Members mbengs1 Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 I had the pickup covers of my Gibson 498t and 490r removed when I moved them to my Ibanez JS. I think the tech had to burn the pickups for minutes at a time to get through the lead that sealed the covers to the pickups. my question is did exposure to heat for long time alter the sound of the Gibson pickups in any way or not ? coz the pickups kinda changed in character but maybe it's coz the guitar that has them now is strat scale with Floyd rose with basswood body and maple neck/rosewood board. But the pickups sound very good. the 498t seems more powerful and the neck pickup less muddy. It used to sound diiferent when it was on the les paul at least to my ears. Less output on the bridge and rounder and bassier on the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Heat can ebb flux and strat is brighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted April 15, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Heat can ebb flux and strat is brighter. But I don't think it changed the tone of both pickups. But they seem to be hotter now. Maybe taking off the pickup covers changes something in the pickup's response ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 This isn't the guitar that crapped out? Anyway, supposedly removing the covers brightens up the tone. I have an RG 570 with the open coil V7 and V8 and that didn't sound bright at all. I have an Epi Dot with nice chrome covers and that is very brite. So BS on the scale AND covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 You took pickups designed for one model of guitar, modified the pickups, and threw them in a guitar built completely differently then the other guitar.. Now take a minute and rethink this question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Anyway' date=' supposedly removing the covers brightens up the tone.[/quote'] Indeed. Covers off you now have both sets of pole pieces exposed, plus the covers provide some shielding effects. Disclosure, I've never done an A/B before/after, but do own similar guitars with the same p'ups, some covered, some uncovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 First you say . . . the 498t seems more powerful and the neck pickup less muddy. It used to sound diiferent when it was on the les paul at least to my ears. Less output on the bridge and rounder and bassier on the neck. Then you say But I don't think it changed the tone of both pickups. But they seem to be hotter now. Maybe taking off the pickup covers changes something in the pickup's response ? I find it hard to understand how the bridge pickup can have "less output" and be "hotter" at the same time since "hot" typically means high output. Please either explain what you mean by "hot" or make up your mind and get back to us. The difference in scale length between the two guitars can explain some of what you're hearing but my guess is that you have one or both pickups closer to/further from the strings than before, which would account for a difference in output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Melting the solder to remove the covers is a dumb idea .Why not just cut the solder and avoid the heat. It also makes re-installing them a breeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 Electronic solder melts around 370 degrees F. To solder the cover to the frame both pieces had to heated to at least that temperature, then the solder is flowed into the joint. Unsoldering them still requires that the solder itself be heated to its melting point but the large pieces being unsoldered don't have to. Anyone who does much soldering has a cool little tool called a "solder sucker" - it is a small spring actuated vacuum pump that once the solder has melted pulls it away from the joint. Mbeng's tech should not have had to "burn the pickups for minutes at a time to get through the lead that sealed the covers to the pickups", but then we've learned that Mbeng's techs/luthiers/whatever frequently don't seem to have any idea of what they are doing. The rest of the conversation is non sense, typical of most of his posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 You know you are asking the impossible here of Mbengs1, never thinks before he questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 DO you ever play these Guitars or do you just Mod them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted April 16, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 DO you ever play these Guitars or do you just Mod them. I play them, of course. Changing the pickups seems to be the first thing to do with most of my guitars since that's the easiest way to get not only great tone, but the uniqueness of an artist's tone. It's really enjoyable to play with different pickups coz you're hear your style with different tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 You just got this JS back and said in another post that it sounded Great now your changing pickups. Please make up your mind, pickups will make a difference but so will EQing your amp and your style of playings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted April 16, 2018 Moderators Share Posted April 16, 2018 plus, the spacing on the pole pieces may not match the new guitar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted April 18, 2018 Members Share Posted April 18, 2018 I had the pickup covers of my Gibson 498t and 490r removed when I moved them to my Ibanez JS. I think the tech had to burn the pickups for minutes at a time to get through the lead that sealed the covers to the pickups. my question is did exposure to heat for long time alter the sound of the Gibson pickups in any way or not ? coz the pickups kinda changed in character but maybe it's coz the guitar that has them now is strat scale with Floyd rose with basswood body and maple neck/rosewood board. But the pickups sound very good. the 498t seems more powerful and the neck pickup less muddy. It used to sound diiferent when it was on the les paul at least to my ears. Less output on the bridge and rounder and bassier on the neck. Why remove the covers? 490R & 498T are supposedly a good combination. I am very happy w/ a 490 R&T. I’m not sure why you’d swap them. But to each his own. Good luck w/ your latest project. I have no idea if your tech modified the tone or not. Count your blessings they are both still working. That’s how I view it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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