Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

[pstarove]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

the photo is not mine, it was made by Mark Fletcher (www.japanguitars.co.uk) who sold me the guitar.

I have several clips (around 10 MB total), I may send them to you by e-mail (I can't post them on my website because there's no space. Send me a message to pavel.staroverov[AT]gmail.com

 

[paspallum]

Yeah

Yeah

Hey Pstarove

I looked at the site you got your guitar from. Cool. Nice gats!

I suppose you just got in your car and drove over to France?

I bought mine from
http://www.obsoleteguitars.com/

I just trusted the guy's judgement (he didn't really speak english well) I took a risk,and it plays as nice (or nicer) than ANY guitar I've ever played. The frets, fret-board, nut and neck are perfect.

So I guess I was lucky... I've never bought a guitar before without playing it first!

Paspallum

 

[pstarove]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

I sent you a couple of mails (5MB in total).

I haven't got a car, he sent it to me by mail. So I haven't heard it before buying it either. It was also the first guitar I bought without playing it. And I'm not disappointed, it's a great Les Paul. But my Parker is still a better guitar in almost every aspect and cost me less. But I needed to fight the Les Paul GAS I've been suffering for several years already, and now I've got the cure! I don't need any more Les Pauls, I will be buying only Parker Flys from now.

 

[paspallum]

Gfs

Gfs

Hey
I wonder how these sound?
Price is GREAT... THEY (of course) RAVE about how good they are on their own website. Nice preice for a Nickel covered 'humbucker'

http://store.guitarfetish.com/v59niclalpah.html

Paspallum

 

[paspallum]

498 and Antiquity

498 and Antiquity

Hey Pstarove
Or anyone out there

I have 100% made up my mind of what I want to do...
I still want to 'run it by you guys'

I'm going to buy a set of Antiquity Humbuckers and a Gibson Bridge 498T.

I'll order them online from the same store...
They'll arrive together... then I'll have MY DREAM TONE (498T) that I have already heard and played through the same model amp I own.
And I'll have the P/ups that EVERYONE on ths Forum and EVERONE on Harmony central just says are TOPS.

I'll be poor... but I'll be covered either way! I won't be dissapointed.

I know I've asked this question before in a more simple way...

But would the 498 bridge and the AntQ neck work together at all?

Maybe if I didn't use the middle postion it would be fine..
Actually on ALL my Gibson type guitars..when ever I select the middle postion I NEVER have both pickups on full... I ALWAYS have the bridge P/up on 10 and the neck on 4 to 6... I prefer this 'blend'
So... in that case a Bridge 498 on 10 and an AntiQ neck on 10 might just be how I'd want it anyway?

does this new angle make a difference to how you might precieve a high output and a low output P/up working together?

And Pstarove I will try hooking up to G-mail tommorrow - I tried getting an account last year and it took too long to open the mail page.... it used to freeze up... but I'll try again.. I'm keen to hear your clips... still blown away with the crunchy riff on the first one!

Paspallum

 

[pstarove]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

That's a wise decision! I think Antiquity neck will work OK with 498T bridge.

 

[eyesonly]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

490R/498T are an awesome combination. I don't know where people get this 498T being too trebly from? Are these the same people that describe the CC as having a warm top end. I find the 498T has a warm top end and the CC is just plain harsh by comparision. Also the 498T is nothing like a C5 which has scooped mids. The 498T is anything but scooped. It has strong mids and upper mids, little treble and not too much bass with a big overall output. 490R is so like a PAF tone but not as dull as a '57 classic. If people think the 490R has too much bottom end they should use an APH1n

 

[cvansickle]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

490/498 pickups are not bad, they just don't have the classic PAF tone. And they don't work well together: if you adjust the settings of your amp so that the neck pickup sounds good, the bridge pickup will sound too trebly, piercing. and again, if you adjust your amp for the bridge pickup, the neck pickup will sound too muddy. The easiest thing one could do to make them sound better is to swap the magnets between them: 490R with an Alnico 5 magnet will sound brighter and less muddy, and 498T with an Alnico 2 magnet will sound smoother and less trebly. And the change is completely reversible if you don't like it.

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I was doing some research. I am totally going to try this in my Les Paul Special with humbuckers. I have the stock 490R in the neck, and I switched the bridge 491T with a 498T. I'm still not satisfied and having trouble dialing in a good sound with this guitar, but I also don't want to sink any more $$ into this guitar.

I'll post my findings later on...

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I was doing some research. I am totally going to try this in my Les Paul Special with humbuckers. I have the stock 490R in the neck, and I switched the bridge 491T with a 498T. I'm still not satisfied and having trouble dialing in a good sound with this guitar, but I also don't want to sink any more $$ into this guitar.

The 498T/490R pair is indeed a bizarre pairing that has confounded a number of players for years, for the reasons mentioned in the quote you copied. I have a couple sets and an A5 in the 490R works wonders; clears it right up. Decent tones too. I tried an A2 in the 498T and it made it too warm and rounded for me, even with 500K's. I like it much better with an A8 or UOA5, both of which have more high end than A2's. Actually my 498T's with an A8 or UOA5 and 250K's have a sharper high end than the same PU with an A2 and 500K's.

An A8 498T and A5 490R is a pretty good set. It's the Gibson version of a C8 and '59N.

 

[cvansickle]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

The 498T/490R pair is indeed a bizarre pairing that has confounded a number of players for years, for the reasons mentioned in the quote you copied. I have a couple sets and an A5 in the 490R works wonders; clears it right up. Decent tones too. I tried an A2 in the 498T and it made it too warm and rounded for me, even with 500K's. I like it much better with an A8 or UOA5, both of which have more high end than A2's. Actually my 498T's with an A8 or UOA5 and 250K's have a sharper high end than the same PU with an A2 and 500K's.

An A8 498T and A5 490R is a pretty good set. It's the Gibson version of a C8 and a '59N.

This guitar is a thin flat mahogany slab, closer to an SG than a real Les Paul. It could use some warmth.

I did try a Custom 8 in a Les Paul Classic once, and it wasn't for me.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

This guitar is a thin flat mahogany slab, closer to an SG than a real Les Paul. It could use some warmth.

I did try a Custom 8 in a Les Paul Classic once, and it wasn't for me.

You might like a C8 in a thinner body. I prefer them in SG's, where they really shine. They add some beef to the sound. In LP's they may have too much mids or bass for some people.

 

[Brandenburg]

Re: Gibson 490 Alnico Humbuckers?

an A5 in the 490R works wonders

I was toying with the idea of picking up a 490R and putting an A5 in it.. I read somewhere that it approximates the sound of a TTop.. A sound that I really dig.. Dont know how true it is, but ill eventually find out