Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

JohnnyGuitarCA

JohnnyGuitarCA

Active member
Hey all,

Just bought a Gibby 498T pickup from notesfield. (who is GREAT to deal with, by the way!) I've installed it in my Yamaha SBG200 guitar. (Set neck, all mahogany guitar, fixed bridge, 24.75"scale.) I'm using Line 6 POD Farm 2 software (Guitar into a Line 6 TonePort DI-S, then direct into my computer. The DI-S box is the dongle, sound card, and also is used as a volume control. I haven't played around with setting the pickup height or the heights of the polepieces yet. I also haven't created any POD Farm 2 patches yet for it. (Before this guitar, I was playing a 25.5" scale Charvel with a Floyd Rose, so you can see why I want to make some new patches! LOL)

In spite of those factors, my 1st impression is very good! It's very responsive to pick attack, has a nice burly crunch, and sounds surprisingly sweet in clean mode. It has VERY LITTLE string drag, which is great for sustain. When I tweak the pickup height, polepiece heights, and create some new patches, I'm sure that it will be even more impressive. It's Raw, but smooth if that makes any sense. I love this thing...
 
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Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

If, as I suspect, the S(B)G-200 is the budget model, built mainly of Nato, it will benefit from the sorts of pickup and magnet swaps that blueman recommends for the Epiphone SG.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

I think you're correct. I'll bet it IS made of Nato. Thanks! I may end up going with a lower output pickup, but I'm not sure yet. Gotta put this bad boy thru the paces and see what's what.
 
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Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

When I first got that pickup I thought that it was great but the longer that I owned it the more unsatisfied with the sound I became.

I think that for the first year that I owned it, I didn't notice the things that I didn't like about it because it was in the first Les Paul that I ever had so the added depth and thickness of the sound of the LP was such that it 'covered' what I thought was brittle sounding with any amount of amplifier gain when the guitar's volume was maxed-out and harshness when run clean.

There are a lot of references to magnet swaps here though that possibly could have alleviated the issues that I had with it but I didn't stumble upon that information prior to selling the stock pickups.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

The 498T is a good PU, but with an A8 or UOA5, it becomes a great PU. I think of it as Gibson's version of the C5. Good in mahogany, but still bright and scooped. To give it more body and warmth, put in a wamer magnet.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

What's a UOA5 and where do I get one? Thanks!

blueman335 said:
The 498T is a good PU, but with an A8 or UOA5, it becomes a great PU. I think of it as Gibson's version of the C5. Good in mahogany, but still bright and scooped. To give it more body and warmth, put in a wamer magnet.
Click to expand...
 
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Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

JohnnyGuitarCA said:
What's a UOA5 and where do I get one? Thanks!
Click to expand...

UOA5= UnOriented Alnico 5 magnet.

You can order your magnets here:
http://stores.ebay.it/Addiction-FX-Guitar-and-Sound

Just don't forget to tell Dennis to have'em FULL-CHARGED. My experience is that in the whole process of packaging, traveling, storage and delivery they lose just the right amount of Gauss to sound sweet from the get go.

HTH,
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

My impressions of the 498T?
well, I gave one away yesterday-

that should speak for itself.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

blueman335 said:
Did you swap the magnet to an A8, A4, or UOA5? If not, you were in too a big a hurry.
Click to expand...
Nope, I did try some different a2s which basicallly turned it into a Custom Custom,and some a5s I had, even tried a ceramic, but, I don't have the time or inclination to chase my tones by spending too much time on changing magnets, I tried it in almost 10 different guitars over the years, I just don't care for it, to the point I was sick of looking at it.
Who knows, it could be good karma I get in return, by giving that pup away!

It's easier and faster for me to just buy a pickup that suites my needs.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

marvar said:
I don't have the time or inclination to chase my tones by spending too much time on changing magnets...It's easier and faster for me to just buy a pickup that suites my needs.
Click to expand...

Well, it's like the JB. I think the stock version leaves a lot to be desired, but I love it with an A2. I almost gave up on JB's, but am very glad I didn't. JB2's are one of my favorite PU's.

If you don't have 10 minutes to swap a magnet and 'chase your tones', you must be a very busy boy. Seems to make more sense to me to pop in a $2 magnet and get instant results, than to keep buying more PU's and not knowing how they're going to sound, lots of time and money wasted there. I was caught up in that cycle myself a few years ago, but got off the merry-go-round when I started swapping magnets and finally got my tones.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

I will say that I've had great experiences with the 498. Stock it does a lot of great things both clean, slightly pushed and crazy overdriven. I never swapped the magnet on it and instead traded it but only after swapping the pup with the 57 classic after feeling that I would get more authentic PAF tone with that pup instead. One thing for sure, it was very responsive and had both warmth and umph. Clean it left me feeling it had almost too much mid and a slight bit drab.

I'd be willing to bet it would have been even better with an A8 which I did try out in a 490t which is an excellent pup btw.
 
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Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

Is it true that the A8 has a lot of magnetic pull on the strings, more so than most other types of magnets?

blueman335 said:
The 498T is a good PU, but with an A8 or UOA5, it becomes a great PU. I think of it as Gibson's version of the C5. Good in mahogany, but still bright and scooped. To give it more body and warmth, put in a wamer magnet.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

JohnnyGuitarCA said:
Is it true that the A8 has a lot of magnetic pull on the strings, more so than most other types of magnets?
Click to expand...

It's the strongest of the common alnicos (A2's and A3's are the weakest). Most players lower the bridge PU a little more than normal to compensate for the stronger string-pull.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

UOA5's have a lot of that great A2 warmth and feel to them, but with the increased ouput and tighter low end of an A5. It's a great magnet that most of us just found out about a couple months ago, and it's rapidly gaining popularity here.
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

god..I haven't been on the forum forever..

anyway, I love the 498T.. I know a lot of people here don't. To me its, a nice fat, gritty, mean rocknroll pickup.. plenty of mids - both in my LP and SG. "Brittle" doesn't come to mind at all for me.. maybe it's because of my guitar/amp setup (Gibsons thru crankin' Marshall) it sounds warmer and thicker than the 57 Classic plus and Duncan 59 that I breifly had in my Les Paul. I don't feel any need to swap magnets either...
 
Re: Gibson 498T - 1st impressions

cheezemaster said:
god..I haven't been on the forum forever..

anyway, I love the 498T.. I know a lot of people here don't. To me its, a nice fat, gritty, mean rocknroll pickup.. plenty of mids - both in my LP and SG. "Brittle" doesn't come to mind at all for me.. maybe it's because of my guitar/amp setup (Gibsons thru crankin' Marshall) it sounds warmer and thicker than the 57 Classic plus and Duncan 59 that I breifly had in my Les Paul. I don't feel any need to swap magnets either...
Click to expand...

Wow.

Warmer and thicker than a '57?

Wow.
 
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