Gibson 498T pickups: Close to an overwound PAF?

[valve]

janked the 498T out of every guitar i had.
Too mid forward for my liking.
Not P.A.F. like at all, WTF!?

@SoooRad: the SH-14 Custom 5 has nothing to do with it tone wise. maybe about the same output, but they are almost tonal opposites

 

[Caca_Spaniel_123]

janked the 498T out of every guitar i had.
Too mid forward for my liking.
Not P.A.F. like at all, WTF!?

@SoooRad: the SH-14 Custom 5 has nothing to do with it tone wise. maybe about the same output, but they are almost tonal opposites

I mean listen to my soundcloud it doesnt sound miles apart there..

 

[valve]

I mean listen to my soundcloud it doesnt sound miles apart there..

no, not miles (because of same setup) but enough to make or break it. i hate the 498T and i am fine with the other one...
i just hate the mids of the 498T

 

[Caca_Spaniel_123]

no, not miles (because of same setup) but enough to make or break it. i hate the 498T and i am fine with the other one...
i just hate the mids of the 498T

Oh sure defo not for everyone. Whats your preferred pickup for something over 14k and possibly A5 magnets?

 

[valve]

Oh sure defo not for everyone. Whats your preferred pickup for something over 14k and possibly A5 magnets?

i don't play any right now except for the ceramic nazgul for high gain downtuned chugga chugga (and the dimarzio blaze neck in a 7string).
it's teles and regular AWG42 Humbuckers for me most of the time.

i have some Bill Lawrence/Bill&Becky L500L and XL laying around. not sure if A5 or ceramic. i liked them quite a bit and i want to reinstall them in something soon...
also laying around but not tested:
SH-16 hybrid (actually was good for the short test drive i had it in), perpetual burn, pegasus, full shred.

the duncan custom 5 was boring to play. especially solo stuff. i guess too lil harmonics, but tried it only in one guitar. (still own it)
i like the screamin' demon in the right guitar, so go figure

do have some half ass tested (or never installed) ceramics for the high gain stuff laying around (dimebucker, jupiter, SH-5, blackhawks). <- but only 1 or 2 of those are allowed to remain and i always keep a pair of EMGs 81/60.

it will be a hard decision between the L500s, dime, blackhaws and jupiter rails!
it would be easier to make more guitars, so i can postpone that decision

 

[Caca_Spaniel_123]

i don't play any right now except for the ceramic nazgul for high gain downtuned chugga chugga (and the dimarzio blaze neck in a 7string).
it's teles and regular AWG42 Humbuckers for me most of the time.

i have some Bill Lawrence/Bill&Becky L500L and XL laying around. not sure if A5 or ceramic. i liked them quite a bit and i want to reinstall them in something soon...
also laying around but not tested:
SH-16 hybrid (actually was good for the short test drive i had it in), perpetual burn, pegasus, full shred.

the duncan custom 5 was boring to play. especially solo stuff. i guess too lil harmonics, but tried it only in one guitar. (still own it)
i like the screamin' demon in the right guitar, so go figure

do have some half ass tested (or never installed) ceramics for the high gain stuff laying around (dimebucker, jupiter, SH-5, blackhawks). <- but only 1 or 2 of those are allowed to remain and i always keep a pair of EMGs 81/60.

it will be a hard decision between the L500s, dime, blackhaws and jupiter rails!
it would be easier to make more guitars, so i can postpone that decision

I see, you are more of a higher gain metal player.. Yeah I agree there are better pickups than the 498T for that. I tried the BKP Painkiller amd that was an extremely tight amd aggressive metal pickup.

I guess I need to try some L500 style pickups.

 

[valve]

I see, you are more of a higher gain metal player.. Yeah I agree there are better pickups than the 498T for that. I tried the BKP Painkiller amd that was an extremely tight amd aggressive metal pickup.

I guess I need to try some L500 style pickups.

no, i play mostly your vintage output style PU (i'm getting old!), but of course i need the best high gain tone to rule them all, too
The L500 might be an aquired taste. but i like that they are still bright and clear. rails somehow sound less hairy/messy to my ears, but not 100% sure.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Its weird because I also used to think that the 498T had a very pronounced honk, but after I changed the pots and added the tone knob back for whatever the reason is it doesnt sound as nasal? Its strange..

Pot values still 500k, I wired the tone knob out and decided it sounded a bit too shrill sometimes.

I actually ran mine with a single 500K volume. It came in my guitar (Les Paul Modern Lite). At first, I thought it was alright through a 500K volume and tone, but then I started comparing it to my other guitars which I run single 500K or even 1M volume pots, no tone, and I thought it was kinda congested by comparison with both volume and tone. It did get a bit raspy with a single 500K volume, but I actually kinda liked that.

I've since replaced it with a Suhr SSH+.

 

[Caca_Spaniel_123]

I actually ran mine with a single 500K volume. It came in my guitar (Les Paul Modern Lite). At first, I thought it was alright through a 500K volume and tone, but then I started comparing it to my other guitars which I run single 500K or even 1M volume pots, no tone, and I thought it was kinda congested by comparison with both volume and tone. It did get a bit raspy with a single 500K volume, but I actually kinda liked that.

I've since replaced it with a Suhr SSH+.

Yeah the tone knob takes away a lot of the zingyness and attenuates quite a bit of signal, my guitar feels at least 20% louder without it. I used to really like the single 500k volume but I've become to like the tameness of the tone + volume sound.

How is the Suhr SSH+?

 

[Music&Chaos]

I really enjoy the 498T on a Tele I have. I had the 490r/498t combo mentioned above in my LP and it sounded good, but the 498T just screams in my tele build, so I gotta leave it there. There are pretty distinctive top end differences between having the cover on vs off. I popped the cover off for the tele and it sounds HUGE.

They definitely have a certain sound that I find really enjoyable.

 

[Ultradeaf]

498T are great until you start tuning down below D as your root note. Then you'll lose clarity.

Like a JB, but slightly hotter with more treble.

 

[glpg80]

I really enjoy the 498T on a Tele I have. I had the 490r/498t combo mentioned above in my LP and it sounded good, but the 498T just screams in my tele build, so I gotta leave it there. There are pretty distinctive top end differences between having the cover on vs off. I popped the cover off for the tele and it sounds HUGE.

They definitely have a certain sound that I find really enjoyable.

Yeah you make a great point - I recommend the 498T without a cover. With a cover on it’s mediocre at best IMO.

 

[stephen sawall]

I feel it is like a JB also.

 

[VonBonfire]

Yeah you make a great point - I recommend the 498T without a cover. With a cover on it’s mediocre at best IMO.

I had good luck even with an ill fitting cover on mine. It was less congested and clearer with a better bite in the top end.

I guess I need to try some L500 style pickups.

I've grown to love rails after tossing a Lollar DB in the bridge of a couple guitars. I'd love to try some Bill Lawrence pickups.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yeah the tone knob takes away a lot of the zingyness and attenuates quite a bit of signal, my guitar feels at least 20% louder without it. I used to really like the single 500k volume but I've become to like the tameness of the tone + volume sound.

I personally prefer not having a tone knob and if I need to tame a pickup a bit, I just run a single 250K volume or, if it's too much, a 1M resistor in parallel with a 500K volume. But I find myself more often running pickups on single 500K or occasionally 1M volumes.

How is the Suhr SSH+?

It's cool, but honestly, it's along the lines, LOL. It's kinda like a more open JB. Or kinda like a higher output, yet cleaner 498T.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I personally prefer not having a tone knob and if I need to tame a pickup a bit, I just run a single 250K volume or, if it's too much, a 1M resistor in parallel with a 500K volume. But I find myself more often running pickups on single 500K or occasionally 1M volumes.


It's cool, but honestly, it's along the lines, LOL. It's kinda like a more open JB. Or kinda like a higher output, yet cleaner 498T.

I tend to run my guitars with no tone knob due to preferring the punch of it being removed completely from the circuit.

That being said, I swapped to very specific capacitance paper in oil caps and have been quite pleased with the results.

I still have a majority of guitars with only vol still. Into that punch.

 

[Rex Rocker]

I tend to run my guitars with no tone knob due to preferring the punch of it being removed completely from the circuit.

That being said, I swapped to very specific capacitance paper in oil caps and have been quite pleased with the results.

I still have a majority of guitars with only vol still. Into that punch.

I suppose you could get a similar punch if you ran 1M volume and tone pots for the same load as a single 500K pot. But I have no idea functionally if the taper would feel different or what.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I suppose you could get a similar punch if you ran 1M volume and tone pots for the same load as a single 500K pot. But I have no idea functionally if the taper would feel different or what.

I did live testing swapping them in and out with leads and am very pleased with the PIO cap I have found. I have tried them in several guitars now of a friend and my own and they sound almost identical to being ran wide open. Only shave off the most minimal amount of high end range.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

I had good luck even with an ill fitting cover on mine. It was less congested and clearer with a better bite in the top end.


I've grown to love rails after tossing a Lollar DB in the bridge of a couple guitars. I'd love to try some Bill Lawrence pickups.

Bill's wife Becky and daughter Shannon still make his pickups and their prices are STUPID cheap! https://www.wildepickups.com/

I think you'd really dig their Q-Filter tone circuit!

"We offer a small, well-selected collection of Bill's original models. Since the days when Bill mass produced pickups, we still own an enormous amount of high-quality tooling and equipment which makes us independent from expensive outside suppliers. We are a small family based company and operate on a modest budget without marketing or paid endorsers. Our pickups are made in the USA using almost exclusively US-made parts, from the copper wire and machined parts to our injection molding and chrome plating. Just like our customers, we like to support small businesses offering an incredible product."

 

[Music&Chaos]

Bill's wife Becky and daughter Shannon still make his pickups and their prices are STUPID cheap! https://www.wildepickups.com/

I think you'd really dig their Q-Filter tone circuit!

"We offer a small, well-selected collection of Bill's original models. Since the days when Bill mass produced pickups, we still own an enormous amount of high-quality tooling and equipment which makes us independent from expensive outside suppliers. We are a small family based company and operate on a modest budget without marketing or paid endorsers. Our pickups are made in the USA using almost exclusively US-made parts, from the copper wire and machined parts to our injection molding and chrome plating. Just like our customers, we like to support small businesses offering an incredible product."

Saving this! They have some really cool looking pickups. So great they are keeping his legacy going.