Anyone notice this...

[politenessman]

when my studio and trad '60 were both stock, the studio actually had better appointments. gold hardware (bridge, tp, pickup covers, tuners, screws, switch nut, jack nut) like a custom, ebony fb like a custom. also a comparable finish (arctic white gloss). just no binding, and a different type of gibson logo. i consider the pickups the same ,57's on the trad '60, 490/498 on the studio with the possible exception that the 498 is even more hideous than the other 3.

 

[Guitar_Zero]

"Better" pickups is subjective and all the tributes can be modified a bit to get closer to another model. For the average person who doesn't modify guitars though, not having the locking tuners, tone pros hardware, BBpro pickups and tap controls makes the tribute pretty different from the standard. Some people may not care about the lack of binding or the headstock inlay or not having the same wood quality, but the tribute finish is far from the standard and will wear much faster than on the standard.

True, I would rather the 57 classics than the burstbuckers. Just what my ears prefer.