The Gibson 490R/498T Pickup Conundrum

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I still do a reasonable amount of pickup swaps for friends, friends of friends and local studios, and the commonest victim is the Gibson 490/498 set as found in older SGs and Studios etc.

 

At a point earlier this year I had 12 sets, 9 from SG owners, from studios who just didn't want them back. I stuck the odd set on Ebay, sometimes they didn't even sell with a BIN of £50 for a pair, on auction, £32.50!!

 

Then while modding a friends sons LTD250 with some ToneRider pickups I came up with the answer.

 

I took the Alnico V magnet from the 498T, and stuck it in the 490R and the Alnico II magnet from the 490R and stuck it n the 498T.

 

Oh yessssss!!

 

Brilliant sets for HSH RGs and the like and still sound good in an SG, but having found an awesome 2004 SG Std a few weeks ago, at a price I couldn't resist; I used a Seth Lover I had in the parts box at the bridge with a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck.

 

Classic rock, bluesy heaven, cleans to die for

 

Carry on

[gdsmithtx]

Sounds like a great combo. Two of the greatest sets of pickups I've ever heard.

 

Duncan posted an article on Facebook the other day and asked a about what "hybrid coil" pickups people would love to see (similar to their 59/Custom model: one coil from a 59 and one from a Custom). Link to article

 

I posted that I'd like to see a Seth Lover/59 hybrid: the '59 Lover.

[wankdeplank]

You sound like me with your MacGyver jerry-rigging Ratae. I recently pulled a couple of Dimarzio (HS2 and HS3) noiseless pickups out of my 89 American Strat cause they sounded horrible and anemic in relation to the custom neck pickup. Did some research and discovered that by separating a pair of wires you could split the thing making it true single coil, increasing the output and that Eric Johnson uses it this way and calls it a great vintage pickup. So I did and lo and behold, it's absolutely brilliant, completely usurping a set of replacement lace sensors IMO.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

You sound like me with your MacGyver jerry-rigging Ratae. I recently pulled a couple of Dimarzio (HS2 and HS3) noiseless pickups out of my 89 American Strat cause they sounded horrible and anemic in relation to the custom neck pickup. Did some research and discovered that by separating a pair of wires you could split the thing making it true single coil' date=' increasing the output and that Eric Johnson uses it this way and calls it a great vintage pickup. So I did and lo and behold, it's absolutely brilliant, completely usurping a set of replacement lace sensors IMO.[/quote']

 

I read that article too, and I have an HS2, that was going to be the S in an HSH, but it sounded "non complimentary to the two Hs.

 

I'll go read it again and see what I get.

 

But then I find that if you replace the baseplate on a G&B pickup (stockers on PRS SE and LTDs) with a nickel silver baseplate, and stick in an Alnico magnet, you get a perfectly decent pickup.

 

Requires a bit of playing as I'm not too good at spotting what's plain enamel and Formvar windings and sometimes they too wrapped up.

 

Me, I love polishin turds, .png.197c47f720636f02390cc2b0a33804da.png' alt='smiley-veryhappy'>

[billybilly]

You guys are just splitting wires here.

[wankdeplank]

 

I read that article too, and I have an HS2, that was going to be the S in an HSH, but it sounded "non complimentary to the two Hs.

 

I'll go read it again and see what I get.

 

But then I find that if you replace the baseplate on a G&B pickup (stockers on PRS SE and LTDs) with a nickel silver baseplate, and stick in an Alnico magnet, you get a perfectly decent pickup.

 

Requires a bit of playing as I'm not too good at spotting what's plain enamel and Formvar windings and sometimes they too wrapped up.

 

Me, I love polishin turds, .png.197c47f720636f02390cc2b0a33804da.png' alt='smiley-veryhappy'>

 

No you definitely have more accomplished skills than I replacing magnets and whatnot. I'd have no clue how to go about something like that.

 

The HS2 mod is the easiest thing in the whole world and very rewarding. You just separate the black and white wires, connect the black one with your ground wires and cover up the other one. Increased output, great vintage tones and it's still a very quiet pickup. Hey if it's good enough for Eric Johnson, it's damn straight good enough for me.

[GAS Man]

Yeah, doesn't surprise me. I've always had a hard time finding the love for a 498, but easy to like a 490T. I've even had more luck with the 500T, The only guitar I have where I liked the 498T out of the gate is in a thicker Les Paul Supreme I own. It sounds a bit more like a semi-hollow than my other LPs which creates some good affects upon the 498's tone. Been a while since I've drug that guitar out. Time to get reacquainted. But I've often thought the 498T is better in the hands of guitarists that prefer more modern tones. My ear definitely goes more towards classic tones. Imprinting.

[Karma1]

I wasn't happy with the 490R/498T combo in my Les Paul, so I swapped out the 490R, which was too dark and muddy for my taste, and put in a Duncan Seth Lover, which is great. Then as an experiment, I tried the 490R in the bridge. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded with the added mids and high's from being in that position. I've had it in there for years and am happy with it, and also how it blends with the Seth Lover.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I wasn't happy with the 490R/498T combo in my Les Paul' date=' so I swapped out the 490R, which was too dark and muddy for my taste, and put in a Duncan Seth Lover, which is great. Then as an experiment, I tried the 490R in the bridge. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded with the added mids and high's from being in that position. I've had it in there for years and am happy with it, and also how it blends with the Seth Lover.[/quote']

 

I can see the 490R and Seth complimenting each other nicely actually, in theory the 490R shouldn't be too different to the Seth apart from wax, and it shouldn't be much different to the 57 Classic either