Little 59' for a Les Paul

L

LowBudgetViking

New member
Kind of confused with the Little 59'. I have that pickup in my ash-bodied maple-necked telecaster and the thing just kills with this certain amp I've been gigging out with. I'd really like to get the same results with two Les Pauls I have but am seeing that standard 59' humbucker and the Little 59' are different beasts. The Little 59' has more resistance and is listed as medium output. The standard 59' full-sized humbucker is listed as being "vintage" and has much less resistance, nearly half, as the Little 59'.

So, what would the equivalent of the Little 59' for telecaster be in a full-sized humbucker?
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

The little '59 doesn't sound the same as the big '59. The big one has more bass and mids, and sounds more like a humbucker. If you really want the same sound, why not get some of those plastic humbucker conversion rings and put the little '59 into your Les Paul? Then you get exactly what you're looking for.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

GuitarStv said:
The little '59 doesn't sound the same as the big '59. The big one has more bass and mids, and sounds more like a humbucker. If you really want the same sound, why not get some of those plastic humbucker conversion rings and put the little '59 into your Les Paul? Then you get exactly what you're looking for.
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All things being equal there has to be a less hackneyed version of accomplishing this than buying conversion hardware.....

With the full range of humbuckers in the world and in the Seymour Duncan line certainly something exists that's a more elegant solution.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

No, no full size hb sounds like a little hb. You have to either get something similar like a Demon or stick 1 or 2 little hbs in the bridge of ur LP.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

the lil buckers are quite different than their big brothers.
the lil 59 is way more middy and round than the SH-1 59.
for me it's the opposite: i hated the lil 59 (to compressed and middy) in my tele but dig the full sized 59 in general(scooped with bright highs and deep bass).

the higher DCR is due to the thinner wire used by the lil buckers and does not equal output.

this thread is a most read for you:
"Lil59 in a full size humbucker?"
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?335655-Lil59-in-a-full-size-humbucker
 
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Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

LowBudgetViking said:
See, that's what I'm looking for....the Little 59' is like the Demon? Yes?
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That would be my best guess. Medium output, scooped wind, then the pole set up adds some grit. Of course there could be other options, but those are the parameters that I'd compare.
 
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Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

ToneFiddler said:
the lil buckers are quite different than their big brothers.
the lil 59 is way more middy and round than the SH-1 59.
for me it's the opposite: i hated the lil 59 (to compressed and middy) in my tele but dig the full sized 59 in general(scooped with bright highs and deep bass).

the higher DCR is due to the thinner wire used by the lil buckers and does not equal output.

this thread is a most read for you:
"Lil59 in a full size humbucker?"
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?335655-Lil59-in-a-full-size-humbucker
Click to expand...

Interesting thread. Lots of info there! The recommendations seem to be for the Alico Pro II.

Thanks for your help!
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

ToneFiddler said:
agreed

don't agree
i would say its the other way round. the sh-1 is rather scooped.
lil59 has stuffed mids
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The little one sounded brighter (highs and upper mids) and the big one darker (lows and lower mids) to me. As always though, YMMV.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

Yeah, you can't compare output using DCR of 2 very differently-constructed pickups. While the Little 59 is about as good as a representation of the 59 as you will get with the very different design, the opposite is true: there isn't a full size humbucker that can replicate any of the little humbuckers, either.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

GuitarStv said:
The little one sounded brighter (highs and upper mids) and the big one darker (lows and lower mids) to me. As always though, YMMV.
Click to expand...
that might be true! more upper mids of the lil 59 vs more low mids of the fullsize 59. with my vintage 30s speakers the (upper) mids of the lil are too much. so my perception of mid amount is distorted.
One of these days i'll get another cab with a different kind of speaker.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

If you want a Little more output but in the same vein the pearly gates plus used in some fenders is more like an slightly hotter 59. It’s an A5 mag instead of the A2 of the regular pearly, and has about 9k output. It probably not as middy as the little one but it’s a great pickup.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

If you take 2 vintage pickups, one strat single coil and one full sized humbucker, the humbucker is going to have more output. A "medium output" strat single coil would be about equivalent to a vintage humbucker. The closest thing you are likely to find to the lil' 59 is the full sized 59 humbucker it tried to copy.
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

You can just mount it with a cheap bracket. Maybe even consider finding a double wide one that would let you mount a lil 59 and another coil pickup next to it. B4264BA0-29EF-498B-A225-BE40A4E2C86C.jpg
 
Re: Little 59' for a Les Paul

Learned a lot in this thread, so thanks one and all!

I was going to go with the Alnico II's but saw a Slash set that seemed pretty similar for a good price and snapped them up.

Pretty happy with them so far but the real test is a few months down the road after I've been in and out of different rooms for gigs and whether or not I still dig the sound.

Thanks again everyone!
 
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