Gibson pickups... why?

[JCantrell]

I'm amazed everytime I swap out the stock pickups in a Gibson how much better the guitar sounds afterwards. Just swapped out the stock BB Pros in my 04 LP Standard for a set of SD 59's I had laying around, what a huge upgrade. It sounds so much bigger now, none of the shrillness etc. So much better when I swapped the 57 classics in my '13 SG Standard for another set of 59s. I had a '12 SG Standard that was a nice guitar but the 498T bridge was horrendous. Same deal with a 500T that gets blown away by a Custom or Distortion. The only set of stock Gibson pickups I've liked are the 490T/490Rs in my SG special.

I don't know how newer pickups like Custombuckers fare but I can't imagine it's much better compared to aftermarket offerings. Would it really cost Gibson that much more money to put make better pickups to put in their guitars?

 

[Frankster]

I personally think the current Alnico III Custombuckers are Great (with a capital G). They're dynamic, open, and let the tone of the guitar through.

I have less experience with Gibson's other offerings. I do have a set of Classic 57's (20 years old), the original pickups of my R8 that I bought second hand. I've never tried them.

The 'problem' is probably making a limited set of pickups to suit certain applications. Those pickups then suit some of the guitars better than the others.

 

[budg]

That is certainly one opinion.

 

[Upper Mids]

I've got no idea what you're talking about.

I've got Gibsons with Dirty Fingers (normal & plus), 500'/496s, 498/490s and Burstbuckers and they're all great. I've played my share of Distortions, Super Distortions, Invaders, Air Nortons and whatnot and while I think they're all great in their own way, I don't think they're superior to Gibson stock PUs.

 

[Jrossignol24]

Pretty classically built and specd pickups. Not really much to improve. Just clearly not the sound you want. 500t is different. Limited applications.

 

[NSDQRKR]

Really hard to say Gibson needs to make better pickups as this a very subjective topic...what sounds great to one sounds not so great to another. I love the sound of SD JB & Jazz as a combo but quite sure not everyone here does though. But thankfully we have a ton of options these days.

I do agree with you on 490s though...very classic Gibson sound.

 

[DrewH]

I love the burstbucker 2 and 3 combo. Gibson makes generally very decent pickups. PRS is the company that still can't get their pickups right.

 

[jens5]

57's are great imo.

 

[Gclef]

They are different, not worse.

You really need to try gibson pickups in non gibson guitars. They'll surprise you, I think.

 

[E2942]

I've had exactly 1 good experience with Gibson's pickups, a Tony Iommi SG.
Fender & Gibson both generally don't know how to make good pickups, or if they do they are just giving us the crap most of the time & only putting the good stuff in their most expensive models.

 

[JCantrell]

I've had exactly 1 good experience with Gibson's pickups, a Tony Iommi SG.
Fender & Gibson both generally don't know how to make good pickups, or if they do they are just giving us the crap most of the time & only putting the good stuff in their most expensive models.

I've had a better experience generally with Fender pickups than Gibson. Love the 57/62s and CS69s

 

[tonegangster]

I personally think the current Alnico III Custombuckers are Great (with a capital G).

100%

 

[Beyer260]

I have five models of Gibson guitars- Firebird T, SG Standard, SG Classic, LP Studio, and LP Special (P90s). Only the two with P90s have their stock pickups, and that won't be changing. Gibson P90s are solid pickups. I'm not a fan of the 490/498s, and the Firebird pickups were a total joke.

 

[jenksdrummer]

I find the opposite to be true; I always end up using Gibson pickups where Gibson pickups were deployed; or in the case of my Epiphone guitars, I cycled through a few alts and ended with Gibson.

 

[spencer096]

I’ve had the exact opposite experience.

Suppose it’s different if you play stuff w dirt caked on tho. I dunno…kinda feel pickup swaps are a waste of time and money to begin w.

 

[244300]

Coffee is good!

 

[The_Cheap_Guitarist]

This is like reading people discuss which flavor of ice cream is the "best", or better than the other flavors. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

 

[Coach T.]

Whatev...
Some of their pickups are okay.
Some are outstanding.
Some can’t be beat (P90s).

 

[Sweetfinger]

OP, did you also swap out the pots with those pickup changes?

 

[Daniel C]

Don't agree. First, there's no better p90 than a Gibson p90. '57 Classics and Custombuckers are also great pickups. I can get along fine with Dirty Fingers in the right guitar. And their new CS Firebird pickups are perfect. I agree with you about the BBs, but in general there's not much to gain with going boutique.