Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

C

Cell0

New member
Hello everybody! I've got a Gibson Sg Special Faded for 4 years, and I'd like to change both pickups (bridge 490T which I absolutely hate, it lacks personality, in my opinion it doesn't sound at all, neck 490R which is not that bad but tends to be quite muddy). I was told by my guitar teacher that Seymour Duncan pikcups would be suitable for my guitar and playing. I mainly play rock/blues rock/hard rock, we checked togheter Seymour Duncan's website (asking the "tone wizard") and we found out these two pickups: Custom 5 (bridge) and '59 model (neck). Is there anybody that could give me any advice about these pickups? Surfing the internet I came across several opinions complaining about the excessive birghtness of Custom 5 pickup... I want my guitar to have more personality, to be more clean and definite, to sound better, but I don't want it to sound too bright... Despite I change both pickups, I'd like my guitar to maintain its Gibson sound...

Thx! :knockedou
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Hello and welcome to the SD community!

Is your SG warm, middy or bright sounding? If the stock 490R sounds muddy to you there is a small chance the 59 will too.

My personal suggestions would be to check out these three combination options:

1. Jazz humbucker in the neck with a JB in the bridge.

2. Whole Lotta Humbucker set.

3. Alnico II pro set.

I would consider them in that order considering the style of music you are playing. Duncan makes sweet pickups!
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

The 59 in the neck is always a good place to start. It's really versatile. For what you want, I would suggest the Custom over the Custom 5. The Custom 5 is so insanely mid-scooped that it sounds like a single coil. And yes, it is very bright. Again, I'd go with the Custom.
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Not in my wildest dreams would 490T pickup in the bridge be warm ahahahah Being warm and this pickup are like apples and oranges...
Anyway, IMHO this stock bridge pickup is quiet bright and it seriously lacks personality...
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

There's a member who's very knowledgeable player and luthier in Italy, PM him: LTKojak
 
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Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

The first thing I would do is check the values of your volume and tone pots. If they are not 500k pots, I would replace them before making pickup changes. Even if you do decide to replace the pickups, having the quality pots will still make a difference in the tone.
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Making this guitar sound warmer is exactly what I'm looking for...
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

synzzzer said:
The Custom 5 is so insanely mid-scooped that it sounds like a single coil.
Click to expand...

This is some of the silliest so incredibly wrong drivel ive ever seen on here... Really man this bad info just needs to stop
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

chadd said:
The first thing I would do is check the values of your volume and tone pots. If they are not 500k pots, I would replace them before making pickup changes. Even if you do decide to replace the pickups, having the quality pots will still make a difference in the tone.
Click to expand...


Evidently you didn't read what the OP wants. He wants warmth in the bridge, not more treble from twin 500K's.
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Here it is what official Gibson page says about tone pots on my guitar: 300k Linear Volume, 500k Non-linear Tone
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

For warm i would actually go with Barbecue bucker in the bridge and a pearly gates neck.
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Yeah, the 490R neck pickup is muddy, causing a loss of definition... In fact I'm not saying that the neck pickup lacks warmth... But that it seriously lacks definition
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

blueman335 said:
Evidently you didn't read what the OP wants. He wants warmth in the bridge, not more treble from twin 500K's.
Click to expand...

Actually I did, and was more focused on fixing the neck pickup that he doesn't hate (but does find muddy) than the bridge pickup that he is likely going to swap anyway. He also stated that he is looking for the bridge to be more clean and defined without being "too bright". You can always take out high end with a tone knob or changing your amp settings, you can't gain definition the same way.
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

synzzzer said:
The 59 in the neck is always a good place to start. It's really versatile. For what you want, I would suggest the Custom over the Custom 5. The Custom 5 is so insanely mid-scooped that it sounds like a single coil. And yes, it is very bright. Again, I'd go with the Custom.
Click to expand...

I've just heard a sample of the Custom pickup on Seymour Duncan website... Sounds sweet to me!
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

If you don't like the "bright" of the 490T, you don't want the Custom (with ceramic magnet), or the Custom 5 (with A5 mag). The 59 is also a very bright sounding pup, but in addition to the high-end brightness, the biggest complaint many have with it is that it tends to be very "boomy" in the low end in a LP. That would be emphasized even more in an all mahogany (no maple cap) SG.

It sounds like you're after pups that have an even tonal response that are articulate and have character.

For an SG you really can't beat the sound of a P-90 (for the bridge especially). My favorite is the "Mean 90", a humbucker sized P-90 by GFS. It has warmth, is clean and articulate, has a little extra single-coil bite to add to its articulation, has character/personality oozing out from every pore, and can get raunchy when driven hard (but still retains its articulate nature)...think Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, or Leslie West of Mountain. It comes in chrome, nickel, gold, or black covers.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Mean-90...e-Our-FATTEST-Chrome-Bridge-Pickup_p_480.html

For the neck, you really can't do much better than the Screamin Demon (don't let the name fool you). An extremely versatile pup for neck or bridge (my absolute favorite neck pup for full, even EQ, articulate and clean, but responds extremely well to distortion or overdrive).
 
Re: Which pickups for a Gibson Sg Special Faded?

Cell0 said:
So you would recommend custom 5 pickup in the bridge?
Click to expand...

Nope not at all. You said you wanted warm and not bright... the C5 will be pretty bright. Your description actually fits the Riogrande Barbecuebucker perfectly. If your dead set on buying something from Seymour Duncan my first suggestion would be the Brobucker but thats going to be a bit difficult to get in Italy. Beyond that I would go for the Whole lotta humbucker.
 
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