GIbson releases "22 new pickups"?, ah, actually 8 pickups, in variations

beaubrummels

beaubrummels

Well-known member
Now I can see why things like Duncan's Noiseless P-90, the Holcomb sets, the Green Magic set, the Steckel "Candy" set and Lara Basilio sets are important to be competitive. I hope Duncan keeps it up.

Here's the Gibson stuff.
https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Collection/pickupshop-new-arrivals

Some of it sounds interesting to try, like A3 P-90s and the original lower-wind 57s. Also the Kramer Eruption set, bridge is 15k, the neck is 16k.

Would be interesting to hear a shootout between Duncan's 78 set or Frankenstein set and the Kramer Eruption models; and Duncan's Green Magic set vs Gibson's Greenybucker set.
 
Yep, Gibson is $120-$280 per pickup, Duncan will sell you a much better sounding SET for $238 or $99-$120 per pickup.
 
Some interesting stuff but nothing that has me reaching for my wallet. I wish they would bring back the Velvet Brick, I would buy one in a heartbeat.
 
What?!?!?!?! Gibson making sure pickups are part of their core offerings?????

Insanity....


I think I counted 9 different ones. I'm not counting covers and colors. And of course, the prices are pushing the envelope. Pass, but still a nice gesture.
 
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beaubrummels said:
I think they're trying to dust off that 498/490 reputation.
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Does the 498T have a bad reputation? I think it's just the Gibson guys that want PAF-types that don't like the 498T. Everyone else likes it. Everyone I know likes it, personally. I know I do.

I mean, they've had it in LPC's for like 30 years. I'd think they'd take them off there if they weren't selling.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
Does the 498T have a bad reputation? I think it's just the Gibson guys that want PAF-types that don't like the 498T. Everyone else likes it. Everyone I know likes it, personally. I know I do.

I mean, they've had it in LPC's for like 30 years. I'd think they'd take them off there if they weren't selling.
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Yeah factory Gibson pickups, in particular the 498/490, get slandered often enough on forums. Not everybody, not all the time, but enough to notice there's a group of people that express a big dislike if not hate for them.

My experience with the 498/490 is they work fine for everything, with adjustment. I mentioned in another thread somewhere that if I sink the screws below the covers and raise the pickups, they're like a scooped heavy metal monster; in the realm of Distortion, Super Distortion, etc. But if I raise the screws above the cover and lower the pickup almost below the rings, it gets the mid bump of a PAF, but it's just not quite as clear and chimey, but it works and is pretty competitive to most PAF types out there. Through a good amp, the 498/490 are not the weakest link.

But because it's a do-all utility pickup, there's a cluster of players that malign it because it didn't do the one thing they wanted well enough.

For me, I totally see why Gibson designed that pickup set and puts it in so many guitars - they can't predict what music their guitars will be used for so they successfully designed a pickup that can be adjusted to get a wide range of sounds/EQ and perform a very wide range of music very well.
 
beaubrummels said:
Yeah factory Gibson pickups, in particular the 498/490, get slandered often enough on forums. Not everybody, not all the time, but enough to notice there's a group of people that express a big dislike if not hate for them.

My experience with the 498/490 is they work fine for everything, with adjustment. I mentioned in another thread somewhere that if I sink the screws below the covers and raise the pickups, they're like a scooped heavy metal monster; in the realm of Distortion, Super Distortion, etc. But if I raise the screws above the cover and lower the pickup almost below the rings, it gets the mid bump of a PAF, but it's just not quite as clear and chimey, but it works and is pretty competitive to most PAF types out there. Through a good amp, the 498/490 are not the weakest link.

But because it's a do-all utility pickup, there's a cluster of players that malign it because it didn't do the one thing they wanted well enough.

For me, I totally see why Gibson designed that pickup set and puts it in so many guitars - they can't predict what music their guitars will be used for so they successfully designed a pickup that can be adjusted to get a wide range of sounds/EQ and perform a very wide range of music very well.
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I like Gibson pickups in general, personally.

Burstbucker 2/3, didn't love, didn't mind. Just too low output for me.
Burstbucker Pros, loved them, they remind me edgier of Duncan '59's. If they made a potted Burstbucker 3 Pro, that'd be perfect.
500T, fantastic, I like it as much as the Black Winter and more than the Ducan Distortion.
498T, fantastic, I like it for being kinda like an edgier, more open JB.
490R, horrible, weak, dark, and generic.

They all seem to be as well made as Duncans, but then I guess you're paying for the premium for the company that has been makind humbuckers longer than anyone else, I suppose.

Not sure I agree with your assesment saying it's the metal pickups that are scooped and the PAF's that are middy. It's the other way around, in my experience.

But yeah, I guess I agree with your assesment of the 498T beind kind of a jack of all trades. It works for me, though. I'd rather have a 498T than a JB, personally, and that's saying a lot because I love the JB as well.
 
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I've tried to like the 498T but I just can't. Never liked it in the Gibsons I've played. I even bought a used one to give it another chance, but nope. I hate it.

I've heard that removing the A2 magnet in the 490R and installing a short A5 turns it into a T-Top. Some Jimmy Page fans on the mylespaul forum have been known to do this and they get some pretty convincing sounds out of it. https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/gi...or-490t.65801/


Another trick I've heard of with a 490R (Stock A2 magnet) /498T (Stock A5 magnet) set is to exchange the magnets.
https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/91...wesome.143848/

https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/mag-swap-490-498-pup.277247/
 
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Rex_Rocker said:
Not sure I agree with your assesment saying it's the metal pickups that are scooped and the PAF's that are middy. It's the other way around, in my experience.
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Yeah, my comparisons weren't the best choice, but I'm more of a rhythm player these days so I'm thinking rhythm. I tend to use scooped sounds for rhythm. I used to use spiky mid sounds like a SD or JB for lead, but those days are over for me.
 
beaubrummels said:
Yeah, my comparisons weren't the best choice, but I'm more of a rhythm player these days so I'm thinking rhythm. I tend to use scooped sounds for rhythm. I used to use spiky mid sounds like a SD or JB for lead, but those days are over for me.
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This is so important but it doesn't seem to come natural to most...

Scooped mids clean out the mud for articulate rhythms and boosted mids increase sustain for leads.

As a result, most of my guitars do not have matched pickups... I have thinner scooped bridge pickups for rhythm and thick fat neck pickups for leads... but not saying it works for everyone.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
Burstbucker Pros, loved them, they remind me edgier of Duncan '59's. If they made a potted Burstbucker 3 Pro, that'd be perfect.
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If you pull a BB3 out of a guitar and put an A5 in it, that's exactly what you want. Only problem is they only come potted if they ship inside a guitar, if you buy them aftermarket they come unpotted
 
Chistopher said:
If you pull a BB3 out of a guitar and put an A5 in it, that's exactly what you want. Only problem is they only come potted if they ship inside a guitar, if you buy them aftermarket they come unpotted
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More effort than it's worth, I think.

If I already had a BB3 lying around, I'd give it a shot. But I sold my BB3/BB2 set that I had in my Epi.

Not worth getting a BB3 just to mod it when there are so many other slightly overwound A5 PAF-type offerings.
 
The 498

First of all, the guitars sell, not the pickups.

Second, a very small proportion of guitar buyers actually change the pickups. I'd argue it is even less than average in Gibson.

And finally, I agree. The 498 is a decent pickup. You CAN play anything with it. As a pickup geek, though, I wouldn't generally want this pickup. I know bunch of pickups that give me more/less etc of my favorites things. Consider I love SuperD's, Distortions, Customs, and PGs overall.

Also, the 490/498 is not a great combo in general. YMMV. I would not pair these two myself. But the 490 is a decent neck pickup too. It's like a C5 and an A2P. Both good pickups, if that is what you are into. Would I pair them? Probably not.
 
I don't know. I bought a 500T and 496R sepparately for my Les Paul.

I would buy a 498T as well if I had more guitars to put them in. It would be nice to upgrade an Epi LPC, for example. Not a 490T. I don't like it, but I don't like the A2P either, for example. That doesn't make them bad pickups.

And the 49x pickups are not expensive either. About as much as Duncans. You may not like them, but they're not poorly designed or poorly built pickups either.
 
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