Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

[BenPerkins]

I have an SG Standard with P90s:

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/SG/Gibson-USA/SG-Standard-P-90.aspx

Playing through an Orange Tiny Terror. Looking for other pups (mini humbuckers possibly) for early Sabbath or Cream style playing. I was thinking maybe SM-1 in the neck, SM-2 in the bridge. Just looking for ideas, as I was also looking at the Antiquity II mini humbucker. Mainly want to avoid P90s due to feedback etc.

Thank you.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

sm1/sm2 is a good idea.

[beaubrummels]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

Haven't tried these, but they look interesting also, given your target sounds.

http://www.zhangbucker.com/mini-humbuckers.html

[AlexR]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

I have a set of Zhangs in my '80 deluxe......about 10k for the bridge and 7.something for the neck........really nice. They give you the clear tones of the mini, but the hotter bridge has enough grunt not to be shrill and still keep the mini tonality. The neck is perhaps the nicest tone from that position I've heard.

[blueman335]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

The neck is perhaps the nicest tone from that position I've heard.

Mini-HB's in the neck slot are great. More clarity, no mud.

[sosomething]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

The reason to move away from P-90s would be to avoid the 60-cycle hum, not feedback. I don't think a P-90 is necessarily any more prone to feedback than a mini-hum.

I would second those who said a mini-hum in the neck is the bee's knees. I have an SM-1 in the neck of a Telecaster and it is one of the sweetest, most expressive neck pickup tones I've gotten from any guitar. If I was converting a P-90 axe to minis, I'd go SM-1n and SM-2b and see where it took me.

[blueman335]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

I would second those who said a mini-hum in the neck is the bee's knees. I have an SM-1 in the neck of a Telecaster and it is one of the sweetest, most expressive neck pickup tones I've gotten from any guitar.

+1. A mini neck and a HB bridge should be standard on a lot of factory guitars.

[idsnowdog]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

What are you trying to achieve by changing pickups? Firebird and Deluxe style pickups are cool, but they don't sound like Cream or Early Black Sabbath. They are brighter and clearer than full sized humbuckers and are closer in tone to single coil pickups than full sized humbuckers. P90's are actually closer in tone to PAF's than firebird/deluxe pickups are. If you want a full sized humbucker sound Dimarzio makes P90 sized versions of their Super Distortion. If you're looking for a P90 that handles distortion better there's the Custom and Hot P90's from SD. There are also P90 sized humbuckers from Rio Grande which try to emulate their full sized humbuckers. If you haven't had a chance to play some mini's I would suggest trying a Firebird or a Les Paul Deluxe to familiarize yourself with what they sound like.


Here are two clips of the same song using the same amps except one is a SG with P90's and one a Les Paul Deluxe with mini humbuckers. For any of the purists out there yes I know that Firebird and Deluxe pickups are different, but they are more similar tonally than a P90 and mini!




Two more for comparison:

[AlexR]

Re: Need pickup suggestion: SG and mini HBs

Man, his tone with the p90 SG was amazing!