replacement pickups for a gibson lucille!!

[leerocker]

ok for my next bareknuckle swap is my gibson lucille. it has them yukky gibbo 490 and 498s in! im after a old skool rock tone with plenty of grunt in the bridge, i have nailbombs in my custom and mules in my 57 goldtop which sound great in both guitars, im thinking maybe rebel yells in the lucille! any ideas or has anyone changed to bareknuckles on a lucille??

[Fourth Feline]

Hi, :)

I have pondered this one for a while, as my use of a Lucille, would be ( not surprisingly ) as a mellow , sweet Blueser. I nearly wept, when you told me what she was going to be used for .  :lol:  I certainly agree about the 490/498s being very nondescript for such a desirable guitar. Mules replaced mine in the Les Paul - and the rest is history. I do not own a Lucille -  but  have admired them from afar..

Right ;  back to the main question - for which I an definately thinking Riff Raffs .

  "Old School Rock tone with a grunt in the bridge ".  Especially with your 'Varitone' switch, and feedback proof ( but warmer sounding)  body . I do not own a set of R.R.s - but have heard them, and therefore am imagining the sonic balance achieved with that combination.

(* Further edit *)

Do check with Tim at B.K.P - as I cam not sure whether Riff Raffs will give you " Grunt" or " Spank" in the bridge.

 Do let us know what you end up deciding / are 'prescibed' by Tim.  :)

[leerocker]

thanks feline., i was going to put them in my gibson 335 but i sold that on and kept my 66 es-345 in the end got it refretted and it sounds great, i am a lover of p-90s though got some overwound mqs in my tele deluxe and thats a great axe. I like the nailbombs though. might have to try the riff raffs, i agree why the hell would gibson put them 490 and 498s in , at the least they could have put classic 57s in it! my old epiphone lucille had epiphone classic 57s in and to be honest was a lot better sounding to my gibson one wth them horrid pickups!

[Fourth Feline]

thanks feline., i was going to put them in my gibson 335 but i sold that on and kept my 66 es-345 in the end got it refretted and it sounds great, i am a lover of p-90s though got some overwound mqs in my tele deluxe and thats a great axe. I like the nailbombs though. might have to try the riff raffs, i agree why the hell would gibson put them 490 and 498s in , at the least they could have put classic 57s in it! my old epiphone lucille had epiphone classic 57s in and to be honest was a lot better sounding to my gibson one wth them horrid pickups!

Indeed, it frustrates and disappoints - that Gibson get greedy and cut corners on vital details. I suppose they hope that signature models will be bought by fans and collectors, who are not really avid players. In any case, it does seem perverse ( and your observations echoed on other forums ) that an Epiphone pickup can end up 'better' than a higher ticket one. Surely,  B.B.King didn't get the 490 / 498 thrown at him , if he did, those big hands, high action and so on , must have helped him push through them.  Perhaps we could see a photo of your  'Lucille' to salivate over ?   :)

[Philly Q]

Just being pedantic, but the stock pickups in a Gibson Lucille are 490R/490T (not 498T) - so both Alnico II, in case that affects any decisions on replacements.  :)

[Fourth Feline]

Just being pedantic, but the stock pickups in a Gibson Lucille are 490R/490T (not 498T) - so both Alnico II, in case that affects any decisions on replacements.  :)

Thanks Philly, I didn't know that. It certainly does better inform replacement choices.  Out of curiosity, I must look up the relative attributes of those - before kissing my Stormies and grinning contentedly . Nice one !  :D

[HTH AMPS]

I know I suggest the Abraxas set for everything, but I think you should check them out - they do have that old PAF tonality, but with much more grunt.

The Crawler set might also be worth a try.

[Philly Q]

Here's what Gibson say about the 490s:

These "Modern Classic" pickups feature tonal characteristics similar to the '57 Classic, but deliver a slight increase in the upper mids, for a more contemporary humbucking sound. The special Alnico II magnet gives these beauties a singing quality that delivers on demand.

I think in terms of output, according to Gibson's pickup charts, the 490R is around the same as the '57 Classic, the 490T a tiny bit hotter but not as hot as the '57 Classic Plus.

I've never compared the 490s and '57 Classics in the same guitar, so don't know how different they actually sound.  The 490R is fine in a generic-PAF-neck-pickup kind of way, but I've tried the 490T in a couple of SGs and found it very thin and weedy.  On the other hand, I really like the '57 Classics in my ES-339.