need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

A

aeroslepperin

New member
hey. a while back i had posted looking for pickups that would make my sg sound more like a les paul. i believe i recommended the c5 for the bridge and the '59 for the neck.

i've kinda honed in a bit on what i think i want and i wanted to check to see if there was a better choice or if what was recommended still fits the bill. i'm also not opposed to looking outside of duncan pickups....i've looked into rio grandes and (at the insistence of my tech) fralins. but, i feel like just reading pickup descriptions isn't enough.

anyway, what i'm looking for is a set of pickups that:

1. yes, get in the ballpark of a les paul sound.

2. balances out all the mids in my sg (i tried a custom custom...whoa. it only made the problem worse...)

3. output. this is where i get unsure. my inclination is to say something a little hotter than a PAF pickup. but, i like to play clean too so it may be better to say something flexible.

thanks and happy thanksgiving!
 
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Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

The C5 seems to be ideal for bridge, and for neck maybe a '59 or jazz bridge.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

If you want your SG closer to a LP, look into a 59b in the neck and a PATB-3 in the bridge.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

Iron Horse said:
The C5 seems to be ideal for bridge, and for neck maybe a '59 or jazz bridge.
Click to expand...

thanks. it seems the difference between the c5 and the patb-3 is a bit of output and a little high end.

do you happen to know if the c5 is overly harsh?

Benjy_26 said:
If you want your SG closer to a LP, look into a 59b in the neck and a PATB-3 in the bridge.
Click to expand...

theodie said:
Yup, this guy has it right on the money!
Click to expand...


do either of you use this combo?

how do these compare to the stock gibsons (the 498t and 490r)?

i had a '59n in the neck and kinda liked it. it still gave me the roundness that the 490r gave, but with a little better clarity. how much brighter is the '59b in that position? if i stuck with the neck, do you think it would be "out of balance" with the patb-3?
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

The 59b would balance very well with the PATB-3. As far as how it would sound as opposed to the 59n, it would be a bit louder with more mids and lows and a bit less high end.

I have a combo similar to it in my Carvin DC127-T. I use a PGb/PATB-3 combo.

That guitar is a 25" scale maple neck thru super strat with an ebony fingerboard and a floating Wilkinson VS100 trem.

If that combo makes my all maple shred stick sound close to a LP, the 59b/PaTB-3 in your SG should be indistiguishable from a LP unless you play them back to back.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

As far as how the Duncans compare to the stock Gibsons, I can't say. I had the 490 series pickups in my LP stock and after swapping in 500k pots and good caps, I decided I didn't like them in my LP, so I went to a PG set. That was about 4 years ago. They've never left my parts drawer since.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

Benjy_26 said:
If you want your SG closer to a LP, look into a 59b in the neck and a PATB-3 in the bridge.
Click to expand...

That combo sounds like it would be amazing, definately what I would look towards if I had to re-do what's in my sg (currently has a Pgn and a crazy 8)

My experience with the stock sg pu's were that the neck would get muddy very fast, and the bridge was very harsh.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

Benjy_26 said:
The 59b would balance very well with the PATB-3. As far as how it would sound as opposed to the 59n, it would be a bit louder with more mids and lows and a bit less high end.

I have a combo similar to it in my Carvin DC127-T. I use a PGb/PATB-3 combo.

That guitar is a 25" scale maple neck thru super strat with an ebony fingerboard and a floating Wilkinson VS100 trem.

If that combo makes my all maple shred stick sound close to a LP, the 59b/PaTB-3 in your SG should be indistiguishable from a LP unless you play them back to back.
Click to expand...

really? the 59b would have more mids and lows than the the 59n? i guess that would be because of the voicing for each designated position?

JustWendell said:
That combo sounds like it would be amazing, definately what I would look towards if I had to re-do what's in my sg (currently has a Pgn and a crazy 8)

My experience with the stock sg pu's were that the neck would get muddy very fast, and the bridge was very harsh.
Click to expand...

more or less, that's my opinion of the stock pickups.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

Benjy the 59 would be great but, I say a PATB-1N instead.

Hell, that and the PATB-3 made my Jackson get a LP vibe. It will surely do it for a SG.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

aeroslepperin said:
do you happen to know if the c5 is overly harsh?how do these compare to the stock gibsons (the 498t and 490r)?
i had a '59n in the neck and kinda liked it. it still gave me the roundness that the 490r gave, but with a little better clarity. how much brighter is the '59b in that position? if i stuck with the neck, do you think it would be "out of balance" with the patb-3?
Click to expand...

The C5 is a great PU, but can be a little bright, especially in a SG, so I use two 250K pots on it with a .100 MF cap. This takes off the worst of the treble & brings out the mids; lots of warmth with enough treble for bite & definition. Definitely a LP tone.

On the neck, '59N's & JazzN's give a clear, bright tone, and they balance nicely with a C5. The improvement in clarity you heard over the 490R was mostly from the A5 magnet. The bridge versions of the '59 & Jazz have more windings and will have a little less treble & clarity. In the neck position, you usually need more treble here, not less, to keep it from being muffled. If any Gibson design can get away with '59B's and JazzB's in the neck, it's the SG.

Ah, the infamous 490R/498T combo. The neck is close to a '59 in ohms (8,000), and the 498T similar to a C5 (14,000), although their tones are different from the SD's. Even though Gibson uses the 490R/498T in many models, they are probably the most disliked Gibson PU's...but with magnet changes, they can be much better. The A2 in the neck has lots of mids with little treble, making a dark position even darker. The A5 in the bridge makes a bright position even brighter with its scooped mids; good luck trying to get an amp setting that works for both PU's. This is what makes them so unpopular. The easiest change is swapping the magnets between the two. The A5 brightens the 490R and the A2 warms the 498T.

An A5 in the 490R is usually the best magnet (especially in a mahogany body), although an A4 or even A3 can work well too. In the 498T, I often use an A4 for warmth (it has a balanced EQ); if you need it brighter use an A5, need it warmer, use an A3. If you really want power in the bridge, try an A8.

If you haven't bought PU's for your SG yet, your best bet is the '59N/C5 pair. If you have a 490R/498T set, swap magnets before you lay out the cash for more PU's. For a few dollars, you can get the 490R/498T pretty close to a '59/C5.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

I'm with blueman335. Try swapping the magnets between the two before making the final decision, if you really have the 490R/498T combo (many SGs come with 490R/490T combo stock, both of which have Alnico 2s). It won't cost you anything.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

Haven't tried the PATB-1n as of yet. I really need to get my hands on one and slip it in my Carvin.
 
Re: need to choose replacement pickups for my sg

The trembucker spacing would work well with your SG if it's a newer model.
 
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