Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

pstarove
I'm with you guys on this one! I get what you are saying totally.
Yes, a higher output might be agressive and 'hard'... but it won't be as 'mutli-dimensional' and it won't be, as you say as transparent....

So Maybe the Antiquties would be the way to go?

I listened to those audio clips... there's a lot going on in the clips... hard to make out what is what...I'd have prefered just one track of guitar...strumming chords or playing a simple riff...

but I did think that the Antiquities had more depth and more dimension and that the Seth Lovers (by comparison) were a bit harder and a bit colder sounding?

So.. the stock pickups I now have (the problem ones) they are very VERY low output... and they don't sound good at all...

If I go for low output pickups like the Antiquities can I still get chunk and drive if I want it... I mean to me... talking about aged magnets and low output makes me think they might sound like a single coil or something? (yeah I know!)

Are there any links to more comprehensive soundclips of Antiquity Humbuckers? Where I can hear what they sound like on their own?

I'm guessing that the lower output pickups would sound more 'musical' less harsh...

So the Antiquities are not wax potted... so they should offer a bit of sweet sustaining harmonic feedback of held notes? What is your oipinion on that?

The thing theat initially drew me to the Gibson 490's that I played was how the note seemed to 'bloom' after it was played.. and even swell ever so much and then start to gently sing in harmonry with the sustained note... very sweet and very nice for recording where you want as much musicality and good attitude (life and dinemsion) from a guitar take.

Paspallum
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

pstarove
Also another thing you might be able to help with
I just need straight technical facts here.

I have Seymour Duncan Antiquity P-90's in my Goldtop.

My Goldtop is a Korean made tokai. The pickups that came stock were okay... a bit muddy really...

Anyway the stock Pots were 250K

What rating of Pots and Caps would you recommend for this guitar with these fine P-90 pickups?

Paspallum
 
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Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

paspallum said:
pstarove

If I go for low output pickups like the Antiquities can I still get chunk and drive if I want it... I mean to me... talking about aged magnets and low output makes me think they might sound like a single coil or something? (yeah I know!)

Are there any links to more comprehensive soundclips of Antiquity Humbuckers? Where I can hear what they sound like on their own?

So the Antiquities are not wax potted... so they should offer a bit of sweet sustaining harmonic feedback of held notes? What is your oipinion on that?

Paspallum
Click to expand...

Paspallum,

I have not heard Antiquities myself, so I cannot guarantee that what I say here can be applied to them. IMHO an aged magnet takes away a bit of output, a bit of bass and a bit of treble harshness. That is from my experience with my custom made Parker Fly pickups with Alnico2 magnets. I have experimented with the Airbucker technology in them that basically makes the same thing as ageing a magnet: it puts plastic spacers between the magnet and the screws instead of metal ones which results in a 15-20% reduction of the magnetic field. But it still sounds like a humbucker, just a bit more complex and lower output (the hotter winding of an Antiquity (7.8Kneck/8.5Kbridge) should compensate for the lower output a little bit).

Unfortunately, I am unaware of any other Antiquity soundclips, sorry. If you find one, please post the link here.

Concerning wax potting and harmonic overtones, all of my pickups are wax potted so I cannot help you with that.

pstarove
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

paspallum said:
pstarove

What rating of Pots and Caps would you recommend for this guitar with these fine P-90 pickups?

Paspallum
Click to expand...

Standard values for all 50's Gibsons are 500K pots, 0.022 mfd caps. If your pickups sound muddy with 250K pots, 500K pots usually help.
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

One trick seems to be to use a .015uf cap for the neck pickup's tone control, to get a clearer sound.
 
Nearly there

Nearly there

OK
Thanks guys... I'm nearly there...

I am thinking the Antiquitys will be best ( I might try another post to see if I can get any replies about the 'chunk' 'bite' factor from anyone using AntQ's in a Les Paul...)

But one thing I saw while browsing this forum for AntQ HB info was that they come with varying specs.... like some guy was talking about getting a hotter AntQ for the bridge

hamerfan said:
I think the Ants are right on. I tend to look for a hotter bridge version (you get them actually in a very wide range - ive seen them from 8.1 up to 8.7k) , which is now 8.4k and swapped in a full charged A2
Click to expand...

How do I go about ordering a 'hotter' bridge AntQ from a store?

On the Antq page on the SD website it just has: Neck P/up and Bridge P/up... and while it says that they vary.... it dosen't say how to order a hotter or less hot version of each pickup

Can anyone help me here? Pstarove???

Paspallum
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

If the dealer you're buying the pickups from, has several of them in stock, you might ask him to choose the hottest ones for you. But if he doesn't, you are limited to what he has in stock or you can buy them directly from the SD Custom Shop.
Here's a link to a good web shop that seems to have Antiquities in stock:
http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/sd_anthum.htm
You can write them a message asking to choose the hottest Antiquities for you.
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

Pstarove
Awesome!

But how do the guys at the stores know which P/ups are 'hotter' are they marked on each box? or do they have to open them and test them with an electrical device?

Paspallum
 
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Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

all CS pickups are marked on the box, but I don't know if they are marked with the specs DC resistance or with the real measurement. in any case, you don't have to worry about that, it's the problem of a salesperson, not yours. and if the seller stocks Antiquities, you won't be the first who asks them to choose the hottest ones, so they would know what to do.
 
Custom shop

Custom shop

I guess the SD Custom shop would be the best place to buy
They'd SURE know what they were doing and would have plenty of stock on-hand of one's with different DC resistence?

Do they have an online store? I tried looking for it on the Seymour Duncan website... but no joy... I couldn't find any link to a store.

Do you have a link for the SD custom shop where I can actually BUY a set?

Also, what do I actually ask for if I want a hotter bridge and a standard (or even warmer) neck?

What is the value that I'm talking in? Is it DC resistence?
Or is it 'hotter winding'? (please educate some more!)

Also:
Sludgenutz said:
The 490R sounds far better with minimum amounts of drive and gain. Gibson 490R pickups turn muddy, and undefined beyond jazzy/bluesy rythm playing.
Click to expand...

How do I know that the Antq's won't do the same thing that people say the Gibson 490's do? I'm not trying to be Mettallica or Slayer.. but I do want some drive if I need it.

Thanks
Papsallum
 
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Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

Hey Pstarove
That link to the Guitar parts resouces store looks good I have e-mailed them.
however here's quote
pstarove said:
But if he doesn't, you are limited to what he has in stock or you can buy them directly from the SD Custom Shop.
Click to expand...

So are you saying that by e-mailing the custom shop I might be able to purchase off them?

Paspallum
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

yes. but if guitarpartsresource answers you, better buy pickups from them, most likely it will be cheaper than buying directly from the CS.
 
cool

cool

Thanks Pstarove

I have just been looking at guitarpartsresource's website in detail. I also spent the afternoon checking out this forum to see what other people are using as humbuckers... you have been so helpful... but I've been looking for other opinions.

Most everyone agrees that The AntQ is the best sounding humbucker SD make... although some plain prefer the Seths... others like Pearly gates... some the JB.....

Some say the AntQ is very mellow and dosen't have lot of 'edge'

I've posted a thread asking to hear from players who are using AntQ HmBkrs for more aggresive music.... not one reply yet

I myself on guitarpartsresource.com... found info on the Custom Custom:

Seymour Duncan SH-11 "Custom Custom" model humbucker pickup. Bridge position. Black. The SH-11 is a pickup for connoisseurs of tone. The SH-11 was originally a Custom Shop hybrid-adding Alnico II magnets to the popular SH-5 Custom model. The result is the ultra warm, sweet high end of a vintage pickup with the increased punch and bottom needed for modern, high volume applications. Rated at 14.4k ohms.

Man... that sounds like me Ultra warm and sweet but with increased pucng and bottom end! Yeah!

How would this go with Seth in the Neck?

Paspallum
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

It would sound good, it was one of the configurations I recommended earlier in this thread. I just prefer using a lower output HB with more gain than a high output HB with less gain. I find the sound to be more lively, less compressed.

Concerning different opinions on the Antiquities, that is because each Antiquity HB is different and some are better than others.
 
Full loops

Full loops

Pstarove
Yep... you are right... looking back I see that you did indeed recommend the Custom Custom /seth combo.... the fact that I had forgotten that and yet still came to the exact conclusion.... maybe it's 'meant to be'??

The only thing that worries me... is the fact that you guys also mentioned about what BILL LAWRENCE say's, that lower output pickups are best as it is better to get your tone from the pickups and not the amp...

This makes sense to me.... but on the 'flipside' the stock pickups MUST be low output... they are weak and sound weak...

Also, it would be easy for Seymour to make the entire SD range super low output.... wouldn't it? But he still makes medium, high and ultra high output pickups.. and these selll don't they?

I did put up a thread asking if any guys playing punk, or old school metal are using AntQ HumBkrs... and three days later... no reply?

See I have a goldtop with AntQ P-90's a Tele with a SD'54 ansd Strat with AntQ surfers and a beautiful Ibanez Artcore hollowbody that has the sweetest stock HumBkrs ever (they are NOT coming out to be preplaced!)

I really want the Les Paul to fill the gap as a ROCK guitar... I want it to have some 'attitude'.

Some people have said that (while the Antiquty's are the best pickups they have ever heard) that they are a little 'polite'.

That's where I came to the conclusion that the Custom Custom might be the right bridge P/up (and yeah you already knew that!)

Seymours description:
The result is the ultra warm, sweet high end of a vintage pickup with the increased punch and bottom needed for modern, high volume applications.

That sounds like it'll still sound sweet?


Paspallum
 
Re: Full loops

Re: Full loops

paspallum said:
The only thing that worries me... is the fact that you guys also mentioned about what BILL LAWRENCE say's, that lower output pickups are best as it is better to get your tone from the pickups and not the amp...
Click to expand...

I don't really think that that's what Bill Lawrence meant, and keep in mind that I was only paraphrasing something that I heard that he said. The one time I spoke with him, that wasn't one of the things we talked about.

My interpretation is that the tone should come from the pickups, but if you're looking for the sound of high output pickups, then that's what you need.

I steer clear of high ouput pickups lately myself, but that doesn't mean everyone should.

Pete
 
Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

If you like the sound of other Antiquity pickups on your other guitars, then you will most likely like the sound of Antiquity humbuckers on your Les Paul. If you feel that on this particular guitar you need more attitude (which usually means more output), I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the Seth Lover/Custom Custom combo. Both SL/CC and Antiquities would be great for the right application. You just have to decide for yourself, what is more important for you: more output/attitude or more subtlety/complexity.
 
Thanks again

Thanks again

Thanks again guys...

One other question?
What is an R8 ? (I presume it is a guitar) as people on the forum have put various humbuckers into their 'R8'

Is this some kinda Ibanez Shred machine or something?

Also.. back to the Custom Custom... it has four wires? what do I do with them? I won't be wiring it to split to a single coil? does this make wiring in the P'up a confusing issue?

Paspallum
 
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