Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Gamlejohn

Gamlejohn

New member
I am tired of the Burstbuckers in my Les Paul Standard. The tone is dull and uninspiring and the neck is way too muddy. I never tried a Les Paul deluxe, but I had an Antiquity Firebird in the neck of my Tele. Although it didn't work for me combined with a single coil, I loved the sound of it, so I am thinking it would sound good in my Les Paul.

Can I put an minibucker in a Les Paul Standard? Will the mounting rings fit a regular humbucker route? Do I need to change the pots and caps or do minibuckers use the same pots and caps as regular humbuckers?

Any thoughts on this?
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Les Paul Deluxe mini-hum mounts fit in P-90 sized routes, not standard humbucker sized routes. The pickups themselves are smaller than a P-90 though - so It's possible a mini-hum would fit in a humbucker route, assuming someone makes a custom mounting ring that's the right size.

I'm not sure what pot value minis use, I think it's the same as regular Gibson hums though. Hopefully someone else will chime in

Incidentally I love my Deluxe. Mini-humbuckers in a Les Paul are very cool indeed :)
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

You'll need either a mini 'bucker inside a regular humbucker housing, or a set of custom rings to do what you planned.

If you like the Firebird style mini's, you might also like the Phat Cats. I really like the SM-1's in my tele and my Alleykat, and I also liked the PC's when I tried them in my LP.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

I don't know of any "adapters" to make a mini-bucker fit on a full-size rout.

BUT...you CAN just mount the mini-bucker in your pickup ring directly, if you use the minibucker mount screws (they are usually a bit thicker and with a nut on the bottom). I did this for the middle position of a Lucille that I had routed for a middle humbucker.

The downside is it doesn't look so hot. But it works...
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Thanks for the help guys. I just ordered a set of Phat Cats like Benjy recommended. I look forward to trying them in my Les Paul.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

I had a couple of LP Deluxe guitars ... I think the Phat Cats will be a different animal but please come back and tell us how they do. I'm on the edge about to get a set of Phat Cats. I want to build a quick disconnect setup for my Washburn (A2P(n)/498T to Phat Cats).
 
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Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

P90s sound nothing like minis. I'd say they're almost polar opposites.

I have a pair of minis mounted in a humbucker format - it wasn't hard to do.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

AdmiralB said:
P90s sound nothing like minis. I'd say they're almost polar opposites.

I have a pair of minis mounted in a humbucker format - it wasn't hard to do.
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Are they? I never played P-90s but I got the impression that they've got more high end and more single coil spank that a humbucker. And that was how I would discribe the Firebird mini I had in my Tele. What difference can I expect?

I came to realize that I'm not really a humbucker man and if the Phat Cats are wrong for me, well... It will be a $150 lerning experience.

i am still very interested in minibuckers. Please tell us how you mounted your minibuckers.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Gamlejohn said:
Are they? I never played P-90s but I got the impression that they've got more high end and more single coil spank that a humbucker. And that was how I would discribe the Firebird mini I had in my Tele. What difference can I expect?

I came to realize that I'm not really a humbucker man and if the Phat Cats are wrong for me, well... It will be a $150 lerning experience.

i am still very interested in minibuckers. Please tell us how you mounted your minibuckers.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that PC's sound like Firebird Mini's. They're different animals, but they do share some characteristics. Both have a very open, chimey high end, airy mids, and tight, unobtrusive bass frequencies.

PC's and P-90's are hotter and more aggressive than mini's.

Gamblejon, play the PC's for a couple of months. If you're not happy with them and you don't qualify for the 21 Day exchange program, I'll buy them off of you so you don't take the full $150 hit.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Minis sound a lot like Telecaster bridge pickups. P90s have the big midrange punch and smooth high end.

As far as pictures of mine...I don't have any of the building process. I have one of them in a guitar, but they look like Gibson Iommis - I used nickel-plated Allparts covers without holes. I just pulled them out of the mini covers (I used DiMarzio Minibuckers, the older style with the bar magnets), tacked them into the Allparts covers with a little wax, then soldered in a new baseplate (I used Stew-Mac). Then potted the whole thing.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Benjy_26 said:
I'm sorry if I gave the impression that PC's sound like Firebird Mini's. They're different animals, but they do share some characteristics. Both have a very open, chimey high end, airy mids, and tight, unobtrusive bass frequencies.

PC's and P-90's are hotter and more aggressive than mini's.

Gamblejon, play the PC's for a couple of months. If you're not happy with them and you don't qualify for the 21 Day exchange program, I'll buy them off of you so you don't take the full $150 hit.
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Don't worry about it. I won't hold you responsible if I don't like them.

My Les Paul has been collecting dust for a while because I'm tired of the thick, dark and compressed humbucker sound. Anything different will be a good thing. Maybe it is just the Burstbuckers I don't like. I have Antiquities in all of my Fender guitars and I absolutely love them. I was about to put Ant buckers in my Les Paul too, but as far as I can read they are very dark sounding pickups. I miss the single coil clarity so I look forward to trying the Phat Cats. If the bridge pickup gets too bright I can always swap it for an Ant bucker. Or would that be a bad mix?
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

For mini-buckers, use a 500k pot for the neck, they sound waaaay too dark otherwise. For the bridge, I say 300k, but a 250k will do. The regular 500k pots will sound too bright for a mini humbucker bridge pickup.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

I think 500k ... I even use them for tele pickups ... then work with the caps. Just my preference.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Yeah, I guess it's all down to personal preference. I tried both, but I don't think I tried enough different caps on each. I like how my bridge sounds with a 300k pot though, too bad I can't remember what cap value I used.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

doveman said:
I think 500k ... I even use them for tele pickups ... then work with the caps. Just my preference.
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I agree. I also think that minis are an area where Duncan just falls down. I haven't tried the Antiquities, but I have used all three flavors of 'regular' minis and IMO, in comparison to some of the other choices out there, they sound muffled and constipated.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Just a small update: I just installed a set of Phat Cats in my Les Paul, and I love them!

Phat-Cat.jpg


I can't believe how good they are in my Les Paul. The clean sound is lively and detailed, but the minute I hit the strings hard they get agressive. With the smallest amount of gain they absolutely roar. Fantastic.

Thank you, Benjy, for recommending them. They are exactly what I've been looking for.
 
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Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Nice ... can you give us some clips? There aren't very many Phat Cat clips.
 
Re: Mini Humbucker in a Les Paul Standard?

Zhangliqun said:
That's a cool looking LP. Is that trans-black or a dark brown?
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Thanks. It is a trans black standard. I removed the creme and amber knobs, switches and pickup rings for some black plastic parts. Makes it look evil, doesn't it?

doveman said:
Nice ... can you give us some clips? There aren't very many Phat Cat clips.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I don't have a recording setup. And I am not nearly as strong a player as some of you guys. It would be too embarressing. :)
 
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