Hey folks.
I have been mulling over pickups lately and just pondering if I fancy trying some different ones in my SG. I kind of understand vintage vs hot style pickups but mostly I've not got a clue about the various humbucker styles that are out there.
Where do my standard 490R/490T set sit in the scheme of things? Am I right in saying these are vintage hot style, rather than PAF inspired? I'm just wondering what sorts to compare to and what might be the logical direction to go in for AC/DC, Led Zep, Free and some modern stuff... I really like the stock pickups but it's always intrigued me what I might find if I was to swap them for something else. I was particularly interested when I saw the Chicago Music Exchange T Type SGs that they just announced as T Type wasn't a term I'd heard before.
I appreciate this is probably a very basic question, but can someone maybe give me a wee idiot's guide to types of humbucker pickups? Or point me to a good site to do some reading?
Thanks.
Andy
Comments
Cheers.
Andy
They're not a bad pickup at all, and they're in PAF territory in terms of tone and power, if not 100% authentic in terms of construction or cosmetics.
If you want to play AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Free, your current pickups are certainly not standing in your way.
In your position I'd have a lot more fun playing with vintage style boosts and fuzzes to get those tones than the infinitesimal differences between PAF clones.
What you've written @Hydra19 is pretty much how I had it in my head but I was never quite sure and defintely not sure where the 490s sat in this picture. As it turns out, they sound like exactly what I need - classic rock and some older Metallica with some newer (Foo Fighters etc.) stuff thrown in.
I've seen a lot of negative comments on the 490s but I've really liked them since we changed the stock pot's and wiring (my old man did the soldering for me) a couple of years ago. That actually made a massive difference to the sound (to my ears at least). I've always just wondered if it was worth trying something else, but the fact I can't try any in my guitar and my amp etc. without buying them and fully installing them is a massive deterrent.
I do wonder why they switch between 57s and 490s from one year to the next though, and I definitely don't want to go anywhere near trying to find out which PAF style pickup I prefer. No way. I'm a very basic level "player" and really just like learning stuff.
I think I'll stick with them but glad I asked the question.
Andy
Sometimes the pot and cap values need to be tweaked to fine tune things but there is very little wrong with either 490s or Classic 57s. 99% of great humbucker rock tones can be achieved with the standard issue stuff.
no offence to anyone matching the initial description
True, I think the Gibson website even used to say they were basically "modern" versions of the classic PAF style pickups (or, in effect, 57 Classics). Alnico II magnets.
In all the talk about T-Tops, it might be worth mentioning that the "T" in 490T means it's for the Treble position and has wider polepiece spacing.
If you had the 490R/498T set rather than the 490R/490T set, the 498T is a higher-output pickup, about 14k I think, with an Alnico V magnet.
There's a huge variety of tones in different humbuckers.
(formerly customkits)