I don't blame you for hating the 490R/498T set, I had these myself in an SG and replaced them quickly, but maybe try adjusting the pickup heights and even the pole pieces first before changing pickups. If you still hate them after that, or maybe just hate the 498T (some people love the 490R neck and keep it, but personally I preferred the 498T to the 490R so I changed both) you might want to consider several pickups out of the 'vintage' and 'vintage hot' ranges of BKPs and the Rebel Yell, Cold Sweat, and Holy Diver sets from the contemporary range. There are a heap of reviews of each of these in a special stickied review page at the top of this forum, and many of them specifically in Les Pauls.
Each of the contemporary sets just mentioned aren't that 'contemporary' - they are actually variations on sounds you could find in pickups in the '80s. For example the Cold Sweat is based on the John Sykes sound on 'Thunder and Lightning' and 'Whitesnake', while the Rebel Yell is obviously based on Steve Stevens's sound on the classic '80s Billy Idol stuff. No prizes for guessing what sound the Holy Diver attempts to capture! Anyway all of them are tried and tested in Les Pauls and out of those it should be the clips and applications that form your guide. But check out vintage hot sets like the Emerald too. If you like the hotter sound of the 498T but want more 'balls' for rock stuff these are probably your best options. Some of the other hot contemporary ones are specifically metal or hardcore pickups.
