If I put the same pups as my Studio will this guitar sound as good ?

Help!I'maRock! said:
Yes, I would consider them boutique. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm just saying what works for me.
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Fair enough. I just wondered if it's price point or scale of manufacturing that you considered the transition to "boutique."
 
Kerouac said:
Out of curiosity, do you consider Bare Knuckles boutique? They're a little more expensive than the Duncan/Dimarzio classics, but not outrageous by any means. I don't know if it's just my exact configuration, but tonally I'm happier with them than anything else I've ever tried.
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I'd say they're boutique, but not insanely higher than Duncan/DM. I love mine too. I also have a set of WCRs and a set of Peter Florence Voodoos, and they all have their own thing going on. For Duncans, I'm partial to the Alnico Pros.
 
To answer the question in the title of the thread, your Studio probably has (if they're stock) 490R and 498T pickups. I would say a set of those would get your 4gile pretty close to it in tone.

However... Aftermarket Gibson pickups are EXPENSIVE new. I'd also look at other options so you don't have two identical sounding guitars.

Also, if I had a 490R/498T set, I'd swap magnets. I'd put the AlNiCo 2 from the 490R into the 498T to fatten it up a bit and the A5 from the 498T into the 490R to reduce the mud in the neck.

Of course, if you want something similar to that setup, you could get a Seymour Duncan Jazz for the neck and a Custom Custom for the bridge and be pretty close to the mag swapped Gibson set.
 
^^ Thanks for the tip. The Studio with 490/98 pickups has a sound that I like but I can see the benefit in what you're talking about. Maybe I'll do some surfing and figure out how to swap mags. I'll check out the Duncan Jazz and CC as well.
 
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BEACHBUM said:
^^ Thanks for the tip. The Studio with 490/98 pickups has a sound that I like but I can see the benefit in what you're talking about. I've never changed out magnets before so this may be a dumb question but do I actually have to swap the magnets themselves or could I get away with just swapping the position of the pickups? I assume the two pickups are probably wound differently? I'll check out the Duncan Jazz and CC as well.
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Well, the pickups are each a different wind, the 490 being a more vintage wind (middle 7K range, if I remember correctly) while the 498T is a thinner gauge wire wound to around 14K. In fact, the R and T designations also denote pole spacing, as the bridge (T) pickups are spaced wider these days.

The reason I suggest the magnet swap is that the Gibson really mismatched these pickups. The neck tends to get muddy (which the A5 magnet would fix with it's increased treble and reduced midrange) while the bridge tends to be more buzzsaw-ish (which the A2 would fix by mellowing the treble and bass while bumping the midrange). It would give you clarity on the neck pickup and fatness on the bridge.

But, like I said above, the Duncan Jazz and Duncan Custom Custom are really close to this setup with fairly close winds. The Jazz is bright and articulate while the Custom Custom is fat and chewy. And Duncans are a whole lot less expensive than Gibsons either new or used.

But if you like the way they are, rock on.

These Toneriders may be up your alley, too, if you're looking for a nice rock set that's different than what you already have.

http://tonerider.com/en/pages/product/14
 
The 490/498 is one of two pickup sets that Gibson makes that I really dislike. You could put epiphone pickups in there and sound better IMO.
The best I've owned were SD Seth Lovers. Very nice. Old school if you like that sort of thing.
 
But I imagine most any of the ones mentioned in the thread would sound great. Shop eBay. Buy used. I got a Lollar once at about 35% off new for a pickup with one solder blob on the wire. Not a scratch on the cover even. I broke even selling it later when I realized this was not the Lollar I was looking for.
 
Seems I remember somebody talking about replacing pups in this guitar when they first came out. What I remember, it was brighter than they expected, cuz the ebony fret board. I'd pull the pups from the studio, and try them. You may like them better in that guitar. Only thing it will cost you is time, and a set of strings. Then you can start shopping for new pups for the studio. :grin:
 
GilmourD said:
Well, the pickups are each a different wind, the 490 being a more vintage wind (middle 7K range, if I remember correctly) while the 498T is a thinner gauge wire wound to around 14K. In fact, the R and T designations also denote pole spacing, as the bridge (T) pickups are spaced wider these days.
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Yah. Dumb me. I deleted that part of my reply right after I posted it. What was I thinking?
 
Bob411 said:
Seems I remember somebody talking about replacing pups in this guitar when they first came out. What I remember, it was brighter than they expected, cuz the ebony fret board. I'd pull the pups from the studio, and try them. You may like them better in that guitar. Only thing it will cost you is time, and a set of strings. Then you can start shopping for new pups for the studio. :grin:
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That's a very good idea. It's certainly worth a try. The only thing is that I'd have to switch covers since the 490's are gold but that's no biggy.
 
Scott_Abene said:
So I had a stock set of the Gibson 59's Burstbuckers currently in my Agile 3100. I changed out the pickups, Pots (to linear) and caps. It has made all the difference in the world and the instrument not sounds like the total class act that it should be.

This was recorded quickly and direct via GuitarRigIV and is my standard test tune... http://www.guitarheads.org/Guitarheads/Music/other/3100.mp3
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Yes. Switch your pots. I haven't done it personally, but I've had friends that swapped pots and left the stock Pups and they said it made a world of difference. I've always just swapped everything at the same time since you're wrist deep into it anyway.
 
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