Gibson: P-94 + 500T

I am clearly not a Les Paul fan but in the 24.75" universe, the Les Paul is impregnable. My Les Paul Studio Premium + sports a default pair of Gibson 490R/ 498T humbuckers. These are favourable pickups if you are into the LP honk but not many of us embrace this tonal signature, it all depends on personal taste.

So swapping them out for me was a natural thing to do but I decided to keep things firmly in the Gibson camp because liking a Gibson when there are non-Gibson components in there is 'cheating'. I had these considerations in mind before choosing the models you see in this pic:

• Neck: Should retain the rounded top end but not loosing definition under heavy distortion. It should also complement the fantastic body resonance when played clean
• Bridge: I'm a distortion fan through & through, the bridge pickup should allow the manifestations of ferocity, a no-holds barred affair

 So the pickups you see here are Gibson's own P-94 & 500T. The P-94 is a single coil in a humbucker dimension (its counterparts include Duncan's Phat Cat & Tesla's Opus 2) while the resident bridge pickup is the uncovered 500T- Gibson's high output monster which I've embraced after my experience with a Les Paul Classic. 

The P-94 is simply wonderful- it sounds menacing when you sweep pick & equally sweet in clean mode + liberal chorus. The 500T could be overwhelming for some of us, there are actually some great selections in the Burstbucker range which are equally effective for distortion but the I feel the 500T is one not to be missed if you are into gobs of distortion. You'd have thought Gibson is all honk & no growl, well the 500T is definitely up to it.