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498T Output Resistance Questions

nleavitt

New member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
1
I have three 498T pickups, one from 1997 (original from my 97 LP Standard), One from 2015 and one from 2018. I was measuring their resistance recently and interestingly, the 97 and 18 both were the same at about 13.4 Ohms (the expected value for these), but the 2015 one was lower at 12.8 or so. All seem to work. The 97 sounds hotter to me than the others for some reason. Question is, is a 498T reading at 12.8 within the normal tolerances or does it indicate some possible problem internally? It seems to work and sound OK. Also, Can "identical" pickups, say the 498T as in this case, sound and behave differently from one another due to manufacturing differences, etc (you can get a "good" one or a "bad one") or should they all sound the same if working properly? Since my older one sounds a bit louder (and better) in my opinion, were older ones made better back in the 90's or luck of the draw? Thanks in advance for any input.
 

somebodyelseuk

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
454
I have three 498T pickups, one from 1997 (original from my 97 LP Standard), One from 2015 and one from 2018. I was measuring their resistance recently and interestingly, the 97 and 18 both were the same at about 13.4 Ohms (the expected value for these), but the 2015 one was lower at 12.8 or so. All seem to work. The 97 sounds hotter to me than the others for some reason. Question is, is a 498T reading at 12.8 within the normal tolerances or does it indicate some possible problem internally? It seems to work and sound OK. Also, Can "identical" pickups, say the 498T as in this case, sound and behave differently from one another due to manufacturing differences, etc (you can get a "good" one or a "bad one") or should they all sound the same if working properly? Since my older one sounds a bit louder (and better) in my opinion, were older ones made better back in the 90's or luck of the draw? Thanks in advance for any input.
It's roughly 5% low, so I'd say thats probably within tolerance .
Do supposedly identical pickups....
Oh man,... Search 'PAF'and get a very large coffee.
No such thing as identical pickups... I own two Yamaha SGs from new, made two years apart in the early 80s. The pickups in each measure exactly the same DCR. The magnets don't. Both A5. They sound' different'... Two SD 59s from the same batch in a pair of HSS guitars I had built. Not EXACTLY the same... Less of a difference than the Yamahs, tonally.
People tend to zero in on comparing things and assume the rest is identical.
The woods are always NOT identical, even from the same log. The man-made bits are built to tolerances, so unlikely to be identical.
You're comparing three guitars made from different trees, probably made by different people, almost definitely, with different pots... etc, etc, etc.
Itid be a miracle if two sounded EXACTLY the same... Sounding "exactly the same" is dependant on the state of one's own hearing... and there's no shame in not hearing a difference where someone else does.
 
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