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157:. During the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, his career fluctuated between working for Gibson and the US Navy. He developed the humbucking pickup for Gibson in 1955, and designed the first fuzztone distortion device, called the Maestro, in 1961. He stayed with Gibson until 1967 when he took a designing job with
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received by single coil pickups. It was in the mid-'50s, while working as an amplifier designer at Gibson
Guitars, that Lover figured out how to wire two coils electrically out of phase and with reversed magnetic polarities. The effect was to cancel the hum before it reached the amp and the result
303:, a guitar pickup designer and manufacturer, considered Lover his "humbucker mentor". The two were associated for nearly 20 years. In 1994, Duncan and Lover jointly produced the Seth Lover Model pickup, a re-creation of the "Patent Applied For" humbucker. After numerous full-page ads,
220:). During this five-year period, Gibson adhered a "Patent Applied For" sticker to the underside of their humbucker pickups. These "P.A.F." pickups are among the most collectable and desirable pickups today, fetching upwards of $ 1,000 each among
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at Gibson, Lover was also involved in guitar design. He liked to tell how he helped contribute to the design of the famous "Flying V." Lover said that he thought up the design as a way to lean the guitar against a wall without it tipping over.
347:"Ahhh, Humbuck! : Seth Lover's amplitude of talent turned up the volume of pop--including 'horrible music'--and produced the Humbucker pickup. His Garden Grove garage is an electronic treasure trove"
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From 1967 to 1975 Lover worked for Fender
Musical Instruments as a project engineer. He authored three patents during that time: two for loudspeaker cabinets and one for an electric piano pickup.
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Seth Lover began working with electronics as a child, and continued working with them during and after his first service with the US Army in the 1930s. He then worked in an electronics shop in
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appearances, and magazine interviews, Lover became a minor celebrity at age 84. During his final years, Lover was a regular member of the
Seymour Duncan NAMM-team.
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Lover died on
January 31, 1997, at the age of 87 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife, his two sons, and his three grandchildren.
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199:(Patent Applied For) designed while working for Gibson in 1955. This pickup was utilized in a range of Gibson guitars, most notably the
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129:) was a designer of amplifiers and musical instrument electronics and effects. He is most famous for developing the Gibson
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Lover applied for the patent on the humbucking pickup in 1955 and it was finally granted in 1959 (
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or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the
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The humbucking pickup was simultaneously and independently developed by
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Lover worked for Gibson from 1952 to 1967 as a design engineer.
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Before Lover, electric guitarists were forced to cope with the
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Fender Wide Range pickup (front) on Fender
Telecaster Custom
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325:"Seth Lover: Humbuckers and other Lover Innovations"
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264:humbucking pickup (WRHP), which was used in the
161:. He retired to the Southern California town of
153:before joining the service a second time during
172:Designs with Gibson, Fender, and Seymour Duncan
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195:Lover's most famous humbucker design was the
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296:Seymour Duncan SH-55 Seth Lover humbuckers
185:P.A.F. pickup on Gibson Les Paul Standard
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
211:was the birth of the humbucking pickup.
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44:adding citations to reliable sources
327:. Vintage Guitar Magazine. Mar 2005
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1069:20th-century American engineers
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31:needs additional citations for
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125:– January 31, 1997, in
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159:Fender Musical Instruments
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127:Garden Grove, California
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217:U.S. patent 2,896,491
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121:(January 1, 1910, in
555:Gibson Barney Kessel
227:While working under
40:improve this article
288:With Seymour Duncan
260:Lover designed the
123:Kalamazoo, Michigan
379:as the Filter'Tron
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282:Fender Starcaster
262:Fender Wide Range
253:Fender Wide Range
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353:. Mar 10, 1993
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222:vintage guitar
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119:Seth E. Lover
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57: –
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51:Find sources:
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29:This article
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933:Subsidiaries
847:Discontinued
753:Discontinued
548:Discontinued
534:Melody Maker
457:David Harvey
446:
367:
355:. Retrieved
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329:. Retrieved
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224:collectors.
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208:60-cycle hum
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191:PAF (pickup)
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163:Garden Grove
155:World War II
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55:"Seth Lover"
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38:Please help
33:verification
30:
1054:1997 deaths
1049:1910 births
991:Slingerland
945:Steinberger
940:Mesa/Boogie
909:F5 mandolin
838:Thunderbird
744:Hummingbird
580:ES-Les Paul
442:Ted McCarty
424:Key figures
239:With Fender
229:Ted McCarty
177:With Gibson
1043:Categories
447:Seth Lover
437:Lloyd Loar
311:References
66:newspapers
971:Kalamazoo
785:LG Series
718:J Series
685:Super 400
655:Nighthawk
565:Blueshawk
494:ES Series
433:(founder)
373:Ray Butts
305:NAMM Show
147:Kalamazoo
131:humbucker
1015:Category
981:Original
966:Epiphone
780:L Series
765:B Series
704:Acoustic
660:The Paul
645:Marauder
570:Citation
560:Byrdland
529:Les Paul
524:Flying V
519:Firebird
514:Explorer
489:EDS-1275
474:Electric
452:Les Paul
278:Thinline
268:models (
201:Les Paul
96:May 2020
1027:Commons
986:Orville
889:Victory
874:Grabber
833:SG bass
821:Current
795:Style U
712:Current
650:Moderne
610:ES-350T
482:Current
466:Guitars
377:Gretsch
203:model.
80:scholar
996:Tobias
976:Kramer
954:Brands
884:Ripper
813:Basses
722:J-160E
680:Spirit
615:Futura
605:ES-345
600:ES-330
595:ES-295
590:ES-225
585:ES-150
575:Corvus
509:ES-355
504:ES-335
499:ES-175
417:Gibson
357:Jan 3,
331:Jan 3,
276:, and
274:Custom
270:Deluxe
197:P.A.F.
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61:
53:
961:Dobro
732:J-200
690:335-S
675:Sonex
620:GK-55
87:JSTOR
73:books
919:P-90
869:EB-3
864:EB-2
859:EB-1
854:EB-0
739:Dove
727:J-45
640:L6-S
359:2015
333:2015
59:news
790:L-1
635:L-5
630:L-4
42:by
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879:G3
670:S1
665:RD
539:SG
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