As much as Trogly doesn’t like the idea of reviewing guitars in this manner I think it’s an incredibly awesome idea. Turn it into a weekly or maybe monthly program.
For some reason, there wasn't an ohmmeter test? The multimeter is right there on the table... literally the only thing I watched the video to see, and nothing. Very strange omission.
I actually have a motherbucker. That thing is kinda hot- like a lot hot. I think it was like 18k ohms… hot. If you’re looking for clean cleans… you really gotta dial back the volume, but if you’re looking to get some spank, it spanks.
There’s a reason the 490s are the standard! I didn’t want to like them as my favorite but they just have so much versatility and power in the bridge! Great demo!
My guitar is orange. It’s a strat I got from a kit that I built with my grandpa. It has an orange finish, black pickguard, hss setup, an ebony fingerboard and a Seymour Duncan JB. It also has 3 misfits stickers and a Nirvana sticker
Interesting sound demo. Sound being very subjective as to what any person likes hearing. To my ears the Sugarbuckers sounded to be a little more articulate and open while still have that slightly warmer mellower tone. I preferred the Sugarbuckers, then the 498R/498T set and lastly the Custombuckers. Plus a beautiful looking guitar.
Brandonwound pickups are absolutely killer, btw…sort of an industry secret, compared to other boutique pickup makers. If you play your LPs (some collectors do not), they are a serious upgrade…the current owner, Zach Oswald, worked for Jared Brandon and does restorations of original PAFs in addition to offering his own designs. I have bought three sets of pups from them and would consider them first for any Les Paul I own.
Well done review, Thanks. I agree the neck pickup has a nice open non muddy tone but the bridge just wasn’t doing it for me either. Glad you compared it to the 490’s and a set of custom buckers. I would highly recommend doing a review of the Suhr Thornbuckers. There are actually regular Thornbucker as well as the II and the plus series. So far I have the regular Thornbucker in the neck position but getting ready to replace my bridge Pearly Gates with a Thornbucker reg or possibly the II or the plus once I hear a well done review, like this, in a Les Paul.
Thanks Richard! Enjoy your new pickups! I love the neck pickup a whole bunch. I'd pair that up with my favorite bridge pickups (either a Burstbucker 3 or a Classic 57 Plus) and enjoy the heck out of it.
Thanks for sharing your gorgeous guitar with us Richard On the pickups, I really like the neck Sugarbucker, it seems more "open" and less compressed than the others with no muddiness and a lovely clarity. I think I'm with you on the Custombucker bridge though Austin, so neck Sugarbucker and bridge Custombucker for me
Beautiful Custom but IMO, the 498T slays the Sugarbucker bridge pup, at least for rock/metal. Not just higher output, but fuller. Pickguard on for sure on this one. Great contrast with the orange finish.
The beginning answered my question with me wanting to send in my 2018 Gibson SG special. I was thinking it would be a great review piece considering it comes stock with Firebird pickups, 24 block inlayed frets and the gold crown on the headstock. Sounds immaculate.
A4 pickups have a soft crunch to the attack and that comes across really well on these. Not sure I've ever played/heard an underwound A4 set and they sound great!
Salutations Austin! And a big thanks to Richard for making this review possible! I really like the shades of orange on this Les Paul Custom! I am not sure how it would look on an entirely Mahogany body, but it might look fantastic! The Sugarbuckers do have a distinctive clean sound that some guitarist might really like, it would be interesting if they also offered them with four conductor wires for some coil splitting capabilities. Thanks for sharing! Please have an excellent and awesome day! ☀️✨🌟🎸
I have two Wildwood Selects that have underwound alnico 2 burstbuckers in them, and these Sugarbuckers remind me a lot of them. Almost in between a Tele and a typical PAF humbucker. Great for that edge of breakup sound, but I have to admit they lack some girth when it comes to medium gain tones. I absolutely loved the first one I got. I got the 2nd one because the quality of service and spot on QC Wildwood provided me with my first. I do think I want to switch out the pickups in the 2nd one because its not as fun to have two Les Pauls that sound similar. I have the 50's with the Wildwoods, a 60's with 61 Burstbuckers, and I think my 3rd is going to get something more similar to Slashbuckers.
Man, those PUs kick ass. That'd be a killer recording guitar. Stoked for the dude that picked up this guitar. And glad to have heard of Sugarbuckers now. Kinda want a pair.
Kinda reminds me of the Blood Orange PRS I got recently. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but orange really works on a flame maple top when you see it in person, hold it, play it. Nice shimmer in stage lights, as I bet this one does too.
Love the color & flame top. I think it's an ideal guitar for rhythm--really like the neck pickup. I'd want to hear it with more gain/overdrive to decide further. Thanks Richard (and Trogly, too).
Thanks Richard ! That's a sharp looking Custom , I'm usually not into Gold hardware yet that guitar pulls it off with that finish/color , dig them pickups tooz ! and damn that Sunburst LP is a beauty , reminds me of the ' Stanley ' burst ...Thanks Trog ! Joyous Samhain / Halloween / Day of the DEAD to all the guitardos !
Beautiful guitar Richard. Thanks for the loan! 👍 As for tones, I love the 490R/498T in my 2016 LP Studio HP and the Classic '57s in my 2015 LP Less+. Don't think the Sugarbuckers are for me. Based upon this comparison, I need a set of Custombuckers to replace the Probuckers in my 2018 LP HP2 😁
That guitar is a real beauty! ❤ I really liked the sound of the pickups, too. I’ve got a set of Amber (Maybach) Spirit of 59s on the way for my Standard, which has Duncans atm. I’m really hoping it’ll transform a great guitar to the realms of the extraord8nary. 😊
8:55 Austin, I'd love to see a '57 RI LP Custom with a figured Mahogany Top and Back finished completely in Gibson's Rust finish. Just my $.02 Cents, that Gibson Rust Finish is magic for sure.
From what I heard hear, I prefer the Sugarbucker in the neck both clean and distorted. But for the bridge, I liked the custom bucker clean and the 498T Distorted. I think I’m a little biased because my SG has the 490 set (not 498 but the 490 is similar), and it sounded close to what I’m used to. But if I was gonna choose what I’d want for an LP like this, I’d probably pick the sugar bucker in the neck and custom bucker in the bridge. Also I’m not usually a fan of Orange guitars but this one looks beautiful, Richard is a lucky man!
I really think the way you hold your pick and strum has the most to do with your tone. To my ears, they all sound very similar as long as they’re all being played by Trogly. I have a loose grip on my pick and use my thumb and middle finger with my index finger to support it. I think letting your wrist stay limp (insert joke here) with a loose grip in the pick makes it less harsh sounding when strumming chords. Simply tightening or stiffening your wrist and grip on your pick can give it more intensity. Keep it loose for a pleasing sound. Maybe I think too much.🤷♂️
Wow we got the Sugarbuckers . I've been excited to hear these , Very nice guitar thank your veiwer. Perfect color for the season. Pickguard off please like the wood grain. Nice beautiful Gibson crunchy pickups I like them.
Thanks Richard! Being a Gretsch player I adore the color and have been interested in the Sugarbuckers since they came out. I want to have a Les Paul I can love but haven’t met it yet. These just might do it for me.
Fralin has a page explaining the various quirks of AlNiCo types: "Alnico 4 is stronger than both Alnico 2 and 3, but weaker than Alnico 5. It has the most balanced and “even” EQ out of all of the Alnico strengths. The bass and highs are tighter and stronger than Alnico 2, and the midrange is more balanced. We use this pickup in our Modern P.A.F. and P90‘s, and it helps to balance out the overwound properties of them. Alnico 4 has softer highs than Alnico 5." It's funny, Fralin say's it's great for overwound... and these Sugarbuckers are UNDERwound.😂
Overwound and underwound are loose terms. The Sugarbucker outputs are the same as what Gibson produced from the 60s through most the 80s and today's Gibson T-types which tribute the 70s spec. Gibsons current underwound labeled pickups are lower output than Sugarbucker. Gibson makes a much hotter set of pickups with A-4 which are utilized by the 1959 Collectors Humbucker Series 1 set. Those are killer sounding.
Cool guitar, Thank you Richard! @Trog you should check out a Wildwood spec standard, they have proprietary 59’ spec humbuckers. Mine has dc readings of around 7k ohm, lots of clarity and bite, and gets raunchy with crunch. I’d probably let you borrow it 🙂
Great review, and I also had a lot of fun checking out the background story and extensive sound samples of the test pickups on the Sweetwater website (despite some weird inclusions and strange omissions!). However, this was the one time when Trogly omits the DC resistance test on the pickups!!! I even rewound a few times in case I'd somehow missed it!
Thank You Richard. What a gorgeous instrument. Not usually a fan of gold hardware but perfectly suited to this particular colour. Cheers Mate from the Land Down Under. And Cheers Mate to you Trogly. I'll put a prawn on the barbie for you both and knock down a couple of cold ones in your honour.
this set of sugarbuckers sounds way different than the other demo on youtube. on that video they sound really full and rich with great articulation. Are you sure that bridge pickup wasn't too far away from strings.? Should be around 3/32" on bass side and 1/16" on treble side. Personally, I prefer the Gibson 57 classics.
Thanks Richard!
Damn that is a killer guitar you have Richard. The pups sound amazing--especially the neck. Thanks for lending your guitar out.
Thank you for sharing your guitar, Richard!
Thanks Richard!
That color is great! I really dig it!
Thank you, Richard. Orange isn't a favourite colour for a guitar, but this one, with the flame top looks fantastic. The gold hardware really pops.
As much as Trogly doesn’t like the idea of reviewing guitars in this manner I think it’s an incredibly awesome idea. Turn it into a weekly or maybe monthly program.
Nice guitar Richard, thanks for letting us check it out.
Gorgeous Custom, love onrage guitars, and the piercing white binding makes it pop
Ya gotta love a bit of onrage.... 😂
Beautiful Custom,Thank you Richard
The bridge pickup sounds pretty hot. I must have missed the ohmmeter test . They sound pretty f ing great!
For some reason, there wasn't an ohmmeter test? The multimeter is right there on the table... literally the only thing I watched the video to see, and nothing. Very strange omission.
i thought i was the only one who missed the ohm readings. really strange not to get an ohm reading for a pickup review? :)
Austin, really appreciate you bringing out your Dragon, and especially the NAMM R9.
Love, Love, Love the top on that NAMM piece.
I think Gibson should come up with the ultimate humbuckers, the mother of them all. Yes, I'm talking about MotherBuckers!
Motherbucker in the bridge and Stepdadbucker in the neck
I actually have a motherbucker. That thing is kinda hot- like a lot hot. I think it was like 18k ohms… hot. If you’re looking for clean cleans… you really gotta dial back the volume, but if you’re looking to get some spank, it spanks.
There’s a reason the 490s are the standard! I didn’t want to like them as my favorite but they just have so much versatility and power in the bridge! Great demo!
The guy who designed the sugarbucker did a custom wind humbucker for me 2 years ago or so when he ran Brandonwound. Damn good pup winder
My guitar is orange. It’s a strat I got from a kit that I built with my grandpa. It has an orange finish, black pickguard, hss setup, an ebony fingerboard and a Seymour Duncan JB. It also has 3 misfits stickers and a Nirvana sticker
Thank you for sharing your guitar, Richard!
Thank you for sharing your guitar, Richard!
The Sugarbuckers seem more Peter Green than, Kirk Hammett..... and that suits me
Thank you so much Richard. Your guitar is such sweetness. The flame is FIRE!!!
Thanks Richard. Very cool guitar 🎸😎
Sugar Bucker in the neck with the Custom Bucker in the bridge. 490s are just a solid combo
Interesting sound demo. Sound being very subjective as to what any person likes hearing. To my ears the Sugarbuckers sounded to be a little more articulate and open while still have that slightly warmer mellower tone. I preferred the Sugarbuckers, then the 498R/498T set and lastly the Custombuckers. Plus a beautiful looking guitar.
Three gorgeous guitars. Thanks for comparing. I’d like to try a Sugarbucker bridge with a Dimarzio Anniversary PAF in the neck.
Color, Grain, and Pickups together make that a One in a Million Les Paul. Very Nice!
Brandonwound pickups are absolutely killer, btw…sort of an industry secret, compared to other boutique pickup makers. If you play your LPs (some collectors do not), they are a serious upgrade…the current owner, Zach Oswald, worked for Jared Brandon and does restorations of original PAFs in addition to offering his own designs. I have bought three sets of pups from them and would consider them first for any Les Paul I own.
Lovely Custom Richard, thanks for sharing!!!
10:26 Everyone has to take a drink! Trogly likes the Neck Pickup!
Is there a drinking game already
? I want in.
I liked the custombuckers, but that sugarbucker neck sounded great clean.
Well done review, Thanks. I agree the neck pickup has a nice open non muddy tone but the bridge just wasn’t doing it for me either. Glad you compared it to the 490’s and a set of custom buckers. I would highly recommend doing a review of the Suhr Thornbuckers. There are actually regular Thornbucker as well as the II and the plus series. So far I have the regular Thornbucker in the neck position but getting ready to replace my bridge Pearly Gates with a Thornbucker reg or possibly the II or the plus once I hear a well done review, like this, in a Les Paul.
SICK TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i really like the orange finish!
Thank you for sharing, Richard!
Thanks Richard! Enjoy your new pickups!
I love the neck pickup a whole bunch. I'd pair that up with my favorite bridge pickups (either a Burstbucker 3 or a Classic 57 Plus) and enjoy the heck out of it.
That is a beautiful guitar! Thanks Richard!
Thank you for sharing your guitar
Beautiful top, really works with the gold and black ...pick guard off. Thanks Richard for sharing'
Thanks for sharing your gorgeous guitar with us Richard
On the pickups, I really like the neck Sugarbucker, it seems more "open" and less compressed than the others with no muddiness and a lovely clarity. I think I'm with you on the Custombucker bridge though Austin, so neck Sugarbucker and bridge Custombucker for me
Thank you for sharing your guitar Richard
Beautiful Custom but IMO, the 498T slays the Sugarbucker bridge pup, at least for rock/metal. Not just higher output, but fuller. Pickguard on for sure on this one. Great contrast with the orange finish.
Looking forward to tomorow’s Halloween special!
Thank you Richard! Love the orange color and top. I'm a fan of the neck pickup. God bless and rock on 👍😎🎸
The beginning answered my question with me wanting to send in my 2018 Gibson SG special. I was thinking it would be a great review piece considering it comes stock with Firebird pickups, 24 block inlayed frets and the gold crown on the headstock. Sounds immaculate.
That guitar is gorgeous. I love the color. Congratulations Rich.
A4 pickups have a soft crunch to the attack and that comes across really well on these. Not sure I've ever played/heard an underwound A4 set and they sound great!
The extra black of the pickguard makes it more Halloween 🎃
Thakns Richard - Those are some sweet soundings PUPS, nice and beefy in the low end but not woofy or wooly
Thank you Richard. Beautiful Les Paul you have there.
Salutations Austin!
And a big thanks to Richard for making this review possible!
I really like the shades of orange on this Les Paul Custom!
I am not sure how it would look on an entirely Mahogany body, but it might look fantastic!
The Sugarbuckers do have a distinctive clean sound that some guitarist might really like, it would be interesting if they also offered them with four conductor wires for some coil splitting capabilities.
Thanks for sharing!
Please have an excellent and awesome day!
☀️✨🌟🎸
Thank you for sharing your guitar Richard!
Very nice guitar. I like this one with the black pick guard on.
Richard, Thank You Sir.
Fantastic LP Custom, Congrats Man.
I have two Wildwood Selects that have underwound alnico 2 burstbuckers in them, and these Sugarbuckers remind me a lot of them. Almost in between a Tele and a typical PAF humbucker. Great for that edge of breakup sound, but I have to admit they lack some girth when it comes to medium gain tones. I absolutely loved the first one I got. I got the 2nd one because the quality of service and spot on QC Wildwood provided me with my first. I do think I want to switch out the pickups in the 2nd one because its not as fun to have two Les Pauls that sound similar. I have the 50's with the Wildwoods, a 60's with 61 Burstbuckers, and I think my 3rd is going to get something more similar to Slashbuckers.
THANKYOUFORSHARING.
Thanks for sharing your guitar Richard!
Thanks Rich, great color.
Beautiful guitar Richard and it sounds awesome!.thank you Richard!
Thank you for sharing your guitar!
If you're a hard rock/metal player and you like to keep your guitar all original then the 498/490 combo is the way to go especially for the customs.
Couldn't agree more, I play mostly hard rock and metal and the 498T has always been my favorite Gibson pickup
Even for clean tones, 490R/498T just nails it. Very usable tones and clarity.
Love them on my SG!
I threw some 70’s Tributes in my Les Paul and they sound great. All the high output I need.
What a sweet guitar. Thanks Richard. Personally loved the sugarbuckers
Man, those PUs kick ass. That'd be a killer recording guitar. Stoked for the dude that picked up this guitar.
And glad to have heard of Sugarbuckers now. Kinda want a pair.
Kinda reminds me of the Blood Orange PRS I got recently. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but orange really works on a flame maple top when you see it in person, hold it, play it. Nice shimmer in stage lights, as I bet this one does too.
Love the color & flame top. I think it's an ideal guitar for rhythm--really like the neck pickup. I'd want to hear it with more gain/overdrive to decide further. Thanks Richard (and Trogly, too).
Anyone know what the song Trogly's playing at 14:26?
Now that is a beautiful guitar! I love Les Paul customs & love orange so seeing a Custom in orange is eye candy!
The dc special you showed at 09:09 may be my favourite guitar of all time, I hope you review it or a similar one some day
Might be just me, but I always prefer Les Pauls *with* the pickguard. It really adds style and some cool assymetry.
Noooooooooooo...... 😱 How could you want to hide all that lovely, flamey goodness!? 😁
A great comparison of different pups. Thanks Richard for sharing. Guitarwise, the NAMM custom guitar is stunning.
Thanks Richard ! That's a sharp looking Custom , I'm usually not into Gold hardware yet that guitar pulls it off with that finish/color , dig them pickups tooz ! and damn that Sunburst LP is a beauty , reminds me of the ' Stanley ' burst ...Thanks Trog ! Joyous Samhain / Halloween / Day of the DEAD to all the guitardos !
Beautiful guitar Richard. Thanks for the loan! 👍
As for tones, I love the 490R/498T in my 2016 LP Studio HP and the Classic '57s in my 2015 LP Less+. Don't think the Sugarbuckers are for me.
Based upon this comparison, I need a set of Custombuckers to replace the Probuckers in my 2018 LP HP2 😁
How about a semi-hollow with pumpkin eyes and teeth for cutouts?
That guitar is a real beauty! ❤ I really liked the sound of the pickups, too. I’ve got a set of Amber (Maybach) Spirit of 59s on the way for my Standard, which has Duncans atm. I’m really hoping it’ll transform a great guitar to the realms of the extraord8nary. 😊
Well done, Richard! 👍👍
Thank you Richard.
8:55 Austin, I'd love to see a '57 RI LP Custom with a figured Mahogany Top and Back finished completely in Gibson's Rust finish.
Just my $.02 Cents, that Gibson Rust Finish is magic for sure.
From what I heard hear, I prefer the Sugarbucker in the neck both clean and distorted. But for the bridge, I liked the custom bucker clean and the 498T Distorted. I think I’m a little biased because my SG has the 490 set (not 498 but the 490 is similar), and it sounded close to what I’m used to. But if I was gonna choose what I’d want for an LP like this, I’d probably pick the sugar bucker in the neck and custom bucker in the bridge.
Also I’m not usually a fan of Orange guitars but this one looks beautiful, Richard is a lucky man!
I really think the way you hold your pick and strum has the most to do with your tone. To my ears, they all sound very similar as long as they’re all being played by Trogly. I have a loose grip on my pick and use my thumb and middle finger with my index finger to support it. I think letting your wrist stay limp (insert joke here) with a loose grip in the pick makes it less harsh sounding when strumming chords. Simply tightening or stiffening your wrist and grip on your pick can give it more intensity. Keep it loose for a pleasing sound. Maybe I think too much.🤷♂️
Custom buckers all the way!... but i do like the Neck pick up Sugarbucker and the middle combination on the cleans. Pretty nice.
Guitar looks amazing and sounds amazing, thanks Richard! Killer axe you have there
Thanks for sharing your guitar, Richard!
Wow we got the Sugarbuckers . I've been excited to hear these , Very nice guitar thank your veiwer. Perfect color for the season. Pickguard off please like the wood grain. Nice beautiful Gibson crunchy pickups I like them.
Thanks Richard, thank you Austin.
Interesting comparison.
Thank You Richard!
Richard rocks, gorgeous les paul
Muchas gracias Ricardo!
Congrats Richard. Striking guitar with a diverse variety of useful tones.
Thanks Richard!
Being a Gretsch player I adore the color and have been interested in the Sugarbuckers since they came out. I want to have a Les Paul I can love but haven’t met it yet. These just might do it for me.
Fralin has a page explaining the various quirks of AlNiCo types:
"Alnico 4 is stronger than both Alnico 2 and 3, but weaker than Alnico 5. It has the most balanced and “even” EQ out of all of the Alnico strengths. The bass and highs are tighter and stronger than Alnico 2, and the midrange is more balanced. We use this pickup in our Modern P.A.F. and P90‘s, and it helps to balance out the overwound properties of them. Alnico 4 has softer highs than Alnico 5."
It's funny, Fralin say's it's great for overwound... and these Sugarbuckers are UNDERwound.😂
Overwound and underwound are loose terms. The Sugarbucker outputs are the same as what Gibson produced from the 60s through most the 80s and today's Gibson T-types which tribute the 70s spec. Gibsons current underwound labeled pickups are lower output than Sugarbucker. Gibson makes a much hotter set of pickups with A-4 which are utilized by the 1959 Collectors Humbucker Series 1 set. Those are killer sounding.
Cool guitar, Thank you Richard!
@Trog you should check out a Wildwood spec standard, they have proprietary 59’ spec humbuckers. Mine has dc readings of around 7k ohm, lots of clarity and bite, and gets raunchy with crunch. I’d probably let you borrow it 🙂
Thanks Richard for sharing ur guitar
Really nice guitar, much thanks to both you and its owner for sharing it with us.
Great review, and I also had a lot of fun checking out the background story and extensive sound samples of the test pickups on the Sweetwater website (despite some weird inclusions and strange omissions!). However, this was the one time when Trogly omits the DC resistance test on the pickups!!! I even rewound a few times in case I'd somehow missed it!
yeah, that was a bit of a blunder on my part but didn't catch it until the guitar was packed up and sent out
Thanks Richard - gorgeous guitar!
Good job Richard. I have been dying to listen to them as a have four sets of pickups from Jarrod before he went to work at Gibson
Troglodytes assemble!!! Thanks Rich!!! Beautiful guitar.
Thanks Richard ! LoL Trogly did you ever hear of CHEVRON gas stations ? LoL
Thank You Richard. What a gorgeous instrument. Not usually a fan of gold hardware but perfectly suited to this particular colour. Cheers Mate from the Land Down Under. And Cheers Mate to you Trogly. I'll put a prawn on the barbie for you both and knock down a couple of cold ones in your honour.
Cheers Richard. Sweet Les Paul.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Richard! That thing is absolutely stellar!
I like them. Tone seems like it would good for southern style classic rock
That’s a sweet looking flame top!
this set of sugarbuckers sounds way different than the other demo on youtube. on that video they sound really full and rich with great articulation. Are you sure that bridge pickup wasn't too far away from strings.? Should be around 3/32" on bass side and 1/16" on treble side. Personally, I prefer the Gibson 57 classics.
Thank you Richard! If you’re really in a sharing mood I’d love a Gibson Les Paul.