t even buy the parts for that cheap to wind your own.
It's copper wire wrapped around a magnet to me and they either sound good or they don't. The cheap ones sound really good as well and I'd rather buy an actual guitar for $1000 than some Gibson trickery.
For the clean part of the song perhaps the Classic 59's was the best, but, for the dirty part, the Seymour Duncans made it sing! So, what's the takeaway, from that test ... hmmm ... ahhh, yes, you don't need a Les Paul guitar🤣.
I'm guessing that MOST of these pickup sets are being bought by "white collar professionals", mostly doctors and lawyers, who only dabble in playing and mostly collect guitars, and who will never install them in a guitar. It's nice to seem someone actually put them to use. Yes, they sound extremely PAF-classicky. Very nice.
You forgot to mention the millionaires that I work with... Real estate agents, hedge fund managers, stock brokers, and countless people who got rich off the internet.
I don't think anyone can tell how much of the differences are actually the nuances in your playing during all the takes, how the different outputs react with all of the other gear you recorded with or how strong the distortion changed the tone colour etc. Anyways all of it are strong arguments against ever spending 1000$ on pickups. Overall i still felt like the way the dynamics reacted in the clean sections were best with expensive ones while the CustomBuckers kept their definition while playing distorted. All of it could be the playing, EQ or gear tho.
The Seymour Duncan's sound very close to the original sound of the PAF's and get number one spot. The custom Humbuckers get 2nd place. I'm not even going to consider the $1000 custom "original" as they're not even close to the original Gibson Seth Lovers PAF. ( I have an original PAF in my own hand built jazz guitar in the bridge position. Which I used for sound comparison to your recordings)
If you have the funds without stretching your finances at all, sure. Why not? You can always sell them. Otherwise, no. Seth Lovers or BBs are great and 1/4 the cost.
Seymour Duncan owns the machine the original PAFs were wound on and their Seth Lover-set were designed by Seth Lover, the same guy who designed the original PAFs.
Heritage uses the old Gibson plant in Kalimazoo, where the originals where made. Both of them seems more "autentic" than Gibson does, at least to me
authentic, but on paper. Not defending the gibson ones. It's all just a money grab. And we are all for it.
I thought throwback did.
@@drzecelectric4302Throbak and Seymour Duncan both have Leesona winders
Save $800, buy some Seymour Duncans. But seriously, even back in the day folks were replacing the original PAF pickups with aftermarket pickups and swearing by them. So yeah, there is that. A fool and his money is soon parted.
@chadwickhurlburt6529 that's the part that cracks me up. The same people buying these ripped these out of their old guitars 🎸
They pretty much all sound alike enough to not justify the $1000 price tag.
Remember the bumblebee capacitors they were selling that had a normal modern capacitor inside a plastic case?
😂 I do. That was crazy.
Yeah, that was right before they filed for chapter 11. The robo tuner era. Don't know if I'll ever forget how pathetic some of their junk was. Sad.
Never heard that lol sounds right
I remember when we bought in to words because of the reputation of the company. Now I’m just going to assume Apple PRS and Gibson Ect are going sell of their reputation at a higher price.
Fake bumblebees. I think from 2007 till 2014 in Custom Shop Guitars. That is beyond my reality 😂😂😂
I'm waiting for the 3500 dollar Murphy Lab version with scratches and tarnish...
😂 right?
Murphy lab, that cracks me up.
I hear that they’re adding, cigarette burns to their menu.
Cesar is getting a little ridiculous. He only caters to collectors and the rich. It's pretty sad how most musicians can't afford to shop at Gibson.
Gibson is a lifestyle and not a guitar brand, if you can't afford it, just work harder. If you don't make enoguh money as a musican to shop at Gibson, that means you are a shitty musican
Who said I can't afford it. Just not going to spend outrageous money when I can spend a third or less for an instrument just as good if not better
@@christerrio8108 sure, keep telling yourself whatever makes you sleep better and keep playing 300$ copies
@@ilmisxx2 so now you know what equipment I use
Wow you're awesome
@@ilmisxx2nice trolling
I really liked the clarity and definition of the custom buckers best i all settings - good demo!
I totally agree. The Custom Buckers sounded awesome and for half the cost they are the best deal.
I own pickups from Gibson, DiArmond, Seymour-Duncan, DeMarzio, Yamaha, Ibanez and custom wound Planet Tone. Plus random others from various makers over time.
All of it is subjective to what you personally like and want to play.
I had an American Pro Fender Strat for a time and never found the sound I like so it got traded.
My 3 most played guitars all have P90s and each is very different structurally: Chambered body Yamaha RSS02T, Semi-hollow D'Angelico DC Premier and hollow body Backlund Rockerbox DLX LTD which originally had 'buckers and now has Planet Tone and Ibanez for total 3 P90s.
I have a few 'bucker guitars, including Gibson, D'angelico , Aria Pro II and Yamaha. They get a lot less attention than the P90's.
Those $1000 Gibson PUPs sound good but to my ear no better than what came in my 2014 ES335.
And I like all my P90s better than any of the 'buckers.
Just goes to show, never underestimate the greed of any corporation.
Gibson's ads show who they target. Doctors and Lawyers who know who Saul Hudson and Peter Allan Greenbaum are (Slash and Peter Green of the 'Greenie' for the ignorant.).
For sure! Thanks for checking out the video!
You have a guitar with 3 p90s? If I read that correctly, bet that is a fun guitar to play.
Hey, wait a minute....I'm a Doctor and I've never heard of those guys!
P.S. P-90‘s rule anyway 😊
I own dozens of boutique pickups from duncan to wizz and all gibson reissues pups. And still nothing beats my original 62 PAF.
@@BrianClem Yea. One of my favorites. Originally had 3 buckets but kind of dark tones. Put an Ibanez P90 in the middle, liked it lots better so bought 2 custom Planet Tone P90S to fit the bucker route for neck and bridge. Wired neck and middle out of phase. 5 way switch. Added master volume with treble bleed.
All comparatively great pickups. We live in awesome times. Your demo was spot on and great to listen to. Hopefully people just realize sales ploys are just that and not the be all end all of things. So many choices are should be a good thing. As for me, I dig the custombuckers all the way. 😊
Thank you for checking it out!
Lower/middle priced buys are being relegated to epiphone.
I like the custombucker neck pickup and the 59 bridge pickup. Seth lover was a little darker and like a sheet was over them. Cutting out some high end. The neck 59 was to even sounding. Didn’t really have that Blum thing going on. But that’s my two cents worth. Hearing over RUclips audio.
Good video…from this side of the camera the bridge pickup on the new 59’ set was the winner for me..I heard some tones from that one that couldn’t be matched by any others…the Seth’s were too dark and thin sounding for me and the custom buckers were just a lil brighter than them…do I think they are worth a grand?..no..but they def sound the best to me
The pickup holder insert comes out of the case ;)
What is the guitar being played through?
Isn't part of magic of a great pickup is how it responds at volume? For example, using a potted pickup vs an unpotted pickup and how it reacts with the live environment and valve amp.
Just some thoughts...
100%! There will be more extensive testing to come. Right now this is through some amp sim cabs to compare the bare tone to tone. I’ve got a Groove Tubes Soul-O 150 itchin’ to let rip when I get a chance.
Thanks for checking out the video! Cheers!
I recall Mat Koehler saying on the Les Paul forum that the custombuckers were created to try and recreate the Jimmy Page sound, and A3 magnets capture that tone the best. Original PAFs were all over the place magnet wise, I've heard of A2, A3, A4 and A5 being used.
Most boutique winders use A4 magnets for their PAF repros so makes sense for the new limited edition Gibson set to use those too. Plus I heard they hired Jared Brandon for this project and the Brandonwound premium clones had A4 magnets in them
Edit: found it!
"matkoehler said:
Really the Custombucker development was a sonic pursuit by Edwin Wilson based on the pickups in Jimmy Page's #1. It was not so much a historically-accurate PAF clone project as it was a tone quest, and in my opinion Edwin nailed it."
That’s interesting…I always thought Page had a 70s T-top put in the bridge position of his Les Paul. So the Gibson T-type in the bridge with a custombucker neck pickup would have been my first choice for Page tones.
@@rocktorrocks You are correct! The T-top swap happened in 1972
I was trying to remember where this quote sounded so familiar from, and I think I referenced it in my LP Custom video! Yes, good stuff! Thanks for checking out the video!
And then Seymour Duncan produces the SH-18, or "Whole Lotta Humbucker" to reproduce the pickups he wound for Jimmy Page back in the day, and he uses alnico 5's. Go figure.
@@CompanyGripGuitar Appreciate you taking the time to make this comparison video. Was definitely interesting to hear how these new pickups compare to Custombuckers
well, my set arrived here in the UK, a couple of days ago. i will be putting them in my 2018 murphy R9, the only issue for me, is that my guitar has old parts on, & these pups, are brand new & shiny... bling bling, but, if they really do sound better, maybe i'll put some old covers on?... ridiculous amount of money, plus shipping & import tax... if they don't sound better than the OX4 bloomfields i have in now, maybe i'll sell them. also i want to do a demo of the before & after swap out. maybe this weekend?... thanks for your great little video review...
Thanks for checking out my video!
Personally I thought they all sounded the same. I’d like to hear these pickups under a high volume pressure situation like a gig in a small club where the coils of the non-wax potted pickups will vibrate a little and give some harmonic feedback.
Dude. I subbed to your channel JUST because you have the balls to put that out there!!! Kudos bro!!!
😂 Thank you for checking it out!
Thanks for this - no 'comparison' will ever tell the whole story oand the various caveats you mention are enough to probably stop most people from even bothering to take the time so again, THANK you. I have been playing a 1968 LP Custom since 1974 and don't plan on swapping out the pick-ups anytime soon. Of the 3 the Custom Buckers sounded closest to what I'm used to. I have recently bought a few solid Epiphones with a view to customising them with my guitar tech at Nameless Guitars here in HK. Already put Lollars / 50s wiring and bone nut into a 2020 MIC Casino with excellent results and will be trying Monty's Bethnal Greens, Bare Knuckles PG Blues to see which gets me the Peter Green clean sound I want in my Epi 'Wino', and have been looking at Monty's PAFs (there are 2 or 3) and also Lollar Imperials, both of which look to be what I'm after (for now at least) for 2 other LP style Epis. I have followed the Gibson '57s pick-ups release with interest - conflicting reports but overall 'interesting' but I fail to see the point of these '59s. Ltd. Edition? Like the USD 50K 'Greeny', then the 20K 'Greeny' (a couple sitting in the main agents store here), then the 3K 'Greeny' and, finally, the Epiphone 'Greeny', which some have said is preferable to the Gibson 3K. That didn't take long! Similarly, the '57 pick-ups are now part of what looks to be an extended 'accessories' line from Gibson and no doubt the '59s will join them just in time to piss off the original 1,000 punters who bought them to put in a glass case - altho maybe not, haven't seen any complaints from whoever bought the 50K 'Greeny' version. Kudos for paying for these and taking the time and I'm sure they will find a home in one of your guitars . . . I imagine a Gibson or one of the more recent Epiphones which 'have the bones' to handle upgrades (their LP Ebony Custom and the Canrell 'Wino' both solid and the Ebony fretboards work for me) . . . look forward to the next stage of the journey and, hopefully, a few other reviews showing up around the place! 😄
Thank you for the kind words and checking the video out! Speaking of other reviews, I did do a Epi/Gib Greeny comparison video not too long ago. Both great guitars, but subtle differences for sure.
Also - that 1968 sounds like a sweet guitar!
Cheers!
The Seth lovers sounded brighter, the custom buckets were a little muddy when distorted. The 59s were in between they sounded clear.
Nice demo and useful information. Looking forward to see what LP you decide for.
When I find it I’m sure I’ll post about it. Stocking away $50 a week for it. 😂 Look forward to that in 3 years. Hahah.
Listening via my Galaxy speaker, I honestly could not tell one model from another.
You should have used Epiphone pups. Pretty sure no one could tell the difference.
I thought the ‘59 Tributes in my 2014 Les Paul Traditional were designed to replicate the original PAF’s. Oh well. I love my Traditional and that’s all that matters. Thank you for the demo. Take care.
You’re absolutely right! That is all that matters. I’m a big fat of Dirty Fingers, and they are widely considered a very gross made for one thing pickup, but I think they can sound great too. To each their own! Hahah.
Thanks for checking the video out!!!
Yes Sir. We ALL hear things differently. The BEST Tone is between the ears.
If nothing else, you made a great investment. These limited PAF's will surely appreciate in value and likely by quite a bit. Being 100% straight up, the Seth Lovers blew both sets of the Gibson pickups away. More importantly when I compare the tones you got from theSeth Lover's. they were almost identical to any of the tones I've heard from players using original PAF's. I hate to even say this, but Seymour, IMO, has way out Gibson'd, Gibson. I really appreciate your honesty and the way you compared the various pickups. We need more of this in the guitar world of YT. I love that you slapped them into that guitar too. The Seth's had almost that tell tale "woody" type tone I hear from so many LP's. What you've clearly demonstrated to me is huge. It ain't about the guitar at all, it's about what pickups you select. I'm not crapping on the Gibson's by any means, but the Seth's just sounded way mpre Gibson-esque than the real deal in this case. Either way, awesome buy for you. Cheers brother PS..sub'd nice to be here
Thank you for the very kind words and for subscribing. I appreciate that you took the time to say what you liked about the video and the pickups. Really helps me to have this kind of feedback for future videos. I never know if what I’m doing is working or not, so thank you!
Agreed, the Seth Lovers were awesome! Cheers!
I want the set that have dynamics. you know, where palm muted notes can have different volume and not be so compressed.
That was the sound of our heros.
The pickup were great, all of them.
I'd like to know what OD Pedal, amplifier and speaker you used.
TBH, it would require an Oscilloscope to differentiate the differences in these pickups.
Some people really like Gibson, nothing wrong with that, the Seymour Duncan pickups sounded great too (Seth had a hand in their development).
Great comparison, Thank You
I found that my amp and my speakers make a bigger difference in tone than any pickup swapping ever could. Especially when talking about the same style of pickup.
So for a 1000 bucks I'd get a used amplifier or proper different speaker cabinet and I'd have more tonal variation.
Or you could buy them as investment. Sell em for tenfold the price in the future. At least in that regard Gibson delivers 🤷🏻♂️
@CompanyGrip Thank you for the great video! You did an excellent job comparing specs and great playing! Dare I say I prefer the Gibson Custom Bucker? 😬 Though very close on first listen, I'm hearing a bit more top end and midrange bite in the Custom Bucker that I know would cut through a mix better without EQ. The 1959 Humbuckers sound a bit warmer with a bit less top end and mid range crunch but have this very nice low end bottom harmonics going on that I love compared to the Custom Bucker. This can really be heard at 13:31 and 14:59. Sounds great on its own, but in reality I'd probably just end up rolling it off in a mix. The Seymour Duncan's sound like they're sleeping in comparison to either of the Gibsons - less exciting and a bit dull. Can you do another comparison video of the 1959 Humbuckers vs Custom Buckers when you get them installed in a Les Paul? If you make the audio demo files available for download to compare in our DAW, I'll precisely level match them for us so we will be able to very clearly hear the differences. Thank you!
Gibson CustomBuckers are my hands down favorite pickup ever, so I understand your positioning!
And, YES! when I get the perfect guitar I will put them in and A/B them. I actually went to Nashville in February and picked one out at the Garage. Went back to LA and thought about it a bit… called them back about 2 weeks ago, and surprised they still had it! Told them I wanted it, so they sent it to the shop to get set up and inspected and then next day the guy called me back saying they had found a fracture in the headstock, offered to knock $1000 off the price…but, it was too much of a noticeable thing for me, so I declined. You can’t win them all. Something else will pop up.
Thanks again for the kind words and for checking out the video!
@@CompanyGripGuitar Oh man! What a story! Ok, I'm subscribed, tuned in and will wait for the video comparing the two Gibson pickups in a Les Paul. An ES-335 would work too if you have one of those!
I've been playing 35 years and playing holy grail acoustics. My favorite pick ups are the one that sound the most" acoustic and natural " clean with the least amount of noise.Happens to be the cheapest Ibenez pick ups (or any modern cheap pickup) from the cheapest Ibenez. I'm convinced it has something to do with the new stronger cheap modern rare earth magnets on the market.
To my ears it sounded like the 59 PAF was liveliest of the three, with the Seth Lover coming in second and the custombucker coming in last. Great demo, though. I just bought a set of the 59 and haven't installed them yet. Glad you installed them in a $400 dollar guitar, because that was one of my questions too - how many people would installed these pickups in a lower priced guitar?
Eventually they’ll move over to a nicer guitar, but the Relish is great for quick A/B’ing to me. Thanks for checking it out!
My thoughts are the exact opposite 😂 custombuckers were def more alive then the 59s
Definitely more clarity on the 59s. On low volume it’s harder to decipher between that and custombuckers. But a little dirt 59s beat it
Great video:) SD Seth Lover pickups have been my humbucking choice for years in numerous guitars - they are consistent. Having played many guitars with original PAF's, I can only comment that they can be inconsistent tone-wise. So...paying $1,000 for a set of pickups that are meant to capture the 'sound' of the original PAF is ridiculously over the top....
Thanks for checking it out! Agreed, real impressed with the Seth Lover set!
Que opinion tienes de las Mojotone 59' ??? También tienen un muy buen precio !!!
@@Tecniconta Mojotone has some really great products. Their pickups are good - I have just been a fan of Seymour Duncan since the beginning. If his pickups were good enough for Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix....they're good enough for me:)
I hear what you hear. The other two were not bad but for the price, I'd take the cheapest of the three. I bought a 2019 Epiphone LP with potted alnico 2 "probuckers" with uneven coils. I removed the covers and any visible wax to help make the guitar sound less dark and it worked but I didn't like the look of the exposed coils. I put the covers back on and swapped them into a Squire Tele. Boy was I surprised. They sound great. I bought an off brand set of 490R/498Ts with alnico 2 magnets in both for the LP thinking I was going to get different results... Not my bridge pickup sounds like death. Not thrilled. I think I may have just found my next set.
Custom Buckers and Seth Lovers sound the best!
In the end, no matter what gear you have or how good it is, how you play shapes the final sound.
Thanks for checking it out!
The use of Alnico 3 and 4 is historically accurate, but it was far less common than 2 and 5.
It would have been cool to see them use a short Alnico 5 which is found in some very famous’59 Bursts.
If you want a near perfect replica of a PAF with options, buy a set of Throbaks. They look and sound the part. If you just want the sound, the $225 Mojotone’59 Clones do the job. Or just leave whatever pickups you have in the guitar and act like it was 1959 and had no options.
I still need to give the throbaks a play. I hear a lot of good things about them. Thanks for checking it out!
@@CompanyGripGuitar You did a great job on the video. Throwbacks are expensive, but if you have already dropped $6k+ on a guitar it’s a drop in the bucket.
I suppose so. While I did review these very pickups, I unfortunately am not made of money, so I’ll have to thro’ the throbaks on the back burner until later on. Thanks for info though! I’d love to try the mojotones too one day!
For my ears the custom buckers sounded the best...a little brighter and more defined... I instantly heard a difference...
Very good video, thanks a lot. It seems that I am the only one but I was enthusiastic about the 59' and found the SD far behind whether in clear or distortion, where they don't have the LP sound I expect (and I have some two...). The value for money of the Burstbuker seems to me the coolest but the 59' have something in addition. A french musician 😊🎸
Thank you for checking it out!
Thats a reason for a buy good pickups for middle class guitar. Good pickups rlly help to get a top sound.
It certainly helps!
Very cool comparison! It's clear that the Trinity guitar is the star here! Great sound and clear tones.
It’s not perfect, but it worked good for this! Thanks for checking it out.
What’s up! Nice review! I my opinion, I think the Collector’s PAF’s come in 1st. followed by the Custombuckers, and the Seth Lovers last. Not enough difference in the PAF’s and Custombuckets to justify the price, though. I have a ‘60’s Les Paul Standard that I removed the ‘61PAF’s which I think are a little muddy sounding, and installed some Fralin Pure PAF’s. I think the Fralin PAF’s sound just as good as the Collector PAF’s! About half the price as well! In my opinion, if you have Alnico 2 magnet humbuckers, you’re close as you’re going to get to “true” PAF tone. Tone woods in the guitar and amps and speakers all contribute to the finished sound. A lot of variables!
Thanks for checking it out and for the comment! I’ll have to check out the Fralins sometime!
Cheers!
Subbed! Just found your channel! Great comparison! Edit... The Custombuckers were my fave for sure.
Thanks for the sub and for checking out the video! Cheers!
Thank you for the comparison. I was looking at them when they were announced, but didn't pull the trigger. I'm glad I didn't. I think they all sounded ok, but I'm glad I didn't buy the Series 1 pickups. I don't think they are dramatically different from the CustomBuckers I have now.
Custom bucker neck and 59 bridge sounded the best imo. Might buy the neck pickup custom bucker as I still like my T-type bridge pickup the most. I’ve gone through several PAF style bridge pickups and the T-type was the most versatile for my type of playing. I was pretty surprised by this because t-tops are not considered PAFs and t-types try to emulate t-tops. But I highly recommend trying the t-type bridge if you aren’t a fan of burstbucker (or similar) in the bridge.
Hi Dan, Gibson offers in the 90s a special Pickups convertible Les Paul for testing humbuckers, fast and easy. Best regards Fred
Thanks Fred! I’ll have to see if I can find one of those. Cheers!
From what i have heard the reason why there are different magnets in PAFs is becauuse the orginals from 57ish (or whenever it is considered the paf era) to like 1960 (before the les paul changed to the sg style and shape) they had different magnets. It is believed they just used whatever was available to them
So it was hapoy little accidents type of thing
Orginal pafs apparently all sound very different to each other
So yeah its a simple as they add such and such magnet and put together a pickup
Not real magic calculations
Also i believe that why there are so many opinions over differences between paf pickups, paf style hasnt changed its just as it was
Totally agree with you on the "Debate .. damned if you do Damned if you don't"
Great demo. I really enjoyed the Seth Lover's I put in an Epiphone I had. I think your reading of their own descriptions summed up everything on how it's all marketing mumbo jumbo. The funny thing to me is that I had never heard of A4 magnets being part of the original PAF formula while I did understand them not being initially wound differently for neck and bridge. Having said all that Ill stick with the 61s in my LP that are within 05 of each other and sound great. Thanks for both buying them and doing this excellent demo.
Thanks again for checking it out! Cheers!
No lie, the $1000 pickups sound pretty great, but as soon as things got dirty, i found myself enjoying the Seth Lover pickups the most. It's all splitting hairs, though. In good hands they'll all sound good.
Ive been waiting for this video!!!!!!!! Thanks Subbed and LOVE
Thank you for the sub. Thanks for checking the video too!
great review glad u took a relish to the hilt LOL Relish Trinity .with a company grip bucker
that sounds so bloomy and the solo had me waving my lighter
Thanks for checking it out! 🤘🏽
I started playing music in the 60s and what made sound different was the different kind of pickups that they used, even cheap guitars could make their own unique sound. Sorry I'll never understand these high-priced guitar gear. But to me the Seymour Duncan sounded the best !
Great video, I think shorter snippets of song between pups would have showcased the differences a little more. For me the custom buckers sounded best dirty and the 59 customs best clean
@CompanyGrip Les Paul is pronounced Les, not Lez. Lester was his name. Just a personal pet peeve being a Les myself. 🙂
Understandable. It’s been a habit I’ve tried to break for 25 years. 😂
@@CompanyGripGuitar It's ok. You're certainly not the only one. 🙂
Lo and behold, not a massive difference in tone. It's almost like the pickups don't matter as much as the speaker in your cabinet.
Great video, nice playing, hopefully people can understand the massive marketing ploy those pickups are.
They already sold out bro. So the marketing ploy worked.
Exactly.
Hard to tell in videos . I own a shit ton of pickups and they all sound and feel different to me . And if I make a video , it's hard to tell the difference. But in the room it's a big difference to me . Only playing in my bedroom , I hear a ton of difference. If I was playing live , probably wouldn't matter much
The speakers and the ‘type’ of guitar definitely make 80% to 90% of the difference in tone. The only time I’ve seen a significant difference in pickup desirability was when comparing Chinese pickups with USA or British. I couldn’t convince myself the difference was just psychological, the eastern ones seemed to lack ‘clarity’ and ‘space’. That dreaded ‘warmth’ snake oil, but alas.
Within a given type of pickups, different makes/models are just EQ settings anyway. A $150 MXR 10 band EQ pedal will make any humbucker sound like any other.
All of us gear heads (myself included) saying I like A or B or even C when the other 95% of the population that don’t care say they all sound the same. 🤷😂
They all sound good. Probably the musician as much as anything. That being said, I'll take dimarzio any day.
I thought the Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers were the best-sounding set of the bunch, both clean and dirty. Second place would be the CustomBuckers, but those didn’t have enough treble, a common failing of modern PAF pickups. Both the Burstbuckers and the crazy expensive $1000 set were too mid-forward and muddy. Not awful with distortion, but not great clean. I’m quite familiar with 57 Classics as my 2002 SG Supreme has them. I might have to put a set of Seth Lovers in it. The best-sounding humbuckers I’ve had were the Tim Shaws in a Gibson Heritage 80 Elite Les Paul, and the regular pickups (tarbacks?) in my old ‘67 SG Standard. I used to have a ‘65 SG that sounded pretty good too.
The Seth’s are pretty tasty!
But How much better are they then a jazz and JB set?
Those are great PUPs. Have a set in my Godin and I love them. Hard to compare though between guitars. Thanks for checking out the video!
A WELL THOUGHT OUT PRESENTATION, GOOD JOB, WELL DONE
Thanks for checking it out!
I wasn't even paying attention to this gibson stuff you were talking about.. but at 08:45 of your video I went like ...wait a minute..that's cooooll!!!
And now I'm jamming your music..
Thanks for the kind words and for checking out the video! 🤘🏽
The Custombucker is my winner, the Seth Lover is the Most crispy clean one, the Reissue is ok. But I need the suitcase ! ❤😅
Haha! I like the CB a lot too. One of my favorite pickups!
Custombuckers by miles
What is your rig setup? I listened to it once on my phone and all 3 pickups sound alike. After listening on my headphones a second time. There are subtle differences between them but honestly not $1k worth. Just my opinion though. Great video.
Thanks for checking out the video! Firstly, I don’t think they are worth $1000 either just to be clear. 😆
As for my setup, I run a few different versions to see which works out the best depending on the gear. Sometimes I mic up a GrooveTubes amp, but in this case I chose to run it into some amp cabs in Amplitube to get a clearer picture of what was going and so I could automate the clean to distortion transition. Mostly in the name of speed for this video. Cheers!
that Relish guitar is pretty darn cool..
Ok here goes I have tried most of my life to be a Les Paul guy and had some dandies but I never could but I always loved the bridge pickups of the 70s lesters I’m a single coil guy but after 3 FCS I was devasted so now I’m the Fraser guy after 13 he truly nails what I look for Dean Fraser is a master but back to the pickups I agree on the custom buckers with the gain in the bridge and I really loved the neck tone the best of the 59 humbucker collector very warm and sweet sounding
Thanks for checking it out! I hear ya - I’ve always been a Gib guy, but recently been getting into Fenders more. Great guitars, just never dug the styling of the strat(mostly the headstock, to be honest! Haha). Conversely, I think the Tele headstock is one of the best looking ones out there! But sometimes you can only get that fender tone from a fender(or s-Style, anyway!)
Cheers!
@@CompanyGripGuitar it was great
The pickups hardly make a difference in Metal tones, but you might notice a difference with clean tones. The speaker and microphone are where your real tone comes from.
Yep. Sounds literally like EVERY other electric guitar. As long as the purchase made you happy
amazing review and demo. keep it up mate
Thank you for the kind words and for checking out the video!
OK, I wanted to bash the ‘59 set but it sounded best to my ears. Not sure how it would fare against a Lollar, Monty’s or Throbak set.
I’ve been eager to try the throbaks. Thanks for checking it out!
Here is an important Variable that didn't need to be part of it being a comparison.. You played on 25.5 Scale Length.. I want to hear a True 24.75 Les Paul ... The Scale Length DOES make a significant difference in tone !! .. But I also found myself agreeing with your final assessment.. I would chose Custom Buckers ..
You do bring up a good point. I look forward to getting those pickups in a LP soon! Thanks for checking it out! 🤘🏽
Great video! I like your choice for comparison. At the same time, i think your choice also reflects why the '59 pafs got so much negative response from a certain section of the internet.
Not so much criticism on you, but rather on a good chunk of the community - a lot of comments talk about these being for doctors/lawyers etc. To those i say this: try searching both on RUclips and Gibson forums the type of people that actuallly buy into these types of things - like Throbaks. How about Rewinds? Wizz? Other boutique winders that claim they have time machines etc .. I believe these are being marketed to that crowd. In those circles, this is just another dose of kool-aid for them. Yet, when you see boomer tone junkies put up videos of their new throbaks and what not, you don't see people calling them blues lawyers or white collar professionals (cause they're not to begin with). More often in those videos/streams, the audience always gets assimilated into this ominous tone trance and all the butter and umami start flowing and everyone suddenly develops the ability to hear hypersonic canine-spectrum harmonic overtones. Whereas for these, simply because of Gibson's general exposure and branding, you get the more common (mis?)perception that they're marketed in direct competition to $150 range pickups (or at most the custombuckers).
Again, don't get me wrong, the rant was more about the community rather than your video. i think your video is a great comparison and was very fair to the product! In fact, it shows exactly why unless you specifically wanted the flavor of PAFs offered by the 59s, there's probably no reason to pay that crazy price for them (which goes the same for any of the boutique winds).
Thank you for checking it out. And I agree with what you say. On one hand I understand the criticism but on the other I also don’t see the necessary harm in a product like this. Even if someone had the $1000 to buy these pickups, it’s not going to sound 5x better than a set of $200 57’s, or 8x better than $125 Dimarzios.
I don’t take any offense at all and I appreciate the comment. Cheers!
Some are willing to dive down a random rabbit hole to search for the next flavor,of "magic bean" that will MAKE them sound like their guitar hero.
The guy who runs the pickup dept was the owner of brandonwound puckups. They are very nice and inexpensive. His former employee owns brandonwound now. I've got a set in my les paul and love them. I think they are 250 a set, roughly.
Some other great pickups are made by wizz . Still much cheaper than gibson ..
Stop giving gibson your money.
I'd even hire a luthier before buying an r9
My money on the Seth lover in this test.
Using Monty’s paf and Aph-1 in my lp's
So many companies making great double coils. No need to pay a grand for pickups.
Awesome playing bro.
I love how these all sound
Thanks for checking it out! 🤘🏽
Hi,
I bought a 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 1
I have a question about Average DC Resistance.
Rhythm pickup has a resistance value of 7.7k.
However, the resistance value of Treble pickup is 8.27k.
Is this normal?
How about your pickup resistance?
That’s pretty within spec. Mine read 7.69 and 8.17. Pretty close all things considered!
Cheers!
BB 1&2 unpotted would be the closest to original PAF's. I prefer the slightly hotter BB 2&3 set unpotted. When you find an evenly matched set with kohm resistance around 7.5 and 8.5 respectively, they're magical in a LP wired 50's style. Nothing beats the growl of a slightly overwound PAF. Most original sets are much weaker than people will admit.
I love my 2019 CustomBuckers in my Chibson
But prefer the Cream T Bernie's in my PRS se
I think that nailed the tone on the $1000 pickups as they sound the best to me but man $1,000 is just crazy 🤪
Yeah, it really is!
Love the tones and the plating, what I can hear is that tye seth lover is closer that legend rock sound in so many awesome records.
I think the seymour duncan is thr best both in price and quality.
Keep rocking 🤘🏻💀🤘🏻
Thanks for checking out the video! Cheers!
With such a cool Relish guitar, and now with the PAF pups, Im not sure if you will be satisfied with a Gibson LP/LD? Nice playing by the way!
Ha. Maybe, but to be honest that Relish is slowly falling apart! It’s quite surprising!
Cheers!
@CompanyGrip wow falling apart, possibly the reason they stopped producing the brand. Thanks for the info, I wouldn't have expected that from Relish. Cheers! Oh ya and I subscribed to your channel. I enjoyed your content.
Thank you for subscribing! The relish has a lot of potential, but to be honest, I feel like they sold the Grade-A pickup swap technology in a very cheap guitar. I’ve had to swap a faulty tone pot already, and before doing this video I had to take out the pickup selector switch, take it apart, and clean and bend the contact tabs because the Neck pickup stopped making contact.
Otherwise, it plays nice. But, this is the cheap budget Relish. I sure hope the $2500+ guitars are built better than this. Cheers!
1:38 sounds fantastic 😍 , but for the nostalgic pick up fans, Gibson should really give you a spare set of false teeth to complement the lovely 🌹 case.😅.
Haha! Thanks for checking out the video!
Great demo man. I don't hear a huge difference tbh - I'd go with the S Duncans. I'm surprised ppl would buy the Gibsons at that price.
Thanks for checking it out! I liked the SD’s a lot too!
It's April people are selling these pickups for $2000 online.
Great objective video. Thanks for posting 🤘🏼😎
Thank you for checking it out! Cheers!
I love the video. It clears it up
Timestamps so we can easily compare the Gibson pickups back to back and then the Seymour Duncan pickups.
Gibson 1959 Humbucker Collectors Edition 13:19 and 13:31
Gibson Custom Bucker 14:48 and 14:59
Seymour Duncan Seth Lover 14:03 and 14:15
Cheers!
Thanks for the timestamps. I had to listen closely several times and basically the A4 magnets were slightly more clear than the A3 Custombuckers, which were more clear than the A2 Seth Lovers. What does that tell me? Most people won’t be able to hear the difference if you didn’t tell them they were different pickups. But hey… if one gets you to pickup the guitar more often, that’s the best set of pups.
Greco dry z is the best paf pickup that represents the 59.
I felt the same way. I liked the Duncan Seth Lovers the most clean. I thought the Custom Buckers were good dirty and muddy clean. I have a 2013 R8 that came with Custom Buckers. I felt they were muddy from day one when playing clean especially the neck pickup. I replaced them with Duncan Pearly Gates and liked the guitar tone both dirty and clean much better. As far as the ‘59 PAF clones for $1K I didn’t hear anything special about them and would never pay that kind of money. I’ve wound quite a few of my own humbucker pickups and stagger wound the bobbins by about 50 turns with Alnico 5 magnets. I got a very nice PAF vibe from those sets. I might have to wi d a new set soon, I haven’t made any in 10 years. I used to make them to sell and rewound broken pickups for people. Quit doing it because the time you put in it is not very profitable when Chinese pickups can be bought for $20 or less. Can’t even buy the parts for that cheap to wind your own.
Too true! I’ve wanted to wind my own, but same reasons as you to now do it! Thanks for checking out the video!
Hi
are the custom buckers unpotted?
Hi! Yes they are!
Anyone remember the Seymour Duncan Zephyrs, they where 1k pickups and honestly presentation wise gibson did it a little better
It's copper wire wrapped around a magnet to me and they either sound good or they don't. The cheap ones sound really good as well and I'd rather buy an actual guitar for $1000 than some Gibson trickery.
They do sound good❤they remind me of the PRS 58/15lt
What do a set of Ron Ellis PAF pickups go for? The outrage is all the rage nowadays
The expensive collectors edition sounded the best. The Seth Lovers were a little more dull sounding. The custom buckers lacked the necessary mojo.
Nice demo and comparison. Still WiZZ pickups sound soooo much true to a real PAF than all of this.
For the clean part of the song perhaps the Classic 59's was the best, but, for the dirty part, the Seymour Duncans made it sing! So, what's the takeaway, from that test ... hmmm ... ahhh, yes, you don't need a Les Paul guitar🤣.
😆 maybe!
I'm guessing that MOST of these pickup sets are being bought by "white collar professionals", mostly doctors and lawyers, who only dabble in playing and mostly collect guitars, and who will never install them in a guitar. It's nice to seem someone actually put them to use. Yes, they sound extremely PAF-classicky. Very nice.
You forgot to mention the millionaires that I work with... Real estate agents, hedge fund managers, stock brokers, and countless people who got rich off the internet.
I don't think anyone can tell how much of the differences are actually the nuances in your playing during all the takes, how the different outputs react with all of the other gear you recorded with or how strong the distortion changed the tone colour etc. Anyways all of it are strong arguments against ever spending 1000$ on pickups. Overall i still felt like the way the dynamics reacted in the clean sections were best with expensive ones while the CustomBuckers kept their definition while playing distorted. All of it could be the playing, EQ or gear tho.
The Seymour Duncan's sound very close to the original sound of the PAF's and get number one spot. The custom Humbuckers get 2nd place. I'm not even going to consider the $1000 custom "original" as they're not even close to the original Gibson Seth Lovers PAF. ( I have an original PAF in my own hand built jazz guitar in the bridge position. Which I used for sound comparison to your recordings)
Do u recommend them ?
If you have the funds without stretching your finances at all, sure. Why not? You can always sell them. Otherwise, no. Seth Lovers or BBs are great and 1/4 the cost.