Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

I'll say one thing, I greatly prefer the sound of Jazz/JB uncovered in a mahogany axe. Maybe the problem isn't the guitar, it's the pickup covers. I've tried the Schecter C-1 Classic and not liked that same combo covered.

 

[FBloke]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

The 59b is textbook PAF tone and gets plenty hot enough for playing rock. With a 250k pot it has a very groovy mid-range honk and plenty of bite if you dig in hard enough. I think we talk so much about gear on this forum that we forget about the type of picks you use, your pick attack and how you "shape the sound" between your gut and fretting hand. The contact that you make with the strings is just as important as your pickups and amp.

Why not try a Jazz in the neck? It's clear and woody rather than boomy but can still rock out with the best of them. The name is very misleading, it's actually a very exciting pickup, possibly the best I've played. With a 59 in the bridge you are going to have large tone but plenty of flexibility.

 

[ARch]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Ok, here's the update.

Install was super easy as expected, and the only difference I encountered was that the bridge '59 was 4-conductor. Red and white were already soldered together and heat-shrunk together, so black went to the pot lead and green+uncovered wire went to ground on the pot itself (instead of the braided shielding per the stock Gibson pickups).

I left the original owner's pole-piece setup on the 59s, and didn't take much time to play with the height.

Tone. I recorded some clips pre and post-install, but I need to cut them down from ~1 minute to a 5-10 second best-fit clip.

The bridge 59 is much less nasally compared to the 498T. Each string has more clarity and a little more openness and sparkle. Highs are no longer a problem, and while the mids stand out a little bit all the strings are voiced evenly. Absolutely no problem rocking out; these guys have half the output of the stock pickups but do just fine with the gain up. There's definitely more texture to the sound with an overdrive pedal, and less fuzz.

The neck 59 is also very clear, glassy, with lots of string definition and sparkle. With the stock setup I noticed some slight muddiness on the A-D-G, and a little boomy bass. I've since tweaked it slightly and the bass is absolutely not a problem anymore, and the mids are getting better.

Listening to the clips at home, you can hear where the stock 490R/498T are just itching to overdrive -- much thicker individual string tones. Whereas before I couldn't even play single note runs on the bridge pup clean because of the nasal sound (let alone chords), it's a much more pleasing and musical sound now.

And the center setting using both pups... wow. They balance each other perfectly here.

Overall, still gonna need some time to adjust them but I'm already extremely happy with the change.

Any opinions on what I should ask for 4 stock Gibson pots w/ caps and a 490R & 498T w/ chrome covers?

 

[ARch]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

bumpity

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Any opinions on what I should ask for 4 stock Gibson pots w/ caps and a 490R & 498T w/ chrome covers?

Check the completed listings on eBay. That's real-time market prices.

Do you have any other guitars that need PU's? I've gotten some used Gibson PU's & after swapping magnets, they were much better sounding. The 490R/498T pair is poorly matched because of the magnets (the A2 makes the neck dark & muffled, and the A5 makes the bridge bright & thin; good luck setting your amp for both).

I put A5's in my 490R's, which gives them sparkle, life & bite, and A4's in my 498T's which takes off the upper treble & warms them. You can also try 250K pots with the 498T (with either the stock A5 or a replacement A4) for more warmth & body.

Gibson makes high quality PU's. The magnet choices are often questionable and don't bring out their full potential. They're hung up on being "historical" even when it means sacrificing tone quality & ignoring what the public wants.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Thanks. The '59N is about the only thing I was sure on based on the ridiculous amount of good reviews/opinions. A little boom is probably better than the muddy wall of bass from my 490

Put an A5 or A4 in your 490R and you might be surprised at how good this pup can be. It is worth doing just for experiment sake.

Otherwise, I can only encourage you to go for a '59 set. that's what I have in my LP classic and it is brilliant. A wee tweak here and there as people have said, and you'll be rocking for hours with a grind on your face.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

and A4's in my 498T's which takes off the upper treble & warms them.

Do you find the A4 mag is a real improvement in the 498T? I tried it and was a bit disappointed I have to say. On the other hand, with an A2 I think it is getting somewhere... But the 498T is lacking clarity no matter IMO.

490R tweaked yay ; 498T, no matter what, nay! FWIW

 

[ARch]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Well, I'm not looking to swap the pots since the RS kit I installed came with 500ks, and I love 'em. Moving to 250k might fix the one pickup, but also lose the features that come with the RS kit.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Do you find the A4 mag is a real improvement in the 498T? I tried it and was a bit disappointed I have to say. On the other hand, with an A2 I think it is getting somewhere... But the 498T is lacking clarity no matter IMO.

490R tweaked yay ; 498T, no matter what, nay! FWIW

I like the 498T with an A4 & 250K's. Much fuller sound. Still not quite as good as the competition (Custom 5). There is some variety in the Gibson PU's I have, especially the 498T's. I don't know if they changed the specs, use different raw material sources or if the windings vary more than the norm.

 

[ARch]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

I like the 498T with an A4 & 250K's. Much fuller sound. Still not quite as good as the competition (Custom 5). There is some variety in the Gibson PU's I have, especially the 498T's. I don't know if they changed the specs, use different raw material sources or if the windings vary more than the norm.

Speaking of, should both of my pickups have a T stamped on the underside? They're virtually identical -- I had to mark the 490 & and 498 so I could tell them apart.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Speaking of, should both of my pickups have a T stamped on the underside? They're virtually identical -- I had to mark the 490 & and 498 so I could tell them apart.

Those of us that have a few guitars find a multi-meter invaluable. I check every PU with it. That tells you right away which is the bridge & which is the neck (bridge should always have a higher ohms reading). I've gotten some surprises with some PU's, that were much hotter, or weaker than I thought. Plus you can find a bad PU before you install it. You can also check your pot values (which vary quite a bit), either to identify a bad pot, or to better match them with your guitar's wood & PU's.

 

[mi_canuck]

Re: Gibson LP Studio: set of 59s, or 59/JB for "normal" rock tone

Ok, here's the update.

Install was super easy as expected, and the only difference I encountered was that the bridge '59 was 4-conductor. Red and white were already soldered together and heat-shrunk together, so black went to the pot lead and green+uncovered wire went to ground on the pot itself (instead of the braided shielding per the stock Gibson pickups).

I left the original owner's pole-piece setup on the 59s, and didn't take much time to play with the height.

Tone. I recorded some clips pre and post-install, but I need to cut them down from ~1 minute to a 5-10 second best-fit clip.

The bridge 59 is much less nasally compared to the 498T. Each string has more clarity and a little more openness and sparkle. Highs are no longer a problem, and while the mids stand out a little bit all the strings are voiced evenly. Absolutely no problem rocking out; these guys have half the output of the stock pickups but do just fine with the gain up. There's definitely more texture to the sound with an overdrive pedal, and less fuzz.

The neck 59 is also very clear, glassy, with lots of string definition and sparkle. With the stock setup I noticed some slight muddiness on the A-D-G, and a little boomy bass. I've since tweaked it slightly and the bass is absolutely not a problem anymore, and the mids are getting better.

Listening to the clips at home, you can hear where the stock 490R/498T are just itching to overdrive -- much thicker individual string tones. Whereas before I couldn't even play single note runs on the bridge pup clean because of the nasal sound (let alone chords), it's a much more pleasing and musical sound now.

And the center setting using both pups... wow. They balance each other perfectly here.

Overall, still gonna need some time to adjust them but I'm already extremely happy with the change.

Any opinions on what I should ask for 4 stock Gibson pots w/ caps and a 490R & 498T w/ chrome covers?

that is awesome! i've got some '59s waiting to be installed in my Epi LP... i was somewhat wondering about maybe getting APH-1's, but the 59's sound like what i want and your write-up has helped convince me... from the sounds of it you are really satisfied with them.... inspiring actually, and makes me want to pop my 59's in my LP asap... just waiting on some hardware (caps, covers, pots)

have you managed to get sound clips? if they are too large, i can PM you my email and i'd gladly like to listent to them, even if the clips are 1min

you are using them with 500K pots and .022 on both neck and bridge?

i've got a some 500K RS pots as well just lying around (their superpots for volume, and audio pots for tone), and some .022 bumblebee caps on the way (RS had them backordered )... but also a 300K CTS audio pot on the way as well, thinking of putting that in the bridge tone rather than the 500K, but keeping the .022 bees all around...


cheers