Another 490R/498T magnet swap success story

[BlueCajun]

I've had my Les Paul Studio 50s Tribute for a few months now. Overall, I'm really happy with the guitar. I love the way it looks and plays. But one thing that I haven't been that crazy about are the pickups. I've seen lots of posts where others feel the same way. Some like the 490R and hate the 498T, calling it thin and shrill. Others like the 498T and hate the 490R, calling the bass flabby and lacking definition.

I ran across several posts on the Seymour Duncan forums preaching the gospel of swapping magnets. Some of the users there swear by it (particularly swapping the stock magnets for unoriented alnico 5 or UOA5 magnets), and point out how relatively easy it is to do. For a while I blew it off, afraid I would butcher my pickups. But eventually I figured, "Why not? What's the worst that could happen, butchering a set of pickups that I don't really like?"

One of the posts referenced a site on eBay that sold different types of bar magnets, including a set of UOA5's for $6.50 (shipping included). So I ordered the magnets and finally got around to installing them yesterday.

The verdict: Big improvement! First of all, the 490R is now almost like an entirely new pickup. What used to be mushy now sounds chimey, full, and articulate. Single notes and chords sound noticeably better. The 498T (which already had an A5 but not an UOA5) sounds better as well. But the difference here is a bit more subtle. The pickups don't sound as thin as they used to. The highs aren't quite as shrill, and I'm now hearing more upper mids. And best of all, the pickups now sound much better as a set. I can now set the tone on my amp, and it sounds good no matter which pickup I choose. I couldn't do that before the magnet swap.

The jury is still out on whether or not I'll stick with this set, but for now I'm much happier than I was before the swap. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve the sound of your stock 490R or 498T on the cheap.

 

[formula73]

Another thing a lot of guys do is to simply swap the mags from one to the other. I'm partial to just A2ing the 498. I like that woofy, wooly neck pup, sometimes.

 

[HOT-BRIT]

yes been doing that for a few years, get a 490R remove the wax with heat from a blowdryer and then swap the mag for a UOA5 and you have a great classic sounding pickup

 

[space]

I actually like the 498 in the Neck
Really nice sound w/ bite
Especially in a SG
T

 

[DPaulCustom]

I've been researching this for a while, I like my SG, but even after adjusting the pups, as suggested, & raising the screws, as suggested, I find that i'm still not happy with the tone.
My question at this point, are there any clips of the set after the UOA5 swap?
I'm trying to determine if it would be worth doing, or if I should just pull, sell,& buy a boutique set.
A mag swap would be cheaper, but if i'm not happy afterwards, i'm pulling again anyway.
A clip or two would go a long way in helping me determine if this is the way to go
Thanks in advance to any who can help me out

 

[DarthPaul]

(Necro-thread)

I just did this swap today on my '12 Studio - holy cow, what a difference!
I've never taken a pickup apart before, but it was relatively easy and quite effective.
The 490r sounds amazing with the A5.
I'm interested in hearing them when I install the new wiring (I ordered) on Tuesday.

 

[Gryphon]

There are some topics that justify resurrecting a 6 year old thread. And this is certainly one of them!

 

[DarthPaul]

There are some topics that justify resurrecting a 6 year old thread. And this is certainly one of them!

I've had the guitar for 7 years and I noticed the problem of the 490/498 pairing right from the start. I quickly learned I was wasn't alone in my observation.
I also picked up a Reissue in the meantime, so my dislike was magnified when I would play the Studio.
I feel like I put myself up to a good educational challenge - luckily there is a bunch of helpful info on the topic.
I would suggest this swap to anyone else who is/was thinking of ditching this set.

 

[Case24]

What a coincidence. I just ordered a UOA5 for the 490R in the neck of my SG Standard. I’m keeping the 498T stock for now. I’ll see how it sounds after the swap.

 

[Rock Johnson]

Since the thread was already resurrected from the dead I don't feel bad about adding to it.

I swapped the magnets on my 2008 SG Standard. Took the magnet from the 498T and put it in the 490R, and vice versa. It sounds MUCH better to my ears... Oddly enough I get a really interesting middle tone as well. The pickups aren't out of phase, but they sound almost acoustic together.

I highly recommend it as a first step, before even spending the $10 on new magnets.

 

[ARandall]

I had good luck with short A5's and A4's with the 490R too.

 

[David Garner]

I haven't flipped the pickups (neck to bridge and vice-versa), but I have experimented. My favorite combos so far are A5/A5 and UOA5/UOA5. I've also tried UOA5 bridge, A3 neck, and that is nice, but I prefer the UOA5 neck to match.

UOA5 is in both pickups now, but the pickups are not in the guitar anymore -- I'm back to the Custom Shop Pearly Gates set in that guitar (I had it in my other LP but the Antiquities are back in it).

 

[Zentar]

I had a Mexi telecaster with Texas Specials I stuck in it for a project guitar. One day I was experimenting with various capacitor styles and capacitor values just to see what capacitors were actually doing in a circuit.
I increased capacitance by 400 per cent just to make a very obvious experiment. I could easily tell that a great deal of the high end treble from the Texas Specials was chopped off. The heavy capacitance value was stealing the main part of the signal by about a third. It ruined the tone. I could immediately hear that it flattened out those pretty sounding Texas Specials.
With the exaggerated, heavy capacitance the Texas Specials now sounded like the 490/498 set. It totally ruined the pretty sounding TS's but I now heard for myself what the extra capacitance was doing.

 

[Kaicho8888]

Oh yeah... did mine decades ago... never went back!
Always get compliments on the tone!

 

[DADDEO]

Would a magnet swap improve a pickup that is woolly in the bass & fatiguing in the treble?. (se Tremonti)

 

[CheopisIV]

What sound are you trying to get? The coils are going to be the biggest limiting factor, especially if they've been potted but a magnet swap can change the tone and improve the sound.

 

[jbash]

I have done the mag swap thing on them. most recently in my 490 R /T set in my 2018 Trib.

At the end.of the day,- new wiring harness , and replacing the tailpiece studs had the best overall effect- clarity , tightened up the flub and reduced the harsh highs. I tried a whole bunch of.mags- UOA5, short.5 RC, polished short 5, Full length RC5, RC4, polished 5s, and RC2s. but ended up going back to.stock polished a2s.

short 5 in the 490R and uoa5 in the 490T was a pretty nice pairing as well.

But I would highly suggest wiring and to studs before swapping mags.

 

[DADDEO]

What sound are you trying to get? The coils are going to be the biggest limiting factor, especially if they've been potted but a magnet swap can change the tone and improve the sound.

I just want to hear the sound of my strings when I play my guitar acoustically. There's no muffled bass or overpowering highs, everything is clear & equal. I only play at home (power chords mainly) and at reasonable volume cause my tinnitus gets in the way.
Playing an SE TREMONTI through a Laney LC15, everything stock.

 

[CheopisIV]

Changing magnets won't affect he acoustic sound of your guitar... but to make it sound more open and less extreme you could try a swap. According to the interwebs, the Tremonti sig pickups are Neck - A5 - 7.4k and Bridge - Ceramic - 15.4k?

Assuming even coils which PRS are good at, I'd try A4 Neck / A2 Bridge or A4 in both positions to open them and balance the overall tone. It's a relatively affordable process and completely reversible so worth a shot for only a few $$.

 

[DADDEO]

Changing magnets won't affect he acoustic sound of your guitar... but to make it sound more open and less extreme you could try a swap. According to the interwebs, the Tremonti sig pickups are Neck - A5 - 7.4k and Bridge - Ceramic - 15.4k?

Assuming even coils which PRS are good at, I'd try A4 Neck / A2 Bridge or A4 in both positions to open them and balance the overall tone. It's a relatively affordable process and completely reversible so worth a shot for only a few $$.

Cheers my man.