Gibson question

I was browsing one of the area CLs and noticed this ad for a '60 reissue LP.
https://columbus.craigslist.org/msg/5368928051.html
In the ad he states that the pups are "upgraded to Gibson Alnico 490r/t".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the 490s pretty much Gibson's base pup that people usually upgrade FROM?


(Not really interested in the guitar, just curious.)

If I remember right (never been an LP guy) the '90s era LP Classics came stock with ceramic magnet pickups while the Standards had the alnicos. Seemed to be a big deal amongst LP buyers of the time.

-Dave-

Quantum Strummer said:

If I remember right (never been an LP guy) the '90s era LP Classics came stock with ceramic magnet pickups while the Standards had the alnicos. Seemed to be a big deal amongst LP buyers of the time.

-Dave-

Click to expand...

I thought the 490/498s were the ceramic pickups?

I don't know if the 490R/T would be labeled base PUs. They're ceramic and do have a harsher, hotter, and more brash tone. When the LP Studios came out in the 80s and 90s, that was kind of a more desirable sound for the music of the time. The 498T is an alnico V bridge bridge PU that was paired with the 490R in some LP Studios. It's supposed to be a hotter version of the 490R, but with alnico V magnets.

I have an LP Studio Lite that came with super hot ceramic PUs -- a 496R in the neck and a 500T in the bridge -- which are as loud and nasty as they come, the hottest PU pairing that Gibson offer, I think. They're great for really loud styles of music but not so versatile. I swapped them out for an old Seymour Duncan '59 in the bridge and a lower output alnico II in the bridge. It's so much more usable now.

IIRC, those early 2000s LP Classic reissues played really nicely and felt great, but as Quantum Strummer said, people didn't like the PU pairing -- a 490R/498T. Most of all, however, the inlays had a strange color to them that has since become widely labeled "snot green." :hopelessness: