Alternative Pickup Ideas to Gibson 490r-498t

[mikey5]

I have been looking at a lot of different pickups, but I figured some of you might have replaced a Gibson 490r/498t set with something better. I have been looking at pickups from, Bare Knuckle, Suhr, Wolftone.

If anyone has used this particular pickup set and replaced it with something that sounded better let me know. I appreciate your feedback.

[AndyR]

I'm fairly certain that's what I replaced :lol:

That's the "standard" Gibson humbuckers nowadays isn't it? They'd have come in a Faded SG Special? If so, I replaced them with Riff Raffs.

To be fair to the Gibson pickups, I actually sought out the specific guitar and bought it for Riff Raffs I already had in another guitar. The Gibson pickups seemed ok to me, I liked the noises the guitar made through an amp both in the shop and at home. But they were only in for a couple of days. I did adjust their heights to see what they would do under different circumstances etc - but I didn't put a lot of effort into getting them to the best they could manage for me.

After I swapped, the basic tone with Riff Raffs was pretty much the same as far as I can remember. They didn't change the guitar enormously, seemed to be in the same ballpark, which was fine by me. But the playing experience is nicer - BKPs feel more expressive, and they seem to reward the effort you put in with you fingers. And if you feel better, you play better and sound better! :D

[Philly Q]

I have been looking at a lot of different pickups, but I figured some of you might have replaced a Gibson 490r/498t set with something better. I have been looking at pickups from, Bare Knuckle, Suhr, Wolftone.

If anyone has used this particular pickup set and replaced it with something that sounded better let me know. I appreciate your feedback.

When you say "replaced with something that sounded better", what kind of "better" are you looking for?  Lots of things will be better or worse, depending on your particular taste.  Brighter?  Darker?  Tighter?  Hotter?  Cooler?

If you're looking for something that's not radically different from the 498T/490R in terms of output and general tone, but will still be an improvement, I'd say have a look at Crawlers or Abraxas.

What's the guitar by the way, I'm assuming an LP?  If it's an SG Standard I'd go for something more vintage.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Yeah, guitar would help. Probably Crawlers will get you about the closest though.

[richard]

I had the 490/498 set in a Gibson Firebird Studio. I have to say that for playing at home through my Microcube they sounded fantastic. I did not have the same experience playing them through my Cornford at gigging levels. For a start they are very badly matched EQ wise. It is impossible to get a good sound out of both pups with the same EQ settings.  I resigned myself to just using the bridge pup but found that, beyond a certain volume, it became very muddy and I could not get any bite out of it. 

I e-mailed Tim asking for something 'better' and he recommended RYs. These are the revserse of the Gibsons in as much as I don't much care for their sound at home levels but at high volume they are in a completely different league having all the clarity and punch that the Gibsons don't.  Beyond that you don't describe your own definition of 'better' so I can't say if the RYs are what you are looking for. Personally, I'd rather have virtually ANY BK set than the 490/498 set.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

LOL very true

[Philly Q]

I e-mailed Tim asking for something 'better' and he recommended RYs. These are the revserse of the Gibsons in as much as I don't much care for their sound at home levels but at high volume they are in a completely different league having all the clarity and punch that the Gibsons don't. 

That's a very interesting comment - the RY was my least favourite of the BKPs I've owned, but I never would've been in a position to use it at high volume.

Incidentally, I also had a Firebird Studio (in pre-BKP days).  If I still had it, I'd have gone for Riff Raffs or Cold Sweats, I think, on the basis that it was basically a "big SG".

[gwEm]

On Tim's suggestion of '498 but better' I tried a Rebel Yell in a Flying V90 where it was too bight and a bit meh.

I later put this same pickup in a Les Paul copy, and bloody hell! Massive sound!!

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Yeah I definitely don't see the RY as a Flying V pickup, the Les Paul is it's true home for sure.

[Telerocker]

The bass of the Crawler is warm and quite mellow. Maybe that would be a bit much in mahogany. Personally I would fancy - choiche is a matter of taste - Mules, RiffRaffs, VHII's, Black Dogs, Emeralds, Abraxas, Cold Sweats or Rebel Yells in a Les Paul. My fav would be Abraxas (less middy and more airy then the Crawler) and quite versatile. Still enough output to drive an amp.

[ericsabbath]

dude... seriously... even my BKP camo cap sounds better than those Gibson pickups
I mean... when I need serious tone, I just turn it backwards, like Stallone on Over The Top, and my guitars magically start blazing hellfire and glitter blasts, and they don't even need pickups for that
that is how awesome BKP company is

PDT_003

[WhiteRam]

my guitars magically start blazing hellfire and glitter blasts

Glitter Blasts ?!! :D f*cking love it! You know I'm going listen for that in my head and dial some of those into my Sinner TS/TS Strat.

Oh the topic, yes, the 490r-498t, my BKP single coils will swallow up their tone...truth.  I'm with Telerocker on this one, get a set of Abraxas and let that axe open up and breathe.

[Philly Q]

We still don't know what the guitar is....  :?

[darrenw5094]

We still don't know what the guitar is....  :?

Yep....Mikey still hasn't told us what the guitar is........he hasn't even replied since his opening post.

[mikey5]

Sorry guys I got a new  job and I was up to my ears in training. The guitar is a les paul. Im building it. Its heavy about 10 lbs. mahogany and maple