Selling: Pickups

Have these spare pickups to clear, have been lying around for a while with the intended use for them either changed or abandoned entirely. 

• Gibson 500T ($130). Zebra finish, it's a T so it's a bridge model. High output with clarity, unlike the rest of the Gibson 'buckers which might sound wimpy when it come to high gain stuff. Condition: 8.5/10
• Seymour Duncan '59 ($99). Nickel cover, single conductor, for neck position. Totally unused, protective plastic film still in tact, full wore length. For vintage outings & some immaculate cleans. Condition: 10/10
• Seymour Duncan Phat Cat ($70). This is a single coil, P90-esque pickup but in a standard humbucker housing. Single conductor, neck position. Condition: 8/10
• Seymour Duncan P-Rails ($70) SOLD. Also for the neck position, 4-conductor. Condition: 8/10

• Self-collect @ CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No reservations / trades
• Query / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Prices are final - thank you for your understanding

Sounding out (5)

Gibson purists won't have time for this kinda LP. This is the BFG, a stripped down model, totally devoid of gloss & any attempts to make the instrument look attractive. There are no fretboard markers & the models were finished in colours with no relevance to heritage/ nostalgia.

Compared to the original version seen above, mine had the Grover tuners replaced with a set of lighter, Kluson type Gotohs because the former were heavy & caused a neck dive in sitting position. The bridge pickup was swapped out, kill switch removed & the wooden knobs done away with in favour of a plastic set. This is the Gibson in my collection with countless mods done to it to serve my needs/ quirks.

The latest humbucker to make its way into the BFG is Gibson's 500T. It's one of my preferred pickup by the manufacturer with loads of clarity under high gain settings. The neck P-90 had been a mainstay since day one simply because I like a fat single coil tone in the neck of Les Pauls. 

The thing with gloss free finishes is that it does not offer any protection to any surface applications. I'm literally wiping away those labels every time I give the headstock a wipe down during re-string. 

Is this a sheer waste of money? That's a firm NO. I bought this one because it reminds me of why I find glossed out necks detestable. It also offers a different insight on Les Pauls; how a lighter, no-frills version of it would serve those among us who thrive on bite rather than those semi-useless, treble truncated vintage sounding humbuckers. 

Sounding out (3)

Another day of de-moulding, out in the sun.

The resident of that hard case is this Gibson LP Studio here - the limited edition Premium Plus. That's right folks, despite the elaborated top that could easily rival an LP Standard, it's just a humble Studio model. This is the only Gibson I own sporting gold hardware & it's an absolute turn off in terms of maintenance. The gold overcoat will fade off from the get go & it's no use trying to exercise diligence  so that things won't deteriorate.

Two changes here, the first is that truss rod cover. Screws were corroded & in an attempt to remove one of them - which resisted quite a bit - the cover cracked at the bottom edge. I bought a blank replacement, the original casualty was put away.

There's now a zebra version of the 500T bridge humbucker in there. This one will remain to be my firm favourite from the Gibson range; higher output, crispy clear treble & menacing midrange. Whatever bass offering Gibson had concocted here, it's acceptable by my standards.

New look La Bella strings for this guitar. 

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.

Eillek 500

I was at Eillekoet today to get the above Gibson pickup. The 500T is one furious Gibson pickup & I like it for its clarity; it actually made me like a Gibson guitar (at least for the tone...)! . I've heard it in use many times in Gibson's Les Paul Classic so I know what to expect.