Gibson 498T/490R - My review

ToneFiddler said:
boy, that's agressive. with those levels of gain it's very hard. At one volume setting even with my cheap headphones, i can actually hear differences:
Aldrich has a bigger, deeper but also tighter bass and is tighter overall. Mids are a tad less prominent and throatier with the Aldrich and less nasty than the 498T. The 498T tends to smears things together more
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100% agreed with what you're hearing. One part of it is the high-gain, but honestly, they're similar-ish pickups in the grand scheme of things. I like the Aldrich better, but not by much. I also like 498T, FWIW, but the Aldrich just sounds less rough-around-the-edges. Which might be a good or a bad thing, I guess. I find that to be a trend with most Gibson pickups. Even Burstbuckers are like that with that raspy high-end compared to the Duncan equivalents.

And yeah, I'm still getting to know the 5150III model on my HX Stomp. It's a bit hard to balance out the gain. It's either too much or too little. I think I also went a little too aggro on that high-end as well.
 
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Rex_Rocker said:
100% agreed with what you're hearing. One part of it is the high-gain, but honestly, they're similar-ish pickups in the grand scheme of things. I like the Aldrich better, but not by much. I also like 498T, FWIW, but the Aldrich just sounds less rough-around-the-edges. Which might be a good or a bad thing, I guess.

And yeah, I'm still getting to know the 5150III model on my HX Stomp. It's a bit hard to balance out the gain. It's either too much or too little. I think I also went a little too aggro on that high-end as well.
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Liked your Aldrich vs Ant JB clip way better! Recto sim?
 
ToneFiddler said:
Liked your Aldrich vs Ant JB clip way better! Recto sim?
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Nah, it was the same 5150III. I'm just experimenting with different settings getting to know how the knobs react and whatnot. I also have a parametric EQ boosting in the highs that I might have overdone. I love me some sizzle, but when you boost a certain frequency in the highs, you usually have to cut another to compensate.

That... and I played tighter on that one, LOL. I rushed it less.
 
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The 498T has been one of my go-to pickups for years. I had to set up and fret level an old Japanese import Les Paul my singer got at a yard sale for $20. The pickups were meh, I threw a 490r I had sitting around in the bridge and the guitar sings. The thing plays great now too.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
CLIP(Dropbox Link)

Quick and dirty comparison between my Modern Lite with the 498T and my Tribute with the Aldrich. Please excuse the sloppy playing, this one isn't my best, I just wanted to have something to show. Honestly, they came out much much much closer than I expected. The 498 has a dirty edge to the high end and the Aldrich has the characteristic growl, but not that different, honestly. I always knew my 498T was my kinda pickup, and this confirms it.
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I updated the clip to something a bit less crappiliy played, LOL.
 
490r/498t have been around for 35 years now and have been installed in almost all Gibsons produced from 1990 onwards. I think the reason is because they are able to cover a lot of ground. This is their virtue but unfortunately also their biggest flaw. They don’t excel at anything. I had them in a les paul standard for almost a year. The 498t is beyond any doubt a good pickup, the 490r is Better with a A5 in it. I really had an hard time to find out an amp set up working well with both pick-ups. Replacing the magnet has definitely made the 490r more usable and more balanced companion for the 498t. The 490r metered at 8, a bit too much I guess.
 
EmiAba said:
490r/498t have been around for 35 years now and have been installed in almost all Gibsons produced from 1990 onwards. I think the reason is because they are able to cover a lot of ground. This is their virtue but unfortunately also their biggest flaw. They don’t excel at anything. I had them in a les paul standard for almost a year. The 498t is beyond any doubt a good pickup, the 490r is Better with a A5 in it. I really had an hard time to find out an amp set up working well with both pick-ups. Replacing the magnet has definitely made the 490r more usable and more balanced companion for the 498t. The 490r metered at 8, a bit too much I guess.
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I disagree. I think the 498T excels at some things, I think it's mostly the preconception that people have of it because it's medium output. I'm sure it's all over 90's Rock sounds. It's not strictly a Metal pickup, but it can be made to work. I think my clip proves it. It's certainly not a Blues or Classic Rock pickup either. But what about the stuff that's in between? Like Grunge, Rock, Punk, etc. I think the 498T would sound killer doing some Alice in Chains or some Green Day or stuff like that.

I'd argue that anything the JB does, the 498T can as well.
 
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I have an '03 LP Studio Swamp Ash that came with 490R/498T stock. It's a naturally bright guitar with a pretty meek low end. In their stock form the pickups were impossible to dial in together. If I dialed my rig to work with the 498T then the 490R would be a mud fest, if I dialed to the 490R then the 498T would just be an ice pick.

Eventually I found this forum and learned about mag swaps. I bought an A8 back when those were the *cool* magnet and put it in the 498T, then I swapped the A5 from the 498T into the 490R. That guitar absolutely rips now. The A5 brightened up the neck and took out some of the muddy low mids. The A8 beefed up the bridge and shaved off some of the harsher high end, added a little compression as well.

Overall it's now a very mid-forward guitar and slightly higher output than before, so it cuts through the mix beautifully under high gain or fuzz. There's still plenty of edginess to the bridge and the neck can still do the liquid lead thing. IDK how it would sound in a darker guitar but for this one it's wonderful.
 
mag swaps can make a big difference! glad you found something that works. heck of lot cheaper to swap a magnet than buy new pups
 
hamerfan said:
Great Review, thanks. I swapped the A2 in the 490R to an A5. Much better, more like a T-Top now.
P.S: Maybe Gibsons new T-Top is the good old 490R with a short A5. Just a thought!
​​​​​
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Because, like, a T-op is a good thing....NOT.
 
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.
 
Aceman said:
The 498 is like a Duncan C5...but meh
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For me, it's the other way around. The C5 is kinda like a 498 but meh, LOL. But each to his own.

I don't really think the 490 is that dark or muddy, but the only other neck pickup I have at hand to compare right now is the Air Norton... so... yeah... It's certainly not a Jazz though. But to me, that's kind of a good thing.
 
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