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500T and 496R Your Opinions


nitro

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I have a 1960 Classic and love the pups and the guitar... It SCREAMS when it wants too and can actually be mellow with the right settings. It has the best range in terms of sound than any of my other guitars.. You get all the Highs, Mids and Lows and it only gets better with age [thumbup]

 

I can undertsand why people think they are too much but for me they are great.. Also I used to think my Classic was a solid body before I came on here.. But it weighs so much I dont undertsand how it cant be lol :)

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If you think the 496R is too hot and too muddy, you might try to lower it down towards the guitar body, further away from the strings.

I have a Les Paul with 490R and 498T.

The 490 in the front sounded a bit hard, and very easily got muddy with gain. But then I lowered it away from the strings, so that now it is almost flat with the Pick Up ring.

And now it sounds really nice and clear, and doesn't get muddy with gain.

I know the 498 is hotter than the 490, but you could try to lower it and see what happens.

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Explorers are awesome guitars. Perfectly balanced and very light (compared to my Les Pauls). I have 2: 1 is from 93 and i keep the stock pickups (496R, 500T - awesome combo) the other is from 1984 and I have 2 Dirty Fingers in there which just scream when you push them. Explorers are my favorite Gibson next to a Les Paul.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i love the 496R for almost all of what i do in blues rock (now, when i say blues rock... imagine more blues... rock/metal) the 496R with the tone rolled back on a clean setting is great for my clean sounds, and the 500T again, with the tone rolled back A LITTLE! is good for my fast pace lead settings. Yes the 500T sometimes seems too loud i mostly stick with the rhyme position when playing. even during solos I've found myself sticking with the 496R more so then the 500T. I must confess however, that part of why i have done so, is because of how they sit in my flying V. they are tilted back towards the bridge. I've got a cover for the neck which seems to fix the problem, and even the ill fitting bridge cover, when just sat in the pickup as a mock-up seems to correct the problem. I cannot however, seem to find a cover with the correct spacing for my 500T (if it is in fact a 500T. almost 100% sure though. but it was previously owned before it came to my hands. so who knows what it is...)

 

Assuming it is in fact a 496R and a 500T in my '06 V i Love em. ****/5

 

why 4/5? because Gibson does not sell the 500T with a cover factory installed! GET ON THIS GIBSON! PLEASE!? thank you \m/

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  • 2 years later...

My 1994 Les Paul Studio Lite with M-III Electronics has 500T & 496R + NSX Middle & I think they have mellowed over the 20+ years but are still hot, the guitar has a 300k volume pot & is factory coil tapped & has 9 sounds & just has some scary tones from in your face Dimarzio Super Distortion tones to smooth single coil sounds & a wha pedal fuzz tone..

I like em in this guitar & they may not be perfect for everybody but they sure work out well in the M-III wiring..

 

1994 Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite with M-III Electronics

3f072511-6f6a-4754-b40c-69448c20770d.jpg

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I'd also like to keep the 496R in the neck, with a SD JB in the bridge. I play blues and rock/blues stuff (from older blues like chuck berry, muddy waters etc to classic Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith etc)

 

The SD HotRodder set uses the JB in the bridge(SH-4).

 

Seymore Duncan Hotrodder(SH-2/SH-4)

 

Bridge(JB)........ neck(JM)

17.1/k ohm....... 7.3k ohm

 

500t/496r

bridge........,,,, neck

14.6k ohm .... 8k ohm

 

Strange how these two PU sets are similar yet they do sound different. I preferred the SDs over the Gibbys.

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The SD HotRodder set uses the JB in the bridge(SH-4).

 

Seymore Duncan Hotrodder(SH-2/SH-4)

 

Bridge(JB)........ neck(JM)

17.1/k ohm....... 7.3k ohm

 

500t/496r

bridge........,,,, neck

14.6k ohm .... 8k ohm

 

Strange how these two PU sets are similar yet they do sound different. I preferred the SDs over the Gibbys.

 

My sets measure:

- 496R/500T: 8.57K and 14.97K

- '59/JB: 7.62K and 16.95K

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My sets measure:

- 496R/500T: 8.57K and 14.97K

- '59/JB: 7.62K and 16.95K

 

My linkSD Resistance Specs

 

I have the SH-2 and SH-4 Duncans. There may be a few choices involved in what makes up the Hotrodder pairs. Duncan uses some overlapping model names. The SH-2 and SH-4 are the JB and JM PUs.

JM is really a guy's initials and is not "jazz model". JB is really Jeff Beck but Duncan didn't get Beck's permission so he doesn't call it "Jeff Beck". Nor did he get JM's permission so he says JM.

 

Add to all that the varying DC resistance measurements and there is really a confusing mish mash of PUs.

 

I have a SD Pearly Gate bridge PU in a HSS Strat that is my single favorite PU out of about ten I own from Gibson, Duncan and Fender custom shop. SD makes the better PUs of the three brands I list as far as "do I like the sound or not". I have never tried Lollar and the others.

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My linkSD Resistance Specs

 

I have the SH-2 and SH-4 Duncans. There may be a few choices involved in what makes up the Hotrodder pairs. Duncan uses some overlapping model names. The SH-2 and SH-4 are the JB and JM PUs.

JM is really a guy's initials and is not "jazz model". JB is really Jeff Beck but Duncan didn't get Beck's permission so he doesn't call it "Jeff Beck". Nor did he get JM's permission so he says JM.

 

Add to all that the varying DC resistance measurements and there is really a confusing mish mash of PUs.

 

I have a SD Pearly Gate bridge PU in a HSS Strat that is my single favorite PU out of about ten I own from Gibson, Duncan and Fender custom shop. SD makes the better PUs of the three brands I list as far as "do I like the sound or not". I have never tried Lollar and the others.

 

I tried many, but in different guitars, even a Antiquity bridge on my R8 (which I didn't really liked, too edgy and treble sounding).

The SH-2 sounds thin to me, and that's not what I want.

I also looked at the Resonant Peak, along with the DC Resistance.

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I tried many, but in different guitars, even a Antiquity bridge on my R8 (which I didn't really liked, too edgy and treble sounding).

The SH-2 sounds thin to me, and that's not what I want.

I also looked at the Resonant Peak, along with the DC Resistance.

 

I have not bought any matched pairs where I liked both PUs. Keep in mind I after 60s/70s r&r sounds.

I seem to end up with hot wound PUs which can happen if you do your research AFTER you buy a set you happen upon at a store display window. Hot wound is the new fad.

Everything seems to be hot wound for added this and added that. The last PU set I tried were Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials on a Tele. I saw them at a sale price but they are hot wounds too. There again I ended up with hot wounds. Hot wounds, hot wounds...........why is everything hot wound? I'm not trying to beat my previous 1/4 mile time rather I'm playing a guitar.

The biggest improvement to sound that I've made by experimenting was to stick a better speaker in my Marshall amp. I was really happy with the Celestion aftermarket speaker. However when I've bought matched PU sets I tend to find fault with one of the two in the set.

But I have to say I am still miffed as to why I like the SD Hotrodders over the Gibson 490r/498t. Seems like I should have been gaga over the Gibbys but yet I wasn't. One day I'll try the Gibbys in another guitar but for now they sit in a box with other guitar stuff.

Can't figure out that one. Gibbys shouldn't sit in a closet stuffed in a box.

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I never bought a matched pair of pickups, too.

I tried many pairs (even pickups from different brands, last combo I had on my R8 was BB2+SD Antiquity. I found that I like the BB2 in the neck position more rather than its usual location), and I don't really mind the output rate.

Well, I don't care if my bridge pickup measures 9K o 16K, I only try to get a balanced output volume between the two (496R/500T is a good example, they're well matched -volume level talking-, although they have a big difference in output level on the paper).

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  • 2 years later...

I am resurrecting this thread a bit because I am curious to hear if there are recent opinions to be added...

 

My 1979 SG Standard (purchased used in '82) came with an original Dimarzio Super Distprtion treble pup, which was not a perfect fit with the SG's stock neck pup. So in the early 1990s (or so), I opted for the 496R/500T pair to go in in it. I have been very happy with them ever since, and never looked back. Besides being paired against each other very well, I find that (to me) they sing really well with lots of gain (which I use alot) and also clean. You get every last harmonic out of them, and they love to sustain. My '79 SG has always been a very fine fast playing instrument, and with these pickups, it almost felt like it could play itself ... almost like it is cheating. Hard to explain ...

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  • 4 years later...

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