Another new SG....

[FIREpunkMEDIC]

Man...y'all are awesome! This is a much better experience than some other guitar forums.

 

[MR D]

Agreed, the 490, 498 and 500 are the same price and the 496 is less than those three. Marketing is names like Burstbucker, Dirty Fingers, 57 Classic…

DD,I appreciate the fact that a lot of players like the 490 series pickups, its just that the 490 R/T are GIBSON's cheapest Pickup's, $50 less than a '57 Classic..for GIBSON to be putting their cheapest Pickup's on STANDARDS (NTM raising their prices too!) is a cheapskate move, just like the Hag-Bag Soft-Shell case coming w/Standard Model axes....FFS, GIBSON has some nerve doing this, IMO anyway.
From 2012 to 2020, after finally being able to afford an LP CUSTOM, I avoided the Les Paul CUSTOM because it had 490's in it (and a Richlite Board) and **** all that, I ain't paying CUSTOM shop prices to get GIBSON's cheapest Pickup's and a Richlite fret-Board, NO WAY !!!!...it was a long wait but I finally got the CUSTOM-BUCKERS (and DC Diamond MOP HS In-Lays) that should be on a CUSTOM , along w/Ebony Fret-Board...for just under $4K.

 

[everdying]

I'm confused...why the hate on the 490 now? yes it may now be a 490R / 490T combo...
but the Standard has had a 490R from around 1991 til 2012... tho then of cos matched with a 498T...

 

[skelt101]

I'm confused...why the hate on the 490 now? yes it may now be a 490R / 490T combo...
but the Standard has had a 490R from around 1991 til 2012... tho then of cos matched with a 498T...

I’m confused too. All Gibson pickups are made with similar quality materials. They just sound different from one another. The real hate should be regarding the price difference for the premium-named pickups.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

I'm a fan of SG specials... so my opinion in this might be very different
from the majority. I didn't vote for any of the guitars in your poll.
Since you've already got the SGs you describe,
my vote would be for an SG Classic with P-90s. This would add a lot
to the tones you have for your music. You'd have to search for a good
second hand one...

IMHO, the extra money you pay for an SG Standard is the cost of the decorations.
That's one of the reasons I'm a fan of the SG special. I don't care about the decorations
such as binding and inlays and the Gibson Deep Gloss... So I don't want to pay for them.
I want a Gibson, and I love my SG specials. I have two of them.
View attachment 46579
The Silverburst has a "satin finish" and the other one has Gibson's "faded brown" finish.
Both of these are thinner and softer than what's on Gibson's more expensive models.
The Silverburst has a maple neck, and it's more rigid and less fragile than mahogany, which
the faded special has. So the maple neck is more practical, renders awesome tone, and stays in tune better IMHO. The mahogany neck is traditional, it renders awesome tone
and works fine like so many other guitar necks do. I love both of these SGs, and I don't
need a fancy one. I got both of these for about the same money you'd pay for ONE
SG with all the bling.

It costs Gibson a lot of factory time to have their employees carve the inlays, and install the
binding, and it takes many coats of lacquer and lots of polishing to develop the awesome Gibson Deep Gloss. That's what the extra $500 is for. And those are lovely, that's for
sure. If a guy can afford it, he should have it. But few people in an audience would ever
perceive the difference. Higher priced Gibsons usually have hotter pickups, so there
is that.

If you're picky about neck shapes, you have to play it before you buy it.
That's how you know. Me, I'm a guitar slut... I love 'em all. I own eight guitars and
basses, and I play them all without giving a thought to the neck shapes, which are
all different. *shrugs

But lots of people think neck shapes are really important. Play it before you buy it,
and then you're more sure to get what you want.

Gibson Maple necks are great IMHO...
View attachment 46580

Col. I was surprised when you said your Silverburst has a Satin finish. For some reason I always invisioned that guitar with a high gloss finish. Either way, you have to love a good silverburst. As usual, you were ahead of the game. To me, Silverburst was always a unique color option that everyone admired, but not a lot of people purchased. Skip ahead to 2021 and it seems to be a premier color like pelham blue.

In as few words as I can put this. Pcake, Normally Silverburst was Shiny. Once Faded and Satin type finishes became something people would actually buy from Gibson ( along with LP's called BFG's or as was named Barely Finished Guitars) Gib could get away with selling essentially non finished product and cut build times and labor costs. So, the likes of Faded SG's and NON Shiny Tribute SG's were the result.

Guitars that are players and not fashion models. So, both he and I fell for our Faded Walnut SG's and in his case, he added the Mini Hum Trib.

I always liked the Silver Burst LP Customs, and the Pelham Blue SG's

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Everdying, there are a lot of factors where it comes to Pickups like 490's, hence many players mod their guitars and we have 1000's of threads on why such and such is way better than stock Gib, Jackson, LTD ESP, pups etc.

As I felt was very well said about 490's in another forum, many people don't give their 490's a chance and don't know how to adjust heights of the pups to one another or even the pole pieces within each pup and really make them shine.

 

[pancake81]

In as few words as I can put this. Pcake, Normally Silverburst was Shiny. Once Faded and Satin type finishes became something people would actually buy from Gibson ( along with LP's called BFG's or as was named Barely Finished Guitars) Gib could get away with selling essentially non finished product and cut build times and labor costs. So, the likes of Faded SG's and NON Shiny Tribute SG's were the result.

Guitars that are players and not fashion models. So, both he and I fell for our Faded Walnut SG's and in his case, he added the Mini Hum Trib.

I always liked the Silver Burst LP Customs, and the Pelham Blue SG's

Thanks for hte info ChilliPepper. I had never heard the term BFG before, pretty cool. Always something to learn on this board

 

[cerebral gasket]

Neck profiles are all over the place.
1st and 12th fret thickness is only part of it. Two necks can have the same thickness, but different shoulders make them feel completely different.

 

[Decadent Dan]

DD,I appreciate the fact that a lot of players like the 490 series pickups, its just that the 490 R/T are GIBSON's cheapest Pickup's, $50 less than a '57 Classic...

I guess Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio suck too because they cost less?

 

[skelt101]

I guess Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio suck too because they cost less?

 

[MR D]

I guess Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio suck too because they cost less?

You guess? Really DD ? LMAO ! IDK really, but OH MY BAD ! GIBSON prices their cheapest Humbucker Pickup's (490's=$125) because they are GIBSON's best pickup's, yeah, uh-huh.

 

[Decadent Dan]

Those Custombuckers might be 490’s with no wax.

 

[laza616]

Whats wrong with the 490s pickups all of a sudden?
I have a 490+498 combo in my 2009 SG standard and i am satisfied with the sound. This guitar has his home in my place since 6/2020, so its a year and a half and i never even had a thought that the pups are weak, cheap or bad. I only have positive experience.
But what is a cheapskate move by Gibson is that they stopped selling Standard SG with the hardcase and switched to this softshell plastic condom of the guitar. Its very unfortunate and i think they somehow mocked the SG standard, in a sense that they degradated this model....
Standard should come with the hardcase. Period

 

[FIREpunkMEDIC]

Whats wrong with the 490s pickups all of a sudden?
I have a 490+498 combo in my 2009 SG standard and i am satisfied with the sound. This guitar has his home in my place since 6/2020, so its a year and a half and i never even had a thought that the pups are weak, cheap or bad. I only have positive experience.
But what is a cheapskate move by Gibson is that they stopped selling Standard SG with the hardcase and switched to this softshell plastic condom of the guitar. Its very unfortunate and i think they somehow mocked the SG standard, in a sense that they degradated this model....
Standard should be with the hardcasd. Period

Completely agree, I have no hate for the 490s. They do what I ask of them. Are there better out there, of course there are but I don't necessarily see the 490s as inferior. Horses for courses there. However, I can't emphasize enough the lack of Hardshell Case on the Standard...bad look Gibson.

 

[MR D]

I'm confused...why the hate on the 490 now? yes it may now be a 490R / 490T combo...
but the Standard has had a 490R from around 1991 til 2012... tho then of cos matched with a 498T...

Bro, I do not see anywhere in this thread where someone stated they HATE 490 pickups. I could have missed it though ! However, I did state that it is a "Cheapskate move by GIBSON to put their cheapest humbucker pickup in a Standard model" (and the 490's are the cheapest, see GIBSON dot com or any retailer prices), and I do mean that in the same way that it is a Cheap-A$$ move by GIBSON to have a STANDARD come with a Hag-Bag Soft-Shell Case. To me, It is a complete CHEAP-A$$ move on GIBSON's part....and that is only my opinion. I could go on about other cheapskate GIBSON moves like skimping on Neck Joint glue, Foreign Tuning Machines sucking out loud etc etc but not now....... and anyway, Some people dont mind, and even like, the ridiculous ASS HAG-BAGS, NTM 490 p-up's too.
But as far as 490's go, they are good quality pickup's and I've never seen one fail.... BUT But But, for my new Gibson Standard guitar $$$'s, any other Gibson Humbucking Pickup is preferred. So much so that, oops, not repeating myself....

 

[FIREpunkMEDIC]

Fellas, fellas...
No need to get into an argument over it. I think whether or not you like the pickups is a different argument than their quality, no? My post was to engage in conversation not to spark an argument. I think we can ALL agree on the case issue though, am I right?
Cheers!

 

[skelt101]

Completely agree on the case. The SG Standard should come with a hard case, full stop. The only explanation I can come up with is Gibson includes the bag to reach a certain price point. What I don't understand is how the Special (which probably costs close to the same to manufacture) does include a hard case, yet is priced $100 less than the Standard. Oh well... If the Standard did include a hard case, there'd probably be someone complaining that it is made in Canada/Costa Rica/China and not the USA!

 

[Huntroll]

All Gibson SG standards come in a hardshell case from the factory.
SGJ's come in the zipper cases and cardboard box.
Any variance from that tradition would indicate a bogus "dealer".
If the dealer resells the guitar in a lesser case to do something else with its original case, its not what Gibson intended on happening.
Its pretty obvious.

 

[Decadent Dan]

All Gibson SG standards come in a hardshell case from the factory.
SGJ's come in the zipper cases and cardboard box.
Any variance from that tradition would indicate a bogus "dealer".
If the dealer resells the guitar in a lesser case to do something else with its original case, its not what Gibson intended on happening.
Its pretty obvious.

Gibson has been shipping SG Standards in soft cases since at least late 2019. They still do. Look it up. Gibson.com

 

[Huntroll]

That's pretty sad, thanks for the update, Dan.