Renew your Gibson or upgrade your Epiphone or Les Paul® style guitar with a GENUINE Gibson® 490R and 498T Humbucker Pickup Combo. Why settle for cheap aftermarket imitations when you can have the real thing? Sure they cost more than other brands, but that's because of the rich deep sound and history behind these originals. Your Les Paul is worth it!
My Gibson® Les Paul Standard Double Cut Plus has these two pickups, and I am blown away by the incredible sound. (Read my review here) I just ordered another set of these for myself. I am going to take a $199.00 Epiphone Les Paul Special II, and see if I can make it sound like my $2,200.00 Gibson. (Yes, I Did it!)
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Not convinced? Well, just click here and listen to the sound of these babies in action. A real Gibson brand pickup combo like this is untouchable, in my opinion. They have so much more roaring bass, biting mid-range, and crisp highs in comparison to the lame pickups that come on so many guitars. In fact, a good many of Gibson's Les Pauls come with this particular combo - 490R in neck position and 498T in bridge position.
The 490R uses the Alnico II magnet and is especially designed to bring out long sustained blues or jazz tones. It gives you a sound somewhat like the "57 Classic" pickups found on Gibson's famous ES-335, or BB Kings Lucille (ES-445). But, on a real solid body guitar like the Les Paul, the sustain is amazing. You can start a note ringing, and go off for a cup of coffee, only to come back just as it is fading out. <Smile>
The 498T, on the other hand, is an overwound pickup using a "Hot" Alnico V magnet. It will play the blues, if you'd like....or....it will blow the windows outta your room with deep vibrating rock chops. (Just like in that famous magazine ad of the kid with half a wall blown away that's running in all the major guitar magazines) Just ask my wife! <More smiles>
What it all boils down to is that these two pickups in combination allow you to be mellow, play the blues or some jazz, or go out of control with some heavy, screaming, overdriven monster Rock licks. You have the best of both worlds here. No wonder so many famous musicians use Les Pauls.
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To the left is a picture of the 498T with the cover pulled off. Some like it this way. I like mine covered. If you want you can pull the covers off and use the bare "bobbins." A lot of rock players do it that way. There's quite an aftermarket demand for the covers, by the way.
These pickups are cool looking either way you use them. I like 'em covered, you might like them not covered. In either case they make a POWERFUL sound!
Below is Gibson's official sales pitch:
490R
"These "Modern Classic" pickups feature tonal characteristics similar to the ’57 Classic, but deliver a slight increase in the upper mids, for a more contemporary humbucking sound. The special Alnico II magnet gives these beauties a singing quality that delivers on demand."
498T
"Put a slightly hotter Alnico V magnet into a specially wound coil combination, and you get the 498T "Hot Alnico." With its higher output and emphasis on mid-ranges and highs, the 498T is the perfect rock pickup. Available with chrome, gold or nickel covers, or open coils, the 498T comes with four conductor shielded wiring for series/parallel/split coil variations."
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Gibson's Picture of the Combo. They also offer the 490T, which is a cooled down version of the 498T. I don't like my pickups cooled down. Do you?
I recommend the 490R and 498T in combo.
If you can use a screwdriver, snips, and a soldering gun, you can add more sound to your current Les Paul style guitar. Here is a link to download Gibson's Wiring Diagram for the process. I've done it, and it's not hard. In fact, I just wrote an article for my website with DETAILED instructions on the process of upgrading a guitar to Gibson Humbuckers. Read this article if you have any doubts about the process. I did my own upgrade in about two hours, and I am completely satisfied with the results. Read the article and you'll see what I mean. Then, come back here and buy some of these cool Gibson Humbuckers. Your guitar will thank you for it!
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