I recently bought a set of Gibson 496R/500T humbuckers, to fit into a Les Paul.
What do I think of them? Read on to find out.
tl;dr
I’ve restored my 2012 Gibson Les Paul Classic Plus back to the type of pickups it came stock with (Gibson 496R/500T humbuckers).
I should have done this years ago. I’ve fallen back in love with this guitar.
What Did You Buy?
I bought a set of Gibson 496R/500T humbuckers.
- “Gibson” is the manufacturer,
- “496R” is a neck humbucker pickup,
- “500T” is a bridge humbucker pickup.
The 496R/500T set are a pair of ceramic humbuckers. Here, “ceramic” means that these pickups use a different material for their magnets.
I bought them direct from Gibson’s website, because no-one else had them in stock. The price was also great. These aren’t highly sought-after pickups, so they’re a lot cheaper than many other options.
They were installed (and the guitar setup) by my local guitar shop, AStrings.co.uk. I also installed a 50’s wiring harness from Monty’s Guitars at the same time.
Why Did You Buy Them?
There’s a bit of a story to this.
My first Gibson Les Paul is a 2012 Les Paul Classic Plus. This was a run of guitars that came with baked maple fretboards (or “baked alaskan” for Rob Chapman fans), because Gibson’s stockpile of rosewood had been seized by the US Government. It’s a lively guitar with a lot of interesting character.
(If they ever read this: a huge thanks to the staff at Andertons back in 2012 when I bought this guitar. I arrived about 30 minutes before closing time, never been to the shop before, and clearly not knowing anything about anything. It would have been very understandable if they’d decided I was a waste of time. Instead, they made me feel very welcome and unhurried, and made sure I was happy with my choice before I left. Back then, that kind of customer service in guitar stores was far from normal.)
It came stock with Gibson 496R/500T pickups. There was nothing wrong with them at all. The guitar had this wonderful growl and snap to it. I’d never owned a guitar that growled before. Little did I know it at the time, but it was that growl that would eventually guide me to my Tweed Deluxe-based tone that I use today.
Then I got into Custom Shop Les Pauls and softer, vintage-voiced PAF-like pickups in a big way.
Like an idiot, I thought that PAF-like pickups would be an upgrade over the stock pickups, so I swapped the original 496R/500T pickups out for a set of OX4 Hot Duanes back in 2015. They’re great pickups. I’ve had a couple of sets of OX4s, and I think they’re fantastic upgrades.
The set of OX4s were a big upgrade to my Les Paul Standard. In my Les Paul Classic Plus, though, PAF-like pickups just didn’t work.
To my ears, there was a hollowness to the sound that I couldn’t get past. I’ve no idea what it actually was, or what the cause was. I spoke to a few people about it, but we settled on the possibility that it’s something to do with the body chambering that Gibson used on this particular model. Just my bad luck that the OX4 Hot Duanes were making it very noticeable.
It was very frustrating for me. This is the one Gibson USA guitar I’ve owned that could hold its own against my Custom Shop Les Pauls. With the pickup swap, I basically lost a guitar that I planned on keeping. Like I said, I was an idiot.
I did put the guitar up for sale at one point, but there was no interest in it. It’s just been sat in its case, undeservedly alone and unloved.
Last year, I bought a Yamaha SG1802. Wonderful guitar. Flawless build quality and an absolute joy to play. It came with ceramic P90 pickups, and I quickly fell in love with the sound. They gave me a character that I can’t get out of other guitars.
And that got me thinking: why not go back to the 496R/500T humbuckers in the Les Paul Classic Plus?
I think the final catalyst (pun firmly intended) was getting the Orange OR15. I had an absolute blast playing the Les Paul Classic Plus through that amp. That guitar into that amp go really well together. It made me realise that I’m not done with this guitar yet.
What Do They Sound Like?
For once, I did remember to record before-and-after clips.
I find that I simply don’t need to boost this guitar any more though:
Final Thoughts
I have my guitar back. I have my guitar back.
That’s the overwhelming feeling for me. This is a guitar that I want to pickup and play again. Everything that made me fall in love with the Les Paul as a guitar type is there.
Only better.
Having a dedicated 50s wiring harness means that the guitar controls now react in exactly the way that my Custom Shop guitars do. There’s a lot of muscle memory there that now translates straight across to this guitar.
Emotionally, this has hit me a little harder than I expected. This isn’t just my first Les Paul. I bought this guitar from money my Dad had saved before he died. It’s pretty much the only physical item I have to remind me of him.
I’m so glad that it’s back.