Gibson Pickups

T

TripleM

Well-known member
I'm looking at Les Pauls. Some of the models in my price range have 496, 498, and/or 500 pickups. Others have "57 Classic" pickups.

All other things being equal, what are the differences in sound between these types of pickups?
 
I don't use a lot of humbuckers, but know these a little. I like the '57 Classic; an Alnico II magnet for a littler less output, but smoother sounding overall. The 498T is an Alnico V, so there's a little more output, and it's a hotter wind, so it's output goes up again. The others are hot ceramic magnet pickups. Go from there.
 
I have played a Black Beauty recently and whatever pickups they use are quite hot and dirty....:D
 
TripleM said:
I'm looking at Les Pauls. Some of the models in my price range have 496, 498, and/or 500 pickups. Others have "57 Classic" pickups.

All other things being equal, what are the differences in sound between these types of pickups?
Click to expand...

The "number" pickups like 498 and 500 are pretty hot.

57 Classics and Burstbuckers are relatively tame and more vintage "PAF" like.
 
I've got Burstbucker Pro's on my LP- very nice, more vintage than hot, but def. not "lukewarm."
 
Greg_L said:
The "number" pickups like 498 and 500 are pretty hot.

57 Classics and Burstbuckers are relatively tame and more vintage "PAF" like.
Click to expand...

This is what I love. An answer that is boiled down to succinct information that you can use. And it actually answers the original question without getting off topic.

Excellent!
 
I tend to like the sound of the '57 classics better (they are indeed not as hot as the other), even for heavy stuff - in my experience, they have a more complex and sweet sound, while the others sound a little flatter. YMMV.
 
My LP Classic has a 496R at the neck and a 500T at the bridge. They're both pretty hot pickups, lots of volume, yet they retain quite a bit of dynamic range. The 500T is pretty nasaly sounding, very midrange-focused. Through the right amp it sounds pretty good, but I've found that its midrange is too pronounced for my Mesa Lonestar Special.
 
I have a Les Paul Classic also with the 496R/500T Ceramic pickups. Very high output without any of the muddiness you can get with AlNiCo high output pickups. Leads have a nice trebly bite to them. I have an ES-335 with 57 Classics in it, very classic sounding indeed, Moderate output but in the 335 they scream with lots of sustain. I have the new SG-12 string with the 490R/498T pickups, they have high output and I imagine Gibson put these in the SG-12 because I think they tend to have less treble. The SG-12 has a nice string to string balance unlike the RIC 360/12 I sold to buy this, the RIC was way too bright. I am going to put some 490R/498T's in my Les Paul Standard soon, I had replaced the stock Burstbuckers with the 496R/500T's but realized I had 2 LP's that sounded identical. I didnt like the Burstbuckers at all, low output and noisy because of the unbalanced coils.

VP
 
Thread hijack
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Hey Greg - when you modded your Epi SG, did you just replace the pickups or all of the electronics (pots, pups and all)? Did you do it yourself or take it into a shop? Just wondering how easy it would be to do it - I can use a soldering iron, so probably not that hard. I want to upgrade my Epi LP.
 
jonny deep said:
Thread hijack
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Hey Greg - when you modded your Epi SG, did you just replace the pickups or all of the electronics (pots, pups and all)? Did you do it yourself or take it into a shop? Just wondering how easy it would be to do it - I can use a soldering iron, so probably not that hard. I want to upgrade my Epi LP.
Click to expand...

I got the pickup and pots and wires and all that shit from a friend of mine who had a broken SG. The only thing I kept the same was the neck pickup because I never use it anyway. I did it myself and it was very easy to do.
 
TripleM said:
Hey Greg - why do you like the Burstbuckers more than the 57 Classics?
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The Burstbucker has a little more growl to it. More punch and bite. Not really hotter, but more grit. I think it's more like a vintage PAF p/u than the others. The 57 Classics are smoother. They're both great pickups if you want a toneful vintage sound. The Burstbuckers are just a little more aggressive to me.
 
Victory Pete said:
I have a Les Paul Classic also with the 496R/500T Ceramic pickups. Very high output without any of the muddiness you can get with AlNiCo high output pickups. Leads have a nice trebly bite to them. I have an ES-335 with 57 Classics in it, very classic sounding indeed, Moderate output but in the 335 they scream with lots of sustain. I have the new SG-12 string with the 490R/498T pickups, they have high output and I imagine Gibson put these in the SG-12 because I think they tend to have less treble. The SG-12 has a nice string to string balance unlike the RIC 360/12 I sold to buy this, the RIC was way too bright. I am going to put some 490R/498T's in my Les Paul Standard soon, I had replaced the stock Burstbuckers with the 496R/500T's but realized I had 2 LP's that sounded identical. I didnt like the Burstbuckers at all, low output and noisy because of the unbalanced coils.

VP
Click to expand...

Man, I'm jealous about the SG-12!!! I've wanted one for years, but could nevet afford it. I've even considered getting the Epi doubleneck just to get the 12, but besides being unweildy and very impractical, I figured everyone would think I was trying to be Page.
 
Now I'm thinking maybe Burstbuckers are what I'm looking for. Sheesh, it just never ends, does it? Well, unless I win the lottery and can afford the Peter Green/ Gary Moore LP.
 
This has been a good thread. I'm anxious to check out the 57s and the BurstBucker series.

Here's a little blurb from Gibson about the 3 different BurstBuckers:
Burstbucker
 
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