498t revisited

[htwheelz67]

I have this 05 Epiphone LP std, I've only kept it cuz I like the way it looks and it has a great "setup" so it plays great but it always sounded sub par compared to my Gibsons, I've only tried a duncan 59 and gib super 57 then put a Gfs fat pat and gfs 59 neck sounded good but still didn't sound like a les paul should, I had a 498t sitting for years and I thought I'd give it a try, I've read so many bad things about a 498t so I never used it, the verdict? it sounds amazing now just like a les paul should, I also added a treble bleed to the neck pup and another miracle the neck pup sounds great now when you turn it down a bit. My buddy had me put p-rails and TS in his same year/model/color in his epi and I can say 100% the 498t and GFS 59 sound better than any settings on the p-rails, going to add treble bleeds on both his pups before I give it to him maybe that will even it out a bit. My epi sounds so much like my 76 LPC with maple neck/fretboard and WLH set now even with such different pickups (bridge at least) I would have no problem gigging with the epi now.

 

[htwheelz67]

Re: 498t revisited

a little update, I did these swaps about 5 days ago, I forgot about that pickups sometimes have a bit of break in or time to breath, now I withdraw my conclusion about the 498t sounding way better than p-rails, just different in a good way now that the p-rails have had time to "aerate" like a good bottle of wine, they sound much better today than even 2 days ago and the p90 sound is wonderful.

 

[jeremy]

Re: 498t revisited

i have a set of prails in a prs se. i use the p90 setting 80% of the time and they sound great, having the other options is nice too

 

[Securb]

Re: 498t revisited

People pick up my Ibanez Iceman, Roadstar or SG and tell me how great they sound and when I tell them the pickup is a 498T they shake their heads. For some reason, these pickups get a bad rap but they are among my favorites. The great thing is there is so much negative chatter on the interwebs about 498Ts people rip them out of their guitars and throw them on the secondary market for cheap. If you troll around Ebay you can find them for around $50. A steal if you ask me.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: 498t revisited

I did not like the 498t's in Les Paul Studios I have played, but I do like it a lot in my SG Standard with a Duncan 59n in the neck. It matches the 59n even better with an UOA5 magnet in it.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: 498t revisited

I have a friend who loves the 498T, has it in all his guitars but one. Never owned one myself.

Looks to be in the same ballpark as the Perpetual Burn - anybody had both and can compare them?

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: 498t revisited

Ha! I just saw this amazing bargain for one on eBay...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Gea...=1532775288151bd1f3e606894cbb8032ac2fb446c65d

Only $180 shipping from Japan.

 

[htwheelz67]

Re: 498t revisited

I saw that great "deal" ebay.......I dont know what it is maybe a kinda rude gritty sound but I really like the 498T, I have 51 guitars at the moment and I keep A/B ing different Les Pauls and other guitars to my Epi, and every time I plug it in and hit a chord I love what I hear, I picked up a chrome 498t/490r set and a zebra set, gonna swap a-5 into the 490r's and do some pup swapping. My buddy picked up his epi that I put the P-rails in and he picked up mine and said "I like yours better"

 

[blueman335]

Re: 498t revisited

I saw that great "deal" ebay.......I dont know what it is maybe a kinda rude gritty sound but I really like the 498T, I have 51 guitars at the moment and I keep A/B ing different Les Pauls and other guitars to my Epi, and every time I plug it in and hit a chord I love what I hear, I picked up a chrome 498t/490r set and a zebra set, gonna swap a-5 into the 490r's and do some pup swapping. My buddy picked up his epi that I put the P-rails in and he picked up mine and said "I like yours better"

498T's have a 'grainy' quality to their sound, as do a couple other Gibson HB's. Don't know if that's what they we aiming for, or a happy accident. Interesting quality that I haven'y heard in any other brand of PU. If it was really desirable, there would be a lot of companies copying that.

For me, the 498T/490R is one of the most mismatched sets. Don't understand why anyone would pair PU's with such different EQ's; makes it difficult (if not impossible) to get an amp EQ that works equally well for both pickups. I've put an A5 in the 490R and it's a big improvement. Takes the blanket off the sound. 498T's benefit from a mag swap too, like an A8 or UOA5. That set really sound much better, and more usable, with those mag swaps.

 

[htwheelz67]

Re: 498t revisited

I have not used a 490r yet but swapping to an a5 makes sense another addition I just tried on 2 Les Pauls is a treble bleed on the neck, the neck pup on the one with the 498 was pretty useless but now it sounds wonderful just by turning the vol down a bit, same with my buddy's that I just put p-rails and TS's into I put treble bleeds in both positions and it made a big difference at lower vol settings.