Gibson 500T Super Ceramic

FIRST OF ALL LETS STOP MESSING AROUND PUTTING THESE THINGS IN STRATS AND TRYING TO PLAY BLUES AND JAZZ.THE ADVERT EVEN SAYS ITS NO HOLES BARRED IN YOUR FACE.ITS A SUPER HOT PICKUP THAT HAS MASSES OF POWER.

I PLAY ALLSORTS OF GUITARS DEAN RAZORBACKS,IBANEZ RG,LES PAULS ECT.I FIRST NOTICED HOW GOOD THESE PICKUPS WERE WHEN I HAD A GO ON MY MATES FLYING V.

THIS SOUND IS MASSIVE ITS AS LOUD AS AN ACTIVE,I PUT THESE IN MY EPIPHONE LES PAUL TO BEEF IT UP AND IT NOW SOUNDS BIGGER THAN MY RAZORBACK WHICH HAS A DUNCAN IN IT,IT SOUNDS BIGGER THAN THE BARE KNUCKLE PAINKILLERS TOO.IT HAS THE BIGGEST GROWLING SUSTAIN YOU COULD EVER HOPE FOR AND THE PUNCH WHEN PALM MUTING IS MINDBLOWING.IF YOU HAVE GOOD GEAR AND PLAY HEAVEY DISTORTED RIFFS THIS IS THE ONLY PICKUP TO USE(PASSIVE).ITS DEFINED AND VERY POWERFUL.I HAVE ALOT OF AWESOME GUITARS WITH EXPENSIVE PICKUPS AND THIS SOUNDS THE BEST EASY,THE ONLY DRAW BACK IS IT ISNT SPACED FOR A FLOYD OR THIS WOULD BE IN ALL MY GUITARS AND THERE ISNT ONE AVAILABLE FOR FLOYDS EITHER.

THIS DESERVES A 10 ITS GREAT THE ONLY DRAW BACK IS ITS VERY RESPONSIVE AND SUCKS EVERY NOISE FROM YOUR STRINGS SO PRECISE PLAYING IS NEEDED,ALSO PINCHED HARMONICS CAN BE A STRUGGLE MAINLEY DUE TO THE HUG MID RANGE BASS EQ.I LOVE SQUELING SO IF THE SQUELS AERNT QUITE AS PERFECT AND THE REST OF MY TONE IS MONSTEROUS ILL EASILY PUT UP WITH IT.WACK UP THE GAIN AND OUT PUNCH EMG 81S!IF YOU PLAY WOOFTER MUSIC DONT BUY A CERAMIC PICKUP IN THE FIRST PLACE LET ALONE A 500T.

Passive ceramic humbucking pickup, I don`t know what the ouput is on this but I can say that it is high and hot. Too hot!

I bought a 1997 Gibson SG Special and someone had put these pickups in it.

This is just pure sh*t!!!! It has way to much high end, and I mean way to much. It has little to no low end what so ever and the mids leave much to be desired. The pickup is shrill, cold and harsh, and it has absolutely no warm or ballsy properties with it what so ever. Maybe, just maybe, it could suit someone else's style or fit in with there tone but not me, I hate it! I even tried my buddy's Les Paul Classic, which came stock with it, and the verdict was the same. He got rid of them and put in a set of Burstbucker's and I am putting in a 498T and a 490R, I think that they are just better sounding pickups and are far more versatile.

Like I stated earlier, I tried it in 2 different guitars and I came up with the same verdict on both trials. I HATED IT!!! They are just not the right pickup for me, but maybe someone else. But, you have to understand how limited it really is that it has no versatility, just hard rock or metal.

Ceramic magnet. Very hot and high output HB.

Stratocaster, Alder body, rosewood fingerboard, Fender original vintage tremolo bridge, 250K pots

Hotter than the JB. Bass is ok, mids scooped a little -but ok, highs are problematic- piercing, thin and too sharp even used with 250K pots. High e and b strings sounded too thin for lead work. It has a serious microphonic-noise problem in high gain application. Tends to sound mushy in high gain situations. It is not so bad, just not transparent, sweet and quite like JB.
500T is pickup for low to medium gain applications-ac/dc, zeppelin, free, zz top. It is ok for rhythm guitar, but I did not like it for lead work. If more dist from the amp is desired or breakup is harder to get, this is a good choice to push the amp harder and make you tone more distorted.
I believe it sounds a little better with mahogany bodies, but I would go for JB for both alder and mahogany. My friend pulled it out from Flying V because it sounded muddy to him. I have JB in my strat where this Gibson was and I am very satisfied. JB is the best HB for strat and alder guitars. My friend went for EMG 81. EMG is great for Gibsons and it does not sound so sterile or artificial through Marshall JMP, for example. It is good not just for metal, but also for hard rock, lead work???500T is in the drover for the time being???waiting for another chance..

Gear: Alder Strat (250k pots), George L???s cables, MXR ZW44 OD, Customized Fender 2 channel 50watts Head, Engl VG412 cabinet with Vintage30 speakers.
I play Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Southern Rock, live with the band.
Wish it head more organic and tranpsarent tone, more mid-honk, less noise and feedback. Wish it were JB.

passive, although not in personality!

Comes stock as the bridge PU in the '98 Flying V that I recently bought. The neck PU is a 496R, I think.

Output level is high. VERY strong signal. I normally run it into an Orange Rockerverb 50 2x12 combo, sometimes kicking on a Fulltone OCD or Expandora, although they totally are unnecessary with this guitar and amp combo. Holy smokes! I'm not sure what some of the haters are talking about in some of the preceding reviews; I find this PU to be nicely balanced, albeit with an upper mid to treble emphasis. I play hard rock to blues to quiet ballads to country punk to whatever. I absolutely reject the notion that a PU can or cannot fit a certain style of music. Use appropriate technique, tweak the volume and tone on the guitar, mind your amp settings (make sure you have a DECENT amp in the first place), and you can do almost anything with any kind of PU. Shame on everyone who says the 500T is for metal only!

If the V was stolen, yes, I'd get another with the same PU pair in a heartbeat. I've been playing over 30 years, all types of guitars, all types of pickups and amps. It's pretty rare that I've come across a PU and style combination that just would NOT work, with possibly the exception of trying to do death metal with a cheap import single coil guitar. I'm apparently a lot more forgiving than some of the folks who have reviewed this PU...I love the surprises that different instruments and electronics can bring when you play around and use them with an open mind. I plugged the V straight into my Reverend Hellhound 1x12 combo and got the crispiest Albert King blues tone! A couple of tweaks to tone settings and running both PU's together got me respectable jazz and country sounds as well. It's all in the hands, people, not just the pickup. Happy explorations to all of you!

No pick up cover.

500T is stock standard in a '98 Gibson SG-Z.(model only run for 1 year. Google it for pictures. Mine's the "vomit green" one. I've never seen another one so I'm storing it and recently bought an Angus Young series SG...... see what is possible without a girlfriend!!!

Running through a Line 6 POD XT live I just thought...Yeah...just another HOT pickup. After lending the POD to my Bro-in-Law for recording, I had to go through my old boss super overdrive (SD-1)
What a difference!!!!! The "muddy" lows almost disappeared and a seemless match between mid's and hi's. It's too hot for clean tones but still does an OK job but if it's hard'n'fast rock'n'roll your after then get rid of your special effects,Keep your overdrive pedal
and discover the true sole of this pick up (or better still... Drive your amp really hard instead of using the pedal.... just don't forget to think about your neighbours)Great for AC/DC style but the Angus Young signature pickup will make you put your old school uniform on when you play. the 500T won't

If it was stolen/broken I'd definately keep my eye out for another one....but I wouldn't rush out and pay top dollar. I'd look for 2nd hand or cheap newies.(I've got a Gibson 498T bridge p/up in my toolbox which i got brand new REALLLLLY cheap just waiting for an Epiphone Les Paul... so I'll let you know how it sounds)
I've been playing for 18yrs.
OTHER GUITARS---Angus Young SG
50th anniversary Telecaster
Ibanez "S"series.... (boring "shredding"machine
with no character or sole)

This is a ceramic passive humbucking pickup with four conductor wires.

I replaced the stock bridge pickup in Epiphone Les Paul Custom with the Gibson 500T. I left the stock neck pickup in. I essentially wanted more distortion without muddiness, and the ability to series/parallel for classic rock tones with high gain.

This is a high-output pickup, part of the stipulation for most people to buy it. Although I tried it through a plethora of amps throughout its usage, I primarily used it with my own Marshall JCM800 2205 50W tube 2channel halfstack.

Before anyone buys this pickup, I beg them to please learn the difference between alnico and ceramic pickups. Don't be fooled by the claim that this pickup is for classic rock and don't buy it for the four conductor wires.

It's not that this pickup sounds bad. Gibson uses it in their Les Paul Classics and Explorers (have a listen to Weezer's fifth album Maladroit to get a feel for the sound), and if you like classic 80s (not 70s) rock then this might really work out for you. Anyone looking for that ACDC or Jimmy Page tone should go with a Seymour Duncan Custom 5 (SH-14) or 59, or even better a Gibson Burstbucker Pro.

For a while I thought this sounded really great, but then I compared it to higher end alnico pickups and realized I was really missing out.

The coil tap was almost indistinguishable as well. This pickup has one sound and one sound alone. Poor cleans with razor distortion. If you want 80s distortion without the active pickups, this is what you need. If you want classic rock get a Burstbucker Pro and feel better about yourself.

I give it a 3 because some people will love it and it will be perfect.

I eventually sold the guitar and pickup, and now I have a Fernandes Dragonfly Elite, Crate Class A amp (no more Marshall, although that was a GREAT amp), and a Fulltone GT500.

I wish I had put a Burstbucker Pro in the guitar instead, it would suited my needs a lot better. I've been playing 5 years and have an ear that is honed more to understand pickups and tonewoods so given the chance to do it over again I would have never considered ceramic.

I just write because want everybody know that the best sounding guitar ever is my '95 plus Fender Stratocaster with a Gibson 500T lol

For bridge, of course. Not well balanced with a PRS, so a '59 or a Jazz is the best.
I prefer the Jazz, but have the '59...

Sounds perfect. Metal, rock, blues... Just turn the volume up and down to request the signal u need!

I will try to put these pickups in all my guitar, if I can.
Difficult to make in a YJM strat. My '79 SG has '70s DiMarzios to get the vibe.
Soloist: you are going to be next!!! lol

Humbucker passive

Impedance 14.5K

I istalled it on a Chinese Epiphone SG 400, replacing the crap bridge pickup, and leaved the neck with the stock just to fill the hole.

The output level is monstruous, this pickup is hotter as hell and a tricky horse. It tries to stablish complete domain over everything in the studio.

The tone is sometimes bassy, sometimes extremelly trebly. The highs are well defined but the basses are muddy, specially playing flat E and A (if this pickup was really made for metalheads they would have a real problem using it).

On the other side it is an artificial harmonics machine, very easy to obtain them.

For my style the pickup wasn??t good. I play blues, punked blues, old school hardcore, 70??s punk, garage and and alernative. Even for the noisier side of my sound I felt the 500T too hot (I don??t need tons of output to make good NOISE).

With vintage effects it really doesn??t work. If you are used to old fuzzes/fuzz control with guitar volume, forget about this pickup. It love modern effects, and maybe the best for it are the digital ones.

If you play hardcore I recommend something less metal like, as the 498 Gibson series.

Ok, the 500T is very good to cranck up an amp.

If it were stollen I would cry for the bucks that I won??t make ebaying it.

I play since 1984, thrash metal in the 80??s, punk rock and hard core from the 80??s to the 90??s, punk, alternative and blues in the 2000s.

I think that even if I played metal today I wouldn??t like this strange pup.

I changed it for a 490T on the bridge and ok, thats what I wanted.

Humbucker,Passive, specs are on Gibson's Website.

Installed in a 70's Les Paul Deluxe. Bridge Position. Replaced old DiMarzios from the 70's. Also had the 490 R installed in the neck position.I heard Jimmy Page used this pickup. I never liked the sound of the old DiMarzios through the Marshall TSL 122. I checked out the soundbytes on the Gibson website, and thought these pickups would be a good choice for the Les Paul.

Hot, nasty, high output, good for screaming solos. I cut back on the Volume and Tone knobs on the Guitar, and crank it up come solo time. I use a Marshall TSL 122 100 Watt Combo Amp. This amp and the Gibson pickups are an excellent combination. I use a Snarling Dogs Wah Wah,a Boss Chorus, and an Ibanez Delay. I think the tone is rather well balanced especially for what I play. I play Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Mountain, etc. This pickup with my amp is an EXCELLENT match for this type of music. This pickup is good for slide guitar also.

I would DEFINITELY get this pickup again. I'm 50 and I've been playing for many years. I also play a Gibson Les Paul Jr. with Seymour Duncans, and an Epiphone Dot 335 Copy stock. I'm very satisfied with this pickup, there's nothing I don't like about it. With all the stuff out there, it's nice when take a chance making a modification, and you're happy with it. I would suggest getting it installed by a reliable Tech. like I did. I brought the guitar home and it was set up fantastic, perfectly balanced.

Humbucking w/ coil taps

Installed in a Ibanez S470 in the bridge position. 1st I replaced the stock P/u w/ a Gibson 498T and loved it. For some damn reason, I thought I'd want this new pickup......

Comparing the 500T to the 498T I had is just no fair to the 500T. I didn't like the tone nor the gain on it. While it is a "hot" pickup, it almost sounded like a copy of a Super Distortion. No doubt the 500T is gonna sound great with "dropped nu metal", but I play 80's rock and the 498T is FAR superior in tone for me.

Others will disagree, but for my money, the 498T is a fuller sound without the tinny highs of the 500T. It's coming out of my guitar tomorrow and going back. Long live the 498T!