Guitar Gear Forum

This happened today. It was encouraged by my wife yesterday so long as I parted with a guitar. Which I did. I traded in my HM Strat at GC and actually came out with almost what I had into it to begin with. So I’m not mad about that. This gem was there yesterday when I tried a few other things and I immediately bonded with it.



It’s a 2010 Faded Special that’s had its guard and pickups swapped. Here’s what I like. The neck is actually the 50s neck and not the slim taper shape. It feels similar to the rounded necks on most of my Gibsons but maybe a little thicker. I like it. The pickups are low output HBs. Not sure what kind. Could just be the 490R/490T with covers on them but I’ll find out later. It sounds excellent. Put it though my Rockerverb upon getting it home and it’s fantastic. I played it through a Blues Deluxe yesterday and loved the tones out of that. Also I’m not big on the faded finishes on a lot of Gibsons but I do lake them on SGs. Go figure.

Congrats man. The faded finishes don't always look good (this one does), but they make the guitars sound great. There's definitely something about thinner finishes that help with the resonance.

That pickguard though

Heck yeah. I dig this particular faded finish, though some of them do get a bit eye-sorey.

Congrats, man. Always great to get a guitar that sounds good through the rest of your existing rig.

Yeah I've seen some dogs out of this line too. I don't know about the pickguard yet. I'm probably gonna replace it but the tortoise shell is actually growing on me

And thanks NFA! It sounds great. Curious what these pickups are. The strings are fairly new though so I'd feel bad yanking off good strings just to look at pickups. Maybe in a month lol.

No. It's not growing on you. Stop this.

Congrats, I always thought the faded were great deals, I kick myself for not buying one when used ones were all over for under $500. Coming from someone with a mop pickguard on my strat, I would most definitely ditch that pickguard haha.

So the guard still had plastic on it. I pulled it off but it had been on for so long it left an adhesive mess. I pulled the guard off and cleaned up with some microfiber cloths and naphtha. Took a bit but it’s clean now. It actually looks a bit less glossy and fits the guitar better. Still may get a black one but not in as much of a hurry.



Pretty sure these are the original 490R/T pickups too that someone put covers on. They just had the Gibson USA logo etched into the baseplate. No other markings and that’s what came stock in these in 2010. They did a good job though. I actually don’t hate the 490T either. I think it’s a solid rock pickup.

Yeah the 490s are underrated. They sound really good, just the right amount of bite.
The guard is still a No.

You’re right: It should be a white pearloid pickguard.

Guitarbilly wrote: ↑Tue Nov 19, 2024 1:53 am Yeah the 490s are underrated. They sound really good, just the right amount of bite.
The guard is still a No.