Sounding out: Gibson pickups

So I recently re-installed the 490R/ 496T into my SG Standard. I disliked them to begin with. They were replaced almost immediately after I bought the guitar. I had good results (tone-wise) with the Firebird's mini humbuckers recently & those were off my radar. I had no experience with them prior to the purchase. It was a hit/ miss. It was a miss at the store but after a good set up at home coupled with my choice of amp/ pedals, it was an unmistakable hit.

One of the reasons my Gibson tones sound likeable lately (with Gibson pickups) - my amp. It occured to me that the 490R/ 496T were never plugged into my current lineup of amps; the Blackstar/ EVH/ PRS. This led to the re-installation of those pickups into the SG Standard & they turned out to be splendid.

While at it, I managed to revisit the Burstbucker Pros which are in my LP Standard. These are definitely likeable pickups. In fact, I rank them above the 57s which are supposedly some of the more outstanding performers in the Gibson catalog. I hear lots of vintage vibes from the BBs but they aren't restrained by any attempts to make them historically familiar in terms of voicings. They are simply good-soinding pickups, nothing high output though. OK so this basically provided some reconciliations between having a preferred amp & letting the not so preferred pickups do their thing resting in the knowledge that a good amp will make almost any pickups sound good. Almost because those faulty one don't count. 😅

Current Standards

We end February on a reassuring note. In the spirit of keeping things objective, Gibson had streamlined the Les Paul Standard to a few sensible models WEF 2019. The one you see here is the LP Standard 50s.

This one is the LP Standard 60s. These two anchor models are definitely worthy of the manufacturer's recent resurgence, thanks largely to the new CEO pulling the brand name out- surely but slowly- of a bleak quagmire. With the above iterations of the LP Standard, the LP Traditional would be phased out & that's a very objective move. The rationale- the LP Traditional is what a historic Standard should be, a true reflection of tradition & in the current scheme of things, is an overlapping model. With that, the 2019 LP Standards are now devoid of the weight relief body & would manifest the true feel of a Standard. 

In the mean time, these models have yet to be cataloged in the Gibson records & the 2019 line up at the official web page are the final iteration of the 2018 models. This is happening because Gibson, under the former CEO, had announced the 2019 models a little too early (back in August 2018) & had to honour the distribution of those models. Similarly, the later models are not available at the stores here just as yet. We are anticipating an official release in spring/ summer. 

I'm definitely holding back till these make their way here. I've been wanting a deserving LP for the longest time & had been distracted along the way.