Did Gibson Change 498T Pickup Output?

Hello All,

I have two guitars that have these pickups in them and they both read about 13 ohms (a les paul standard and custom from the early 90's).

I was thinking about switching the Seymour Duncan JB in my R7 to a 498T also. I was reading about the newer 498T's and it sound like their output in lower than it used to be? Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks in advance

Joey

i have a 2009 498t that measures 14.6ko. Yep. 14.6 ko.


i also have the SD JB which I have always liked for crunch and tone.

I did not like the 490/498 set but they came with my LP Studio which has 300k0 pots.
I think the 490/498 set is suited to 500ko pots not 300ko. 500ko pots add a little treble to the 490/498 set.

The JB nor the 498 are not paf style pups. PAF style pups all measure around 7.8ko to 8.2 on average.

I don't see anything wrong with switching pups in order to learn how pots and windings affect output. However I am suspicious that you may be seeking a 50's PAF vintage tone and you don't have that in either pickup.

Hi thanks for your reply.

I actually don't like most PAF's - they sound to scratchy to me. Im looking for a heavier overdriven sound, more towards a punk kind of sound.

I saw some info on new 498T's and they said the output was 9. I don't know if that's ohms or not, but one reviewer said his new 498T's were not hot enough. The gibson info says the 500t's and dirty fingers are the hottest, with the 498T's only being a little more than half way up the scale. I would think at 13+ ohm would rate it higher than what they are saying, so I was wondering if the new 498T's had less output for some reason.

498s use alnico magnets. Maybe you need the ceramic magnet. 500t and dirty fingers may have ceramic mags.
There are rail pickups and 7 string guitars too. LOL. You may need a bank loan.

To answer your origonal question I don't think Gibson changed the 498t. If they did they would have renamed it to avoid confusing customers.

I have three Zebra 498Ts from the early nineties. The DC resistance measures 12.5K Ohms on each. I used to own a 2001 LP Standard with a 498T that also measured 12.5K Ohms. I recently purchased a new 2017 LP Custom with a 498T in the bridge. It measures 9K Ohms. So, Gibson definitely changes their specifications. I would expect they do so as tastes in popular music change.

I also suspect Dimarzio Super D specs have changed over the years for the same reasons.