Mike CT

I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question, but I’m terrible at knowing what pickups work/don’t work with various guitar bodies. I currently have a 490/498 in my 2019 SG Standard but have been debating about adding a pickup that is a bit more aggressive/metal for this guitar. In my LP Standard I have a 59/JB combination which I think is pretty well rounded. Do Dirty Fingers pair well with SGs? Thanks! Mike

That is a good point and funny enough, it’s what I’ve been doing now that I think of it. I love the SG and typically grab that first for metal (it’s a 2019 Standard and I swapped out the 490T for a 498T), and I tend to grab the LP for anything below classic metal. thanks!

I’ve always been unclear how to think about picks when using amps like mine that have some fairly high gain settings. Can you just get to where you want via amp distortion, etc?

What would you say are good alternatives? Siper distortion, JB, Duncan Distotion, and Duncan Custom seem to come up a lot. ....and thank you!

I have a 2017 Les Paul Standard and a 2019 SG (the 2019 with white binding and the slim taper neck) that I put a 498T into, and I run them through a Marshall DSL 40CR amp. I love playing Classic metal/Hard Rock (Maiden, Priest, Metallica Crue, Kix, Guns, Megadeth, Ratt) and also modern country (Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, etc.) as crazy as that seems. I only play in my basement at night when the family is asleep so that is the backdrop. i am really happy with the 490R/498T in my SG but am also open to suggestions here. My Les Paul has Burstbucker Pro pickups and feel like I want a different pickup in here that could hit the metal but sound great with the less gain country. I have been thinking something like JB/59 or JB/Jazz or a Super Distorion and something Demario in the neck (not sure what). My questions are: 1) with the Marshall with the various higher gain settings is this even necessary? 2) is anyone familiar with the burstbucker pro+ that is on the new Les Paul modern’s? I have considered selling my 2017 to get the black graphite finish and am wondering if this is hotter close to the territory of the pickups I am looking at. I am kind of growing old of the Cherry burst finish every though it is gorgeous, and leaning toward black.

I may try the nickels after these but I am liking these PB more and more in only a short time. Has anyone tried the new Gibson coated phosphor bronze strings that they are replacing all of the Masterbuilt a with? On amazon the few reviews have been very good. I wonder if they are built/feel more like the Elixirs or the D’addario EXPs. May give those a shot too at some point. Mike

I apologize in advance for this long winded question, but I have been tempted to try Phosphor Bronze on both of my acoustics. Given that both are Mahogony, would losing the “brights” usually associated with 80/20 strings take too much of the liveliness away from each guitar? I know the PB’s are described as warmer and more balanced. Also, if I do make a switch I have two other questions: 1) thoughts on D’addarios, vs Gibson MB vs Elixir or others 2). Also, I haven’t tried coated strings. Do they deaden the sound any? I see Gibson is now making coated PB strings. Thanks! Mike

I thought about it a lot and gave the 498T a shot and had one put in. I absolutely love it. It sounds so much tighter to me than my 490T did. Tried it out playing some Maiden, Priest, Jason Aldean, Eric Church and some other stuff, and it sounded great through the Marshall’s various channels. I’m still not super thrilled with the 490R neck pickup but I realized the other day that I’ve never like any neck pickups on any guitars that I’ve had and always stuck to the bridge. The guitar tech tweaked that pickup a bit when he swapped out the bridge one, so I think this week I’m going to spend a lot more time with that one to see if something clicks and I realize that I want to to play that instead of the bridge for something. Separately, this new SG is awesome - love it. I have a 2017 LP Standard that I thought was great but I just can’t get myself to pick that one up first... Mike

My SG has 490R/T’s in it. I have poked around a bit before on SG sites, but what are the thoughts on the various pick ups if I play hard rock/classic metal like Maiden, Priest, Metallica , AC/DC and modern country like Jason Aldean and Eric Church through a Marshall DSL. I love the SG sound hitting that A chord on Highway to Hell, too! Don’t want to mess that up - haha! Thanks! Mike

No problem. The “2019” releases are super confusing and I see retailers selling these with the old pics of the guitars that they have but with the new descriptions. Kind of a mess....

Everywhere around my thumb was just sore after playing with the rounded neck. I thought it was muscle memory stuff at first, but it it wasn’t and i’d Switch to my LP and it would be fine. I loved how it sounded though! Hopefully this new one is similar. Still trying to figure out if i’m Going to care that this has low frets or not after a few weeks. I didn’t initially.

Here is the link to the 2019 Standard that I am talking about. It has white binding and the slim taper neck. http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2019/USA/SG-Standard-2019.aspx

Now I finally figured this out.....the hard way. The one I originally liked and thought I was buying was the first 2019 with the white binding and slim taper. The second version of the 2019 that I bought (not knowing about the two versions).....I just didn’t like the feel at all and it made my hand sore so I sold it. Took a loss but I think got an ok deal in the grand scheme of things. Then I bought that older 2019 with the white binding. My only hesitation is that this model has a “low” fret profile instead of the medium that I like on my LP and like i’ve Seen on other SGs, and the Medium jumbo on the one I sold that I thought felt good. It looks like the frets on my Hummingbird. I didn’t think that much about the low profile frets after picking it up etc, but it’s still in my mind because I can’t recall any other years with a low fret profile....which could be driven by something. Either way, hopefully this one sticks despite the low profile frets!! mike

Now when you guys are talking about these fat necks, would you say they were much fatter than this .96 inch rounded (just to have a little more perspective). Mike

So out of curiosity, do you think a neck that is .96 or so at the 12th is someone common for an an SG? It’s pretty clear now that i’m Fine with the shape, I just keep thinking about how fat it gets down around 12 the more I play it.

I hear you on the feel. It’s just bigger all the way around, not just at the center. It definitely feels much more different than I would have imagined. Up toward the neck, i’m not completely sure but I may find the slightly bigger neck a tad easier to fret different chord shapes than on the slim taper. I’ll keep playing with it. It’s down at the higher frets it just feels a little more cumbersome to me. I haven’t found myself playing down there a ton though - especially on the bass side where is feels the most odd. Mike

I usually wear size L or XL gloves so it seems like it should work, it just feels strange still playing anywhere around the 12th fret because it’s just neck everywhere. I’ll just keep trying to play down there more to get used to it. I have’t take. n the strings off and gotten a precise measurement, but it looks pretty darn close to an inch deep at the 12th fret.

I’ve seen more positive comments on the 490/498 when it comes to a hard rock/metal focus, than I have seen negative comments about muddies or lack of clarity. Those negative comments that have seen were what has been holding me back because always throw some modern country (basically light rock) into the mix and I wasn’t sure of the 498T would be a negative when it comes to that stuff. But I have a 2017 LP Standard with BB Pro pickups and that does that stuff super-well. Mike

I may try the stock for a while but in comparing the 490 and 498 T’s it seems like the 498 is an alinco 5 with 9 output where the 490 is about an 8.3 output Alinco 2. So basically higher out put. my Les Paul has the BB Pros which are around 7.4 and 8.4 I think as well. This is~1 point difference between the neck and bridge where the 490r/498T has about 1.6 difference. Is that just a hige volume difference? On my LP I don’t think I every use anything other than the bridge pickup. Also am I just looking at differences that don’t matter at all since I have a dsl 40 and control The outputs there anyway? Mike

Just bought a 2019 SG Standard that will ship to me this week. I was thinking about swapping out the 490T pickup (stock is a 490R/490T) for a 498T so that i’d have a 490R/498T setup? I almost pulled the trigger on a used SG GT and it had that setup, and it seems like older SG Standards used that combination as well. Is there a benefit to the 490/490 combination that caused the switch that I don’t know about. if it helps I like to play everything from modern country (Jason aldean, Eric Church, etc.) to Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Motley, etc. I also play through a DSL 40CR. My other electric is a 2017 Les Paul Standard with the BB Pro pickups. Thanks! Mike