gibson 490R with A3 or A4
- Thread starter toneseeker74
- Start date
ItsaBass
New member
gibson 490R with A3 or A4
A3 is the only commonly used pickup magnet that will will lighten up an originally-A2-equipped pickup. IMO, this doesn't hurt the 490 set at all. But I like to start with a pretty clean pickup, and get the dirt (if wanted) from the lowish-headroom amp and/or my picking. You might prefer to put a hotter pickup into a cleaner amp, like many people do. In that case, you'd NOT want to switch to A3.
The A4 will do the opposite. It will make the 490's a bit heavier sounding (but not as heavy as A5). It will also dry up the e.q. a bit from the stock A2's.
Since 490's are already on the slightly hottish side for most '50's and '60's style tones that I like to use, I would not put heavier magnets than stock in them. A3 is the only mag swap I'd consider, personally.
A3 is the only commonly used pickup magnet that will will lighten up an originally-A2-equipped pickup. IMO, this doesn't hurt the 490 set at all. But I like to start with a pretty clean pickup, and get the dirt (if wanted) from the lowish-headroom amp and/or my picking. You might prefer to put a hotter pickup into a cleaner amp, like many people do. In that case, you'd NOT want to switch to A3.
The A4 will do the opposite. It will make the 490's a bit heavier sounding (but not as heavy as A5). It will also dry up the e.q. a bit from the stock A2's.
Since 490's are already on the slightly hottish side for most '50's and '60's style tones that I like to use, I would not put heavier magnets than stock in them. A3 is the only mag swap I'd consider, personally.
