The SG Special appreciation thread
- Thread starter Sérgio
- Start date
B
Biddlin
Guest
I used my brown Special with a JCM-900 and two cabs last summer in an outdoor venue with no squealing pigs at all. Thin sound is also a condition I have not experienced with them. I don't know Steve Stewart, but I can't find a single reference to any unpotted 490s in any Gibson reference material. It is hard to imagine a reason to use unpotted pickups. (No, the wax potting does not affect the tone.)
The "Traditional" series guitars do not have a wax potted pickup according to Gibson, because clients expect a truly "Traditional" build.
My 2016 T-Series is a really nice playing guitar, but the pickups have to go....
I was playing a small stage with an amphitheater style dome, with two Marshall's at very near full volume. The squeal was so bad I had to switch to my Schecter for the gig...
Goldmember
Ambassador of Golden Yoo-Hoos
My piggies only squeal when I call them.
Macho men never use wax! (Just kiddin with you, Mr. Herndon)
shreddy bender
Well-Known Member
I used to play my 490 loaded Faded through a 68 Bassman and the ProCo Rat. No squeal, no thin sound. Stock 2003 2 conducter potted 490's.
We mainly played a very small room at stage levels (what other level do you play a non-master volume amp at?).
The owner asked me to turn down once and I told him we were pushing the audience towards the bar with sound pressure so it was easier for them to buy drinks!
He never asked me to turn down after that!
We mainly played a very small room at stage levels (what other level do you play a non-master volume amp at?).
The owner asked me to turn down once and I told him we were pushing the audience towards the bar with sound pressure so it was easier for them to buy drinks!
He never asked me to turn down after that!
Robert,
Unpotted coils have a very dynamic and touch-sensitive feel with a brighter edge which is well-suited to low gain playing, while potted coils have better feedback rejection and are much more practical for any playing style where high amounts of preamp gain and loud volume are used. We do make pickups with unpotted coils, and the T-series guitars receive the 'traditional style' unpotted versions, although we lacquer the magnet and use paper tape inside the cover to help reduce squealing, just as in the early humbuckers. Some players will absolutely insist on unpotted pickups as they feel they are an important element of the vintages tones associated with early Gibsons.
Thanks for you inquiry
Nicolas Chemsak
Gibson USA
Unpotted coils have a very dynamic and touch-sensitive feel with a brighter edge which is well-suited to low gain playing, while potted coils have better feedback rejection and are much more practical for any playing style where high amounts of preamp gain and loud volume are used. We do make pickups with unpotted coils, and the T-series guitars receive the 'traditional style' unpotted versions, although we lacquer the magnet and use paper tape inside the cover to help reduce squealing, just as in the early humbuckers. Some players will absolutely insist on unpotted pickups as they feel they are an important element of the vintages tones associated with early Gibsons.
Thanks for you inquiry
Nicolas Chemsak
Gibson USA
My piggies only squeal when I call them.
You are very fortunate!
Imagine having to rework a brand new Gibson before you can gig with it....
For those with 490's, try this...with guitar plugged in and volume around 2 or 3 and gain about 1/2 way, put your fingers around the ends of each coil, as if you are trying to lift it out of the guitar and tell me what happens...
On my 2016 Gibson SG T Series, it will buzz like mad if you touch the bobbins....
In direct contrast, my 1987 Stratocaster has a super-hot 13.9k GFS humbucker in the bridge and it makes no noise, no bizz, no squeal, nothing....
Naturally, with my EMG equipped Schecter, you can stand in front of the amp. with the guitar around your neck and the amp cranked and it doesn't make a peep....
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I picked up a matching pair of GFS Classic II's wound to original PAF specs and double wax potted....just have to get them installed.
Don't be discouraged with your recent purchase...I'm just pissed off at my SG...
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
yes, my 490s were also wax potted on the 2007 SG special faded. Those are now on an Epi Les Paul special ll.
That's why I was puzzled by Robert's post. But I never play loud enough to cause microphonics, even outside
at a festival. So there's stage volume, and there's stage volume... *grins
It seems like it's all a question of degree. And Robert, this might be a whole 'nother thread:
"What p'ups to use for really loud band volume, when you have to stand in front of an insane drummer
and a knuckle dragging bass player. When you need to distort your monitor..."
Dirty Fingers, maybe? I know nothing about the GFS ones you mention.
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
Nothin' like getting a sweet deal on a '61... that makes it even more sweet. *grins
And I got my 490s dialed in by lowering the neck p'up so it was down inside the body just a little. I thought it sounded
good down there. I kept the bridge pickup about 4mm from the strings, like Black was describing. And I played a lot in
the middle position, with the neck p'up on 8 and the bridge p'up on 11. Step on the Blues Driver to boost it.
But I'm a fan of the '57s and I believe that's what comes in your '61, so you'll have to tell us all about that
when you get your new guitar.
Colonel....
Indulge me if you will....
With your SG plugged in and volume around 2-3 and gain at 1/2, pinch your bridge pickup, as if you are trying to pull the 490 out of the pickguard and tell me if it starts buzzing wildly like a shorted-out electrical component....
B
Biddlin
Guest
Just tried it with my cherry Special and nada. Why would you ask? (and why on earth would one do that?)
Col Mustard
Ambassador of Perseverance
I've never had that happen... but I've never grabbed a pickup like that either. I'd be afraid I'd break the insulation
on that thin thin winding wire. I've installed covers on my humbucking p'ups and swapped the uncovered 490s
into my step daughter's Epi Les Paul. They sounded fine to me in that guitar, although the 490T still sounds a bit weaker
than the neck pup. I replaced the magnet in the 490T, installing an A5 and got a little more sizzle. But I really prefer
the '57 Classic plus.
Anyway, I sympathize with your frustration. I never seem to have much trouble at home, only when the lights come on
and everyone's looking at me. It's a bitch when a new guitar lets you down. I did some reading about wax potting vs
'unwaxed," and it seems true that some players believe the unwaxed pickups sound better. Some traditionalists would buy
a guitar with unwaxed pickups over a waxed one, so apparently Gibson thought they were doing you a favor.
I discovered this while pulling the protective clear tape off my 490's while it was plugged in and the guitar went berserk. It does so everytime.
Keep in mind, the finger position would be the same if you were lifting the pickup out of the guitar, BUT you are not exerting any force. Just touching the bobbin causes this violent, electrical short-circuit 'buzz' to constantly emit from the instrument....
Gibson wrote back to me and offered to install a new set of pickups under warranty...
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Colonel,
Let me clarify this procedure...you don't have to exert any force, just touch both ends of the bobbin....
Maybe I should shoot some video????
I have met Joe Bonamassa's guitar tech a time or two. He said that Joe insists on the old vintage guitars and the only way they can control the squeal is by placing a plexiglass wall between Joe and his amps...
B
Biddlin
Guest
Get the free install on a new set and get back to us. You seem to have serious shorting-out going on.
It would seem so....I agree with you.
We have a local Gibson warranty center closeby...
OP
Sérgio
Ambassador of CaliZilian Affairs
Exactly, this edition cones with the '57s.
I'll do the full review as soon as it gets home