Besides his service in the military, Seth Edmund Lover was a celebrated electronics designer.
By his own account, Seth began working on small electronics projects he would find published in the local newspaper, while living in Philadelphia with his grandparents, Alfred and Angeline Rickman, during the 1920s.
After his stint in the Army, where he also specialised in electronics, he began working at the Butler Battery Shop, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he began building amplifiers for regular customer Eddy Smith, who was also an orchestra leader. It was during this time Seth began designing noiseless optical tremolo units.
In 1941, Walter Fuller asked Seth to come to The Gibson Company to work, but after the outbreak of WWII, Seth joined the Army again, whereupon being offered a Second Class Radioman rating, he ended up in the Navy.
After the war, Ted McCarty asked Seth to build a special kind of pickup, which he wound by hand. Afterwards, McCarty decided Gibson could afford to pay Lover what he was earning in the Navy, so Seth found himself back working with Gibson by 1952. It was during his tenure at Gibson that he designed the famous "Patent Applied For" (or 'PAF' as it is known) humbucking electric guitar pickup.
Seth stayed with Gibson until 1967, but although he was the primary designer for most of the amplifiers and pickup designs for Gibson, he was never officially given the title.
Seth then spoke with a friend, Dick Evan, who was Fender’s chief engineer. CBS had bought Fender, and Seth was offered a job making a substantially greater sum of money than Gibson was paying him.
During the 1990's, Seth once again began working on the perfection of his original pickup design, as the original patent had since expired, this time alongside renowned pickup designer Seymour Duncan.
Seth Lover's impact on the electric guitar has never been properly recognised, although his innovations in pickup design are responsible for famous guitar tones from that of Les Paul to Eric Clapton.
(Bio by Johnny Nowhere)
Besides his service in the military, Seth Edmund Lover was a celebrated electronics designer.
By his own account, Seth began working on small electronics projects he would find published in the local newspaper, while living in Philadelphia with his grandparents, Alfred and Angeline Rickman, during the 1920s.
After his stint in the Army, where he also specialised in electronics, he began working at the Butler Battery Shop, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he began building amplifiers for regular customer Eddy Smith, who was also an orchestra leader. It was during this time Seth began designing noiseless optical tremolo units.
In 1941, Walter Fuller asked Seth to come to The Gibson Company to work, but after the outbreak of WWII, Seth joined the Army again, whereupon being offered a Second Class Radioman rating, he ended up in the Navy.
After the war, Ted McCarty asked Seth to build a special kind of pickup, which he wound by hand. Afterwards, McCarty decided Gibson could afford to pay Lover what he was earning in the Navy, so Seth found himself back working with Gibson by 1952. It was during his tenure at Gibson that he designed the famous "Patent Applied For" (or 'PAF' as it is known) humbucking electric guitar pickup.
Seth stayed with Gibson until 1967, but although he was the primary designer for most of the amplifiers and pickup designs for Gibson, he was never officially given the title.
Seth then spoke with a friend, Dick Evan, who was Fender’s chief engineer. CBS had bought Fender, and Seth was offered a job making a substantially greater sum of money than Gibson was paying him.
During the 1990's, Seth once again began working on the perfection of his original pickup design, as the original patent had since expired, this time alongside renowned pickup designer Seymour Duncan.
Seth Lover's impact on the electric guitar has never been properly recognised, although his innovations in pickup design are responsible for famous guitar tones from that of Les Paul to Eric Clapton.
(Bio by Johnny Nowhere)
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