Gibson 498T/490R - My review

[Aceman]

i dont hate a ttop in the neck, i dont love it in the bridge though

T-Top is the pickup that singlehandedly created Aftermarket Pickups...

Full Disclosure: Still have the original T-Top in my #1 neck slot.

 

[Securb]

The 490/498T combo

- The 498 is like a Duncan C5...but meh
- The 490 is not offensive in any way. Because it literally has no personality
- The two together are very difficult to get an amp setting that works for both

I could play about anything on them. Don't get me wrong. They work. But, it is 2025 and there are soooooo many better things for anything I might want. That includes better "All around" sets for playing anything.

As always - your mileage...blah blah blah. I know Securb loves the 498.

If I had to play a stock set of pickups they would be my first choice

 

[Aceman]

If I had to play a stock set of pickups they would be my first choice

Thank god we live in a time and place where we don't.

I am actually putting the 57 Classics that came in Irish into my Black 3 Pickup Cadillac.

Again, tastes vary. I don;t hate them. I just like other things more. And I definitely agree with the "Don't like them together " crowd.

 

[jeremy]

T-Top is the pickup that singlehandedly created Aftermarket Pickups...

Full Disclosure: Still have the original T-Top in my #1 neck slot.

i would put forth that aftermarket pups were much more about bridge pups than neck in the beginning. same pup in the neck and bridge sorta works, but a super distortion in '71 kicks a nmv marshall a lot harder than a ttop.

 

[Securb]

I am actually putting the 57 Classics that came in Irish into my Black 3 Pickup Cadillac.

See that is where we are different. I would rather chew on glass than play 57s. I could not get them out of my Les Paul fast enough. I found them overly bright and shrill.

 

[Aceman]

See that is where we are different. I would rather chew on glass than play 57s. I could not get them out of my Les Paul fast enough. I found them overly bright and shrill.

No doubt I was surprised at how much I liked them.

I'm going
Neck 57 Classic
Middle 57+
Bridge Dean Baker Act

 

[Securb]

No doubt I was surprised at how much I liked them.

I'm going
Neck 57 Classic
Middle 57+
Bridge Dean Baker Act

I get that it was the 57+ bridge I really didn't like. I replaced it with a WLH and the neck 57 didn't gel with the WLH the way I wanted it to. Now there is a WLH set in the guitar that is never coming out.

 

[EmiAba]

I'd argue that anything the JB does, the 498T can as well.

I can concur with that, but the JB is a keeper for me, the 498t isn’t. As I said it is a good pickup and in the right Guitar with the right gear it gets the job done. As far as I know the entire permission to land was recorded with a 498t. And it is a pretty decent album. Over the last 20 years I have played almost the totality of Gibson’s pickups: Pro bridge and 490t suck ( my opinion obviously), Bb1 and bb2 are decent, first release of 57s are better than the current release, you already know what I think about 490r/498t, the custombuckers have a beatiful mellow tone, the 500t is the one I prefer the most. But for each of them, the moment you get used to their tone, you realise that something is always missing. And you find yourself swapping them in favor of a Seymour Duncan or a dimarzio or whatever. That is my experience