The Chetboard

I followed this correspondence with interest, as I'm considering getting Vintage Vibe to build me a replica 492 pup to put in another guitar. The actual 492 in my Gibson CG measures 5.29K ohms and the 490- 7.61K ohms.
I notice the magnets are alnico lls and the pup resistance is around 5K, are there any other major factors in getting close to the 492 response and sound?

Peter Clifton

I had my pickup's measured twice again yesterday and the "490T" measured 13.5 and the "492R" came in at 7.7. The tech advised they were wired parallel. In the mid-position, they measured 4.9. We again tested them on a Roland 30X and noticed that the neck pup was considerably louder than the bridge, even though the rating was almost 50% lower. The tech said he thinks I have two Gibson pup's but probably not 490T/492R's. His take was that as long as I like the sound, just drop the matter.

I next sent a message to the seller asking him about the authenticity of the "490T/492R's" that I bought. His response was that he bought the guitar used and his seller told him he was the original owner. He told my seller that it was bought new in '96 and was stock with no modifications. My seller contacted a "Gibson Boutique" in Puerto Rico and was told that there were inconsistencies like this in the '90's CG/TN. When my seller's tech took out the Chet pups, he said the guitar appeared to have been untouched. It is my seller' belief that these are the stock pup's that came on the guitar (go figure).

At this point, I do not know how to prove to PayPal that these are not the product listed so I guess I will just keep these and consider it a $120.00 lesson learned in internet buying. Thanks for all your input. Billy

Billy Anderson wrote:I had my pickup's measured twice again yesterday and the "490T" measured 13.5 and the "492R" came in at 7.7. The tech advised they were wired parallel. In the mid-position, they measured 4.9. We again tested them on a Roland 30X and noticed that the neck pup was considerably louder than the bridge, even though the rating was almost 50% lower. The tech said he thinks I have two Gibson pup's but probably not 490T/492R's. His take was that as long as I like the sound, just drop the matter.

I next sent a message to the seller asking him about the authenticity of the "490T/492R's" that I bought. His response was that he bought the guitar used and his seller told him he was the original owner. He told my seller that it was bought new in '96 and was stock with no modifications. My seller contacted a "Gibson Boutique" in Puerto Rico and was told that there were inconsistencies like this in the '90's CG/TN. When my seller's tech took out the Chet pups, he said the guitar appeared to have been untouched. It is my seller' belief that these are the stock pup's that came on the guitar (go figure).

At this point, I do not know how to prove to PayPal that these are not the product listed so I guess I will just keep these and consider it a $120.00 lesson learned in internet buying. Thanks for all your input. Billy

Install the HI-Z Pick-up at the bridge, and they should be balanced . . .

Thanks, Mike. I will try to get that done next week. I should have known to do something like that when the seller had the pickups wrapped with Neck and Bridge written on them. The tech just could not believe a neck pup could measure 13-14K so he decided it would be best to change them, especially since the wiring for the one marked bridge had long wiring and the one marked neck had short wiring. He just thought the seller had made a mistake. I will give this a try. Thanks again. Billy

Peter Clifton wrote:I followed this correspondence with interest, as I'm considering getting Vintage Vibe to build me a replica 492 pup to put in another guitar. The actual 492 in my Gibson CG measures 5.29K ohms and the 490- 7.61K ohms.
I notice the magnets are alnico lls and the pup resistance is around 5K, are there any other major factors in getting close to the 492 response and sound?

Peter Clifton

Peter,thanx for the info as specs do not exist online for the 492 pup.That's close to what mine are also.The secret is less wire in 492 wind.Gives the pup a "much" clearer tone but with less volume(balances out due to maximum vibration of string over neck pup).The alnico II's don't matter as I have ceramic mag pups that sound as warm as alnico.In fact the ceramic might be better for neck pup as it's brighter sounding.Try different materials and hear for yourself.Again, thank you. The best Ty M.

Ty,
Thanks for your additional comments and thoughts. I'll post results on here if I go ahead with the pup build, at the moment I've got a Vintage Vibe Charlie Christian (humbucker sized) on the jazzer guitar which sounds quite nice with alnico lls, but I like to try different things out.

Peter

Peter Clifton wrote:Ty,
Thanks for your additional comments and thoughts. I'll post results on here if I go ahead with the pup build, at the moment I've got a Vintage Vibe Charlie Christian (humbucker sized) on the jazzer guitar which sounds quite nice with alnico lls, but I like to try different things out.

Peter

Peter,what I might try is to remove some wire from a '57 classic or SD '59 and stop at about 5K.I played with a fellow in New York state who had a 175 with the Charlie C. pup.He loved it and a lot of folks think that pup and the P90 are still the best for uncolored tone. The Best Ty M.

In case anyone is interested, I sent a message to Gibson over the weekend asking what the ohms were for the CG/TN pups. I received a reply today that the average for the 490T is 8.5 and the 492R is 5.7. Sure looks like I got shafted. Let this be a lesson, children. That which glitters just may be fool's gold so beware of anything that seems too good to be true.

Billy Anderson wrote:In case anyone is interested, I sent a message to Gibson over the weekend asking what the ohms were for the CG/TN pups. I received a reply today that the average for the 490T is 8.5 and the 492R is 5.7. Sure looks like I got shafted. Let this be a lesson, children. That which glitters just may be fool's gold so beware of anything that seems too good to be true.

Billy,really feel bad for you.It's happened to me on E-Bay also:Gibson CE not as advertised plus,seller sent certificate that the guitar was owned by Merle Haggard.Funny(to him but not to me)!My Gibson Tennessean needed frets but was described as frets good..A lot of the sellers are savvy and sly,a dangerous combination.Caveat Emptor on E-Bay.Tell you what to do if your tech can do it.Remove some of the wire on the pup(both bobbins)get one down to 5K plus and you'll be good to go. The Best, Ty M.

Thanks, Ty. I will see what Scott can do about removing some of the wire. It's worth a shot. Sorry about your bad experience also. Sounds like your Caveat is about as Emptor as mine is. Tale care. Billy