How are 57 Classic Pickups in an SG?

[Geo]

I haven't met a Gibson pickup I didn't like. All useful in their own way.

But I would say that if you don't have a good pot that rolls down well, that could hamper the pickups potential.

 

[VonBonfire]

490T are my favorite Gibson pickup in an SG

As long as the OPs amps haves knobs on them, the 57s will be just fine though.

I had a es333 with the 490r. It's a good neck pickup. With the 490t it's the BB King set. I found the neck close to 57's but maybe with a touch more punch and a little thicker air. It came with a 498t in the bridge though which also had great bite through a plexi and greenbacks but was too smoldering for my uses. It was tempting to keep it, I thought it was pretty good sounding.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

I'm a fan of the 498T. The 490T sounds good in SG's as well.

490T are my favorite Gibson pickup in an SG

As long as the OPs amps haves knobs on them, the 57s will be just fine though.

Another vote for the 490T. Very underrated pickup. I almost always swap pickups but I had an SG with a 490T in the bridge and never removed it.
It was killer. 490T's also sound great in Strats.

Also, if you want a T-Top, just get a used 490R, take out the stock magnet, which is Alnico 2, and put a short Alnico 5 magnet in. Put that in the bridge position and it screams. (VERY effective at getting a Les Paul closer to that legendary Jimmy Page in 1973 at Madison Square Garden tone).

Jim Gaustad has a 57 Classic that he modified by installing a short Alnico 5 magnet. He uses it for old school Van Halen but it also sounds great for any kind of rock.

 

[DeathlyFighter]

Gonna second the notion that the 57 is an undervalued pickup (hope it stays that way monetary wise) that people would be hyping up if some boutique company came out with.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Another vote for the 490T. Very underrated pickup. I almost always swap pickups but I had an SG with a 490T in the bridge and never removed it.
It was killer. 490T's also sound great in Strats.

Also, if you want a T-Top, just get a used 490R, take out the stock magnet, which is Alnico 2, and put a short Alnico 5 magnet in. Put that in the bridge position and it screams. (VERY effective at getting a Les Paul closer to that legendary Jimmy Page in 1973 at Madison Square Garden tone.)

Jim Gaustad has a 57 Classic that he modified by installing a short Alnico 5 magnet. He uses it for old school Van Halen but it also sounds great for any kind of rock.

A couple more thoughts on Gibson pickups.

Slap a short Alnico 5 into a 490T and you get a T-Top-ish tone but with more balls than a standard T-Top. Very fiesty pickup with that mod.

I don't like the stock 490R/498T set, but a very good mod for that set of pickups is to simply exchange the magnets. Cool mod and it costs nothing to try it.
Remove the magnets from both pickups. Label them with a Sharpie before doing anything else.
Put the A5 magnet from the 498T into the 490R. Neck pickup clears up.
Take the A2 magnet from the 490R and slap it in the 498T. Bridge pickup gets punchy, crunchy and mean.

@VonBonfire makes a very good point: lowering the actual pickup and then raising the polepieces will increase clarity. Quite often, magnet swaps, pickup height and and polepiece height can make big differences.

I hope I didn't bore anyone with this long post. When someone asks me what time it is, I tend to build them a clock. LOL

I've learned these tricks through futzing around with pickups and by learning from other people over the years. I'm by no means an expert and I defer to @scottosan and other folks here with more knowledge of pickups than I have.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Good demo here! The SG Tribute uses the 490R/490T set. They feature Alnico 2 magnets, as do the '57 Classics.

 

[hopkinWFG]

Speaking of gibson pickups....i guess many compares the 490R & 495T set against the duncan JB and the 495T set just kills the JB in every aspect.... being more open natural less compression, have just gotten a set used for my Heritage H150...