What do you think of 498T?

[maxime1122]

Hi,

I mostly use more of a vintage type sounding pickup, like the SD Alnico II Pro in most of my LPs, but I tried the 498T in different guitars.. I currently have one in my Custom LP Axcess in the bridge and one in my LP Studio. I find the one in my Axcess a bit thin sounding.. What are you using in your Axcess? And in the studio, I find it a bit too dark, muddy.. strange? All new strings and covered pickups, same pickup height (I tried different pickup height). Rosewood fretboard on both. What would you propose to replace the 498T in the Studio? I don't want to have the same tone as my other LPs with APH pickups.. I want something a bit hotter!

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

I replaced the 498/490 with wolfetone Marshallheads which are a vintage voiced hot overwound PAF. They were a great choice. In my experience the studio sounded muddy and when I removed the PCB even the 498/490 sounded so much better but I prefer vintage voiced pickups. You can check out any of Wolfe's pickups to replace those studio ones

The Marshallheads are nice and hot but don't lack that clarity and PAF honk

 

[Gryphon]

I have the 490R / 498T set in my 91 LP Std and both pickups are greatly improved and balanced by a magnet swap. There's a lot of discussion on that topic here, in seymourduncan.com, and elsewhere. Long story short, take out the A5 mag in the 498T and replace it with a UOA5 and you'll be very glad you did. Hell of lot cheaper than a new pickup, and if you dont like it, swap it back.

A good use for the A5 that comes out of the 498T is to put it in a 490R if you have one in the neck - what a difference! For extra marks, put it in flipped around youll now have that Peter Green OOP tone in the middle - sweet.

 

[Zhangliqun]

The whole Gibson humbucker line was so disappointing that I became a winder.

 

[Dougefresh91]

I had one in my SG and I never much cared for it. Switched it to a D Activator, and now currently a Duncan Custom SH-5. In the SG it was always kinda muddy, and just lacked a certain clarity.

I now have it in an Epiphone Strat copy from the 80's and it sounds great. I guess the cheap particle wood body and the maple neck has a brighter tone that really helped it out.

 

[RangerJay]

Hate them. Absolutely, unequivocally, totally despise them.

Next question Alex.

 

[hbucker]

IMO, it does nothing well. Too hot to be Classic. Too undefined to be modern. Brittle tone without character.

Of the set, I thought the 490r sounded o.k. and was usable. I simply did not like the 498.

Your results may vary.

 

[Zoobiedood]

The Whole Lotta Humbuckers are what I am currently using, and they solve the problems I thought the stock pickups had.

 

[jbrew1977]

Thought I liked it until I kicked on the high gain on my V3M... sounded like a can of bees. It's coming back out!

 

[C_Becker]

I have the 490/498 set in my Studio, I like it.
Great for Hard Rock / early Metal, might be too mid-heavy depending on the Amp and speakers you use.
I suggest rolling back volume and tone according to your tastes and equipment.

But they are modern sounding pups, if you want vintage, bluesy tone, get something else. Horses for courses basically.

 

[Axis39]

I do not have a lot of experience with the 498T yet. I bought my first guitar with it last week. But, I have some opinions....

I did some comparisons yesterday with a couple other guitars. I was unimpressed with the pickup to start. Actually, I'm unimpressed with the 490R in the neck as well. Love the guitar, bored with the pickups.

I play more clean, more Jazz/Jump/West Coast Blues type stuff. So, I want something warm, clean, articulate. These ain't it. I did have fun hitting them with some heavier overdrive, but they lose a lot of note definition. You lose the separate notes. They are muddy.

I will be honest, I haven't played with the height yet, nor have I changed strings to my preferred brand.... But, I have a feeling I'll be upgrading pickups before too long.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean that the 498T is a horrible pickup, just that it's so-so and thus disappointing from the people who invented the PAF.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

I like the 498/490 in my LPJ, but I have a bunch of guitars so I like having different flavors. If I only had one guitar, I would go with something else.

 

[kakao]

The whole Gibson humbucker line was so disappointing that I became a winder.

What a BS ..

 

[Hedcrash]

As the answers here will attest, in the end it'll come down to personal preference. Having said that...

I like the 498T in my SG Standard, but not my Studio. It was too crunchy in my Studio, which has an ebony fretboard and tends to be ice-picky no matter what pickups are in it.

 

[Matt_Krush]

I have them in an Epiphone Les Paul (came stock that way).
They sound excellent.
But I think it's because it doesn't have the maple cap that add the brightness to the Gibsons.
Epiphones without the maple cap are in my experience darker sounding than their Gibson counterparts...and the 498t is good for it.

I have not played them in a Gibson. What users state about the 498t in the Gibsons, is what I heard with the Burstbucker Pro in my Gibson Studio.
We're all different, have different amps/settings and like different things.

 

[kevinpaul]

I like new for the most part. I have 490 / 490 in my Studio and just put 57 Classics in my Standard. I like different flavors and that is why I have more than one guitar.

 

[Zhangliqun]

What a BS ..

You can laugh, but it's true.

 

[Ed hunter]

The 498T sounds fine to me as long as it is not right after hearing/playing
my Zhangbucker pure handwound.
That p'u is a work of art!