Upgrading the LP Tribute; 490T vs 498T

[GuitarIV]

Whats up folks,

so as some of you may be aware from my NGD thread I recently got myself a used LP Tribute in Satin Iced Tea and I'm quite happy with it

Now usually when I decide to keep a guitar I tweak it to the point where it's truly "mine" and with this one here it's no different.

Now out of the box the guitar was already good, however I found a few things I could tweak further:


- the neck was dead straight, guitar sounded a bit thin since the strings had no space to vibrate properly
- bridge pickup (490T) was cool for blues, for the music I play I need a bit more push and body
- missing poker chip, completely aesthetic and an easy fix
- Gibsons PCB in the electronics cavity, does the job but I imagine flexing over time by putting stress on the knobs is not a good thing

So I did a proper setup and adjusted the truss rod, got myself a used 498T off my local auction site, ordered a cream pokerchip, a Mojotone wiring harness with Vitamin T paper in oil caps and finally I had a set of Gotoh locking tuners lying around unused from a recently sold guitar.

Here are some pictures:


Guitar ready for work on my kitchen table:



Mojotone kit and poker chip:




The used 498T (as you can tell from the wear marks):


And the locking tuners:





So I got to work, ripped out all the PCB junk, cut some connections and prepped the cables for soldering. In the meantime the fretboard got another oil coat (when I first got the guitar the fretboard was so terribly dry that it soaked the oil up like a thirsty plant sucks up water, the pale light brown turned into a chocolate color instantly).


Guitar sitting and waiting:




Got to work, did everything with patience and care and still managed to wire the ground to hot and vice versa on the output jack. Ouch.

Quick test on the amp confirmed that, as soon as I touched the "grounded" parts the noise got louder instead of dissapearing.


Anyway, easy fix.

Some work pictures:






So once everything was done and good, I did a quick test to make sure everything works and called it a day as it was late already.

 

[GuitarIV]

Finally some pictures of the guitar all wired up and done with the pokerchip, new bridge pickup and locking tuners:



Here's what I ripped out:





Okay, so hows my verdict after I had some more time today to play it louder at home?


Very good as a matter of fact. Happy to report that not only did the 498T give me more push, output and low mids than the 490T, the Mojotone pots have a nice taper for cleaning up the guitar and the tone knobs don't muffle the guitar anymore, they take the highs out gradually from slightly warmer lead tone all the way down to straight up Clapton woman tone and Santana creaminess.


I get now why the 490R and 498T is such a popular combination.


The pokerchip completes the look, the locking tuners fit perfectly (I can ignore the screw holes) and make string changes a breeze.


Next week at rehearsal I'll crank it with the band and see how it works in the mix, but for now I'm very happy. Great stripped down rock machine with reasonable weight, great bang for buck and fun to play.


A few upgrades go a long way, if you know how to solder and do your own setups you can fine tune these easily. The 498T is staying in there. Knowing my acidic sweat the rest of the hardware and guitar will soon match its worn look


Here she's hanging on the wall, tempting me to grab her whenever I have the time:





Cheers everyone! Love my new toy!

 

[mrjones2004x]

Whats up folks,

so as some of you may be aware from my NGD thread I recently got myself a used LP Tribute in Satin Iced Tea and I'm quite happy with it

Now usually when I decide to keep a guitar I tweak it to the point where it's truly "mine" and with this one here it's no different.

Now out of the box the guitar was already good, however I found a few things I could tweak further:


- the neck was dead straight, guitar sounded a bit thin since the strings had no space to vibrate properly
- bridge pickup (490T) was cool for blues, for the music I play I need a bit more push and body
- missing poker chip, completely aesthetic and an easy fix
- Gibsons PCB in the electronics cavity, does the job but I imagine flexing over time by putting stress on the knobs is not a good thing

So I did a proper setup and adjusted the truss rod, got myself a used 498T off my local auction site, ordered a cream pokerchip, a Mojotone wiring harness with Vitamin T paper in oil caps and finally I had a set of Gotoh locking tuners lying around unused from a recently sold guitar.

Here are some pictures:


Guitar ready for work on my kitchen table:

View attachment 120483

Mojotone kit and poker chip:

View attachment 120484
View attachment 120487

The used 498T (as you can tell from the wear marks):
View attachment 120485

And the locking tuners:

View attachment 120486



So I got to work, ripped out all the PCB junk, cut some connections and prepped the cables for soldering. In the meantime the fretboard got another oil coat (when I first got the guitar the fretboard was so terribly dry that it soaked the oil up like a thirsty plant sucks up water, the pale light brown turned into a chocolate color instantly).


Guitar sitting and waiting:

View attachment 120488


Got to work, did everything with patience and care and still managed to wire the ground to hot and vice versa on the output jack. Ouch.

Quick test on the amp confirmed that, as soon as I touched the "grounded" parts the noise got louder instead of dissapearing.


Anyway, easy fix.

Some work pictures:

View attachment 120489
View attachment 120490View attachment 120491View attachment 120492



So once everything was done and working, I did a quick test to make sure everything works and called it a day as it was late already.

Let us know how the 498t is over the 490. Thinking of swapping mine out for something a bit more aggressive.m and beefy. Love how my tribute plays and feels but find the bridge pickup is missing the thick sound a lp should have. Wasn’t sure if it was because the guitar is modern weight relieved and not solid throughout.
I’ve had no problems with the pcb controls and think they’re really responsive. Had to spray some cleaner in pots once but that’s all.
Fancy a 498 or maybe bb3

Yours has got a lovely grain to it. HNGD

Heres Mine.


Added binding which you should do whilst you’re modding it

Another tail wrapper too

 

[GuitarIV]

Let us know how the 498t is over the 490. Thinking of swapping mine out for something a bit more aggressive.m and beefy. Love how my tribute plays and feels but find the bridge pickup is missing the thick sound a lp should have. Wasn’t sure if it was because the guitar is modern weight relieved and not solid throughout.
I’ve had no problems with the pcb controls and think they’re really responsive. Had to spray some cleaner in pots once but that’s all.
Fancy a 498 or maybe bb3

Yours has got a lovely grain to it. HNGD

Heres Mine.


Added binding which you should do whilst you’re modding it

Yes I saw yours in the other thread, very cool what you did with the binding. I actually like mine stripped down looking, so I'll leave it the way it is

I'd say go for it. Used 498Ts are plenty to be found for a good price, swapping em out is easy enough as well. The 490T sounds almost like a fat singlecoils at times, it was too thin for my taste. The 498T adds that characteristic A5 punch and growl, still cleans up very well and keeps definition whilst it beefs up the low mids. Exactly what I was missing. I think you might have the same "problem"

I'll let you know how she sounds after rehearsal. Playing at moderately loud levels at home now she already sounds bigger and thicker, way better than before

 

[mrjones2004x]

Yes I saw yours in the other thread, very cool what you did with the binding. I actually like mine stripped down looking, so I'll leave it the way it is

I'd say go for it. Used 498Ts are plenty to be found for a good price, swapping em out is easy enough as well. The 490T sounds almost like a fat singlecoils at times, it was too thin for my taste. The 498T adds that characteristic A5 punch and growl, still cleans up very well and keeps definition whilst it beefs up the low mids. Exactly what I was missing. I think you might have the same "problem"

I'll let you know how she sounds after rehearsal. Playing at moderately loud levels at home now she already sounds bigger and thicker, way better than before

Awesome thanks for the reply. Yeah that’s how to describe it. Missing low mids definitely. It’s a great pickup very clear and defined but missing some beef.
I’ll keep my eye out for one.

 

[fitz]

Finally some pictures of the guitar all wired up and done with the pokerchip, new bridge pickup and locking tuners:

View attachment 120494View attachment 120495View attachment 120493

Here's what I ripped out:

View attachment 120496



Okay, so hows my verdict after I had some more time today to play it louder at home?


Very good as a matter of fact. Happy to report that not only did the 498T give me more push, output and low mids than the 490T, the Mojotone pots have a nice taper for cleaning up the guitar and the tone knobs don't muffle the guitar anymore, they take the highs out gradually from slightly warmer lead tone all the way down to straight up Clapton woman tone and Santana creaminess.


I get now why the 490R and 498T is such a popular combination.


The pokerchip completes the look, the locking tuners fit perfectly (I can ignore the screw holes) and make string changes a breeze.


Next week at rehearsal I'll crank it with the band and see how it works in the mix, but for now I'm very happy. Great stripped down rock machine with reasonable weight, great bang for buck and fun to play.


A few upgrades go a long way, if you know how to solder and do your own setups you can fine tune these easily. The 498T is staying in there. Knowing my acidic sweat the rest of the hardware and guitar will soon match its worn look


Here she's hanging on the wall, tempting me to grab her whenever I have the time:


View attachment 120497


Cheers everyone! Love my new toy!

Looks fantastic.
I have the 490/498 set in my Tribute also.
Kept the PCB as the pups are both quick connect.

 

[DirtySteve]

Nice job, looks good!

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

The Tribute series of LP’s is a great bargain, and they definitely deliver the goods.

Cheers

 

[junk notes]

IHMO the 490R and 498T combination has proven to be a well balance set that has vintage (T-top) accents.

 

[KraftyBob]

Nice job GuitarIV! I rebuild my 1980's Harmony Marquis (Les Paul copy) and put in the 490R/498T pups and am also really happy with how it sounds - good choice! There's something to be said about doing your own work so congrats on that too!

I'm the opposite of you when it comes to aesthetics as I remove the poker chips and pick guards (except my Strat lol) as I prefer a simpler look. But to each his own

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Nice job GuitarIV! I rebuild my 1980's Harmony Marquis (Les Paul copy) and put in the 490R/498T pups and am also really happy with how it sounds - good choice! There's something to be said about doing your own work so congrats on that too!

I'm the opposite of you when it comes to aesthetics as I remove the poker chips and pick guards (except my Strat lol) as I prefer a simpler look. But to each his own

I like the poker chip.. and I am 50/50 on the pickgaurd..