pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

gueorgues

gueorgues

New member
Hey guys. That's my first post here. I did alot of reading but I could not find the answer to my question, so.
I have a Gibson SG Standard and for the las month I convinced myself I should definitely get Seymour Duncans and get rid of the 490R and 498T gibson pickups.
So I am thinking of those options:
1. Pearly Gates Bridge and neck (or Alnico II Pro neck)
2. Seth Lover bridge and neck
3. Antiquity hum-buckers bridge and neck (actually is there a difference between Seth Lover and Antiquities other that the aged look and nice packaging?).
Since it is all mahogany (without maple cap) - you know the guitar well, I am sure, I am not sure how those will perform in it. I am quite sure it has 500K pots. I know I would love the PGs on a Les Paul but here?
Thanks in advance.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

The standard answer hereabouts is a C5 bridge and '59 neck. Mahogany and A2 are mid heavy, so you generally want A5 to balance things out. Other popular options in a thin-bodied mahogany guitar are the JB and Jazz, plain 'ole Custom bridge, Custom of Custom 5 bride with Jazz neck, and the Full Shred set (which is the Custom 5 and Jazz with different screws). However, the stock JB is finicky about the guitar it's in and the Jazz is generic and bland.

The PG set would also be great, however, given its inherent brightness. I'm pretty sure that the A2Pros wouldn't work in an SG, unless you're allergic to highs and lows, since the magnet, windings, and wood are all focused in the same general area.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, you've got another option entirely -- magnet swaps. IIRC (and I'm not sure I do), you've got a ceramic mag in the bridge and an A2 in the neck. For $5 each you can get some A5 mags, and generally pay $5 shipping; why spend $150 when you can spend $15?

Speaking of magnet swaps, the Jazz sounds great with A4 (almost vintage!), and I'm told that the JB with A2 is wonderful anywhere.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

P-Rails for that P-90 tone with a single-coil/rail bite.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Certainly a set of P-Rails would be great in an SG. SG and P-90 go together like...horse and carriage; soup and sandwitch; love and marriage...well, you know the analogy.

The Custom with A8 mag is also a REALLY, REALLY great bridge PU for the SG; and Pearly Gates for neck and/or bridge is also a good choice.

However, jafo makes a good point that swapping the magnets in the PUs already there is the easiest and cheapest place to start (but you don't even need to do any soldering for this, all you need is a small screw driver and be able to twist your wrist a bit...it's that simple).

But before you take any of our advice, it would be nice to know where you're coming from and where you want to go. So,...

What is it that you don't like about your present setup? What would you like to change about it?
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

jafo said:
The standard answer hereabouts is a C5 bridge and '59 neck. Mahogany and A2 are mid heavy, so you generally want A5 to balance things out. Other popular options in a thin-bodied mahogany guitar are the JB and Jazz, plain 'ole Custom bridge, Custom of Custom 5 bride with Jazz neck, and the Full Shred set (which is the Custom 5 and Jazz with different screws). However, the stock JB is finicky about the guitar it's in and the Jazz is generic and bland.

The PG set would also be great, however, given its inherent brightness. I'm pretty sure that the A2Pros wouldn't work in an SG, unless you're allergic to highs and lows, since the magnet, windings, and wood are all focused in the same general area.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, you've got another option entirely -- magnet swaps. IIRC (and I'm not sure I do), you've got a ceramic mag in the bridge and an A2 in the neck. For $5 each you can get some A5 mags, and generally pay $5 shipping; why spend $150 when you can spend $15?

Speaking of magnet swaps, the Jazz sounds great with A4 (almost vintage!), and I'm told that the JB with A2 is wonderful anywhere.
Click to expand...


I believe the 498t is an A5 magnet.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Sorry guys, I was typing while you were posting ^

Stock 490r pickup is a-2, and 498t is a-5. What is it you don't like about them?
What music do you play, and what kind of amp/fx do you run through?

I have a sg faded, and after trying the stock 490 set, phat cats, antiquities, pgn, and c-5/59n, I settled for a custom -5 (with a a8 mag swap), and a pearly gates bridge (in the neck with a-5 mag swap) Works really nice for rock and blues which I play through peavey tube amps with a marshall 1960a cab. Nothing wrong with the others, Just needed more boost in the bridge , and a little more bite in the neck.
(I found the paf style pickups weak/ thin in the bridge, for what I play)
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Mark Cearlock said:
Sorry guys, I was typing while you were posting ^

Stock 490r pickup is a-2, and 498t is a-5. What is it you don't like about them?
What music do you play, and what kind of amp/fx do you run through?

I have a sg faded, and after trying the stock 490 set, phat cats, antiquities, pgn, and c-5/59n, I settled for a custom -5 (with a a8 mag swap), and a pearly gates bridge (in the neck with a-5 mag swap) Works really nice for rock and blues which I play through peavey tube amps with a marshall 1960a cab. Nothing wrong with the others, Just needed more boost in the bridge , and a little more bite in the neck.
(I found the paf style pickups weak/ thin in the bridge, for what I play)
Click to expand...


What do you play ?
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

As stated, rock and blues. It just seemed that the neck p/u would always overpower the bridge paf style pickups, even when setting the neck p/u low, and the bridge high. The custom 8 cured that problem!
Another (non)-issue with the SG is that the pickups (all that I have tried, anyway) sound not as hot when compaired to other guitars with the relative same setup.
 
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Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

In my SG I found that you either go PAF or heavy such as the DD. Most of the medium stuff didn't come out right.

The PG has the bass and lower mids you probably want. I didn't quite like the Ants in my SG and the Seths are very similar. I ended up with WCR Darkbursts, which are fattier PAFs, in my SG, but in the end sold it for playability reasons.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

GuitarDoc said:
(but you don't even need to do any soldering for this, all you need is a small screw driver and be able to twist your wrist a bit...it's that simple).
Click to expand...

Well, to remove the covers on the 490r and 498t, ya know.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Mark Cearlock said:
Stock 490r pickup is a-2, and 498t is a-5. What is it you don't like about them?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah; my bad. Still, there have been an awful lot of of variants on this question asked over the years, and the consensus answer is generally either C5/'59 or a set of '59s. Can't go wrong with either! Phat Cats and Pearlies have specialized tones which people either love or hate (I love 'em!), so I tend not to recommend them.

But fwiw, gimme a P90-loaded SG tuned down to C#, through a Laney amp set on stun. :headbang:
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Some will tell you that the C5 and the 498T are very similar. I recently got a Firebird Studio and initially I was dubious about the 498T but after messing around with the polepiece heights I'm really starting to like it. Have you spent time adjusting the pickups? It might be all you need to do.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

To the OP: There are many pickups which could work well in your guitar depending on what style of music you play, what kind of amp/how much distortion you run, what kind of sound you're looking to get, etc.

What are the current pickups doing or not doing that makes you want to replace them? Tonally, where are they lacking and where are they going overboard?

Knowing these things will help the gurus on here help you pick out a set of pickups that will best match what you're looking for better.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

C5/59n - some really cool hard rock tones from the bridge without losing that vintage voice and that classic sound from the neck.

Gibson Classic 57+ bridge /Gibson Classic 57 neck - more "voiced" tone, like the early Angus Young ones, clapton...

Pearly Gates bridge/Pearly Gates neck - just like the classic 57, it has alnico II magnets, so the tone is kinda "voiced", but i heard it has some extra harsh and power wich would sound great (the new angus young sg come with a pair of pearly gates.)

In my axe, i went with the first option, wich is the top favorite for sg's here. I still didn't buy the 59n but i'm extremely happy with the c5.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

I'm fairly certain that the "best" combo for an SG Std would be a Brobucker/PGn. The PG, 59, and Jazz are my favorite neck pickups for an SG. And the 59, Custom 5, Custom, would probably be my bridge choices, although the factory potted Custom Shop Brobucker nickel would be what I'd specifically request, if I didn't mind paying double for a bridge pickup.
 
Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

Thanks for the opinions. Now, to answer your questions and give you some more info:
I am from Bulgaria (South-Eastern Europe), from Sofia (the capital).
Yeah the 498T is an Alnico V and the 490R is Alnico II.
I want more vintage tone on my SG, I play mostly blues and rock ('60s, '70s, '80s mostly). I rarely play some modern hard rock from the '90s.
I prefer tube amps - now I am using a simple class A 5 watt combo. I am planning to get either the Marshall Haze 40 Combo or a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe combo - haven't decided yet. I prefer using analog single effects - not digital processors. At the moment I am using a VOX wah, guyatone OD2 (a great drive better than the tubescreamer), and a Digitech Screaming Blues (OD/dist. pedal) - but this will expand a little soon.
I like the sound of Billy Gibbons, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton (all eras), The Who, Joe Perry (Livin' on the edge type of sound), Mark Knopfler, and so on.
i know (some of those are not achievable with what I have) - I will get a Stratocaster someday, but not this year :).
So - this is briefly the idea. I will be grateful for more advice on that matter. For now I am sure about one thing - I will drop the Alnico II Pro from the picture.
So:
Pearly Gates / Seth Lover / '59 (although I don't want another V magnet - I am kinda' attracted to the Alnico II magnets) / and Antiquities set. (I never though of P-rails though)
 
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Re: pickup change - which pair for a Gibson SG Standard?

From what you've written, I would suggest looking at the '57 Classic set, or adding the '57 Classic Plus at the bridge. If you can find a Gibson '61 Reissue SG in Sofia, it should have the '57 Classics, so you'd be trying them in a similar guitar. A Gibson BB1/BB2 set works well in SGs, and that's usually what they put in the Custom Shop SGs.

And yes, Antiquitys do sound different than Seths, but it's hard to describe. Like a fine wine that has aged well, the Antiquitys have a more complex midrange. I like both, have both in Les Pauls; though I would lean to Antiquitys over the production Seths. Neither the Seth or the Antiquity are potted, so be careful if you're using them with a loud, big amp at high gain.

Good luck,

Bill
 
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