Mini Humbuckers - options / experiences?

[zizyphus]

Hey!

I'm looking for a solid mini-hum neck pickup that is bright and cleans up well, but can also do smooth / singing leads with gain. I'd like it to be 4-wire. I'm ok with a firebird pickup rather than a classic epiphone / LP deluxe style mini humbucker, if that's what gets me the tones I want.

There really aren't many mini-hum options out there, and of the ones that exist, very few seem to have good sound samples I can listen to help my search. What are your experiences with what's available?__PRESENT

 

[jeremy]

why 4 wire? a split mini aint great. if you need 4 wire, id go for the sm3 seymourized mini humbucker. its not a copy of the mini humbucker or a fb pup but a single magnet with steel blade poles under the cover. sounds great. if you dont actually need the 4 wire, then either of the antiquity models are fantastic. i love both the firebird and the mini-humbuckers, the fb has a bit more output and the mini is a little warmer

 

[Bogner]

Usually a p90 will fit so that could be an option. There are more options there than on mini's I believe.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

The “problem” with mini humbuckers is they are usually a copy of a Firebird or LP Deluxe, neither of which are at all similar to a regular humbucker.

Then you have stuff like the Reo Grande mini hum I had to rewind last week that’s like 20k! I think they have more sane models.

I do a few as well wound hotter than a Deluxe but not crazy.

The DiMarzio DP240 sounds like a versatile pickup. Also has 4/conductor wiring.


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[Artie]

The only thing I can add here is that the mini-hum should become the standard Tele neck pup. I installed one for a customer and immediately ordered one for myself. (SM-3) Sweet, sweet Tele neck pup.

 

[jeremy]

i use an antiquity fb pup in the neck of my tele and its glorious

 

[Mincer]

The only thing I can add here is that the mini-hum should become the standard Tele neck pup. I installed one for a customer and immediately ordered one for myself. (SM-3) Sweet, sweet Tele neck pup.

That is actually a really great idea.

 

[chadd]

The “problem” with mini humbuckers is they are usually a copy of a Firebird or LP Deluxe, neither of which are at all similar to a regular humbucker.

Then you have stuff like the Reo Grande mini hum I had to rewind last week that’s like 20k! I think they have more sane models.

I do a few as well wound hotter than a Deluxe but not crazy.

The DiMarzio DP240 sounds like a versatile pickup. Also has 4/conductor wiring.


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Rio makes the Texas mini and will even do the Buffalo if you ask them. I have a Baby BBQ in my junior now, but it was great in my Kauer Banshee, too.

I have a DiMarzio 240 in the neck of my tele and I'm not a big fan.

https://www.riograndepickups.com/specifications

 

[chadd]

The only thing I can add here is that the mini-hum should become the standard Tele neck pup. I installed one for a customer and immediately ordered one for myself. (SM-3) Sweet, sweet Tele neck pup.

I've said the same for years, love minis in the neck

 

[Drak]

A Mini-hum has been my standard issue Tele neck pickup install on my builds for probably over 20 years.
Well, over a HB or a P-90.
They are a perfect match with a Tele bridge (the normal winds).

But, most people for some reason don't want to hear it.
They're all about a HB or a P-90, which generally produces a very poor balance.
Which leads to compromise.
Compromising with pickups is never a good bet or idea, you want a great matchup, not a compromise.
I think most people are somewhat uninformed about mini-hums so they simply avoid them as an option.
Whatever...I'm not the one playing your Tele...

 

[Teleplayer]

The only thing I can add here is that the mini-hum should become the standard Tele neck pup. I installed one for a customer and immediately ordered one for myself. (SM-3) Sweet, sweet Tele neck pup.

If you have not seen them already, Ibanez recently introduced that with "AZS series". They resemble a Telecaster, but use a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker in the neck. Specifically its called a Seymour Duncan® Magic Touch-mini™ (H) neck pickup Passive/Alnico. I'm curious to know if the magic touch mini is similar to a SM-1 or SM-3.

 

[Clint 55]

Minis rule. Pick one.

 

[Artie]

I think most people are somewhat uninformed about mini-hums so they simply avoid them as an option.

Me included. I saw them as some oddball little pickup for some guitar application that I didn't have. It wasn't 'til I installed one for a customer that I saw the light.

 

[zizyphus]

I'm glad there's so much mini-hum enthusiasm!
I have a set of minis in an SG special, and the pup I'm looking for right now is, incidentally, for a tele - I'm glad to hear it's a winning recipe!

why 4 wire? a split mini aint great.

That's a totally fair position to take, but I usually get around the mosquito-y thinness of split 'bucker by using a resistor for a partial split.

Also, one of my favorite tones from the SG I mentioned above actually comes from splitting the bridge mini! To be fair, it sounds like absolute garbage clean, but on a high-gain setting, the thinness of the partially split mini in the bridge actually sounds like I turned on a treble booster. Its a very focused, tight, cutting high-gain tone (that is painful without gain lol)


__PRESENT

 

[solspirit]

Believe it or not, everything you described sounds like a bridge position lil screaming demon in the neck

 

[zionstrat]

Minis and firebirds are my favorite pickup swap for a tele neck and I recently had an opportunity to install a DiMarzio 4 conductor mini.

The DiMarzio does exactly what a mini should.. it cleans up well and does light crunch nicely.

It was a major rewire with a five way to add hoop and series... however the client asked me to do something I have always avoided...to parallel a mini.

He's listened to me compare and contrast coil cuts to parallels for years and he wanted to experiment. However I told him this is not the place or time to mess with coils because minis aren't that powerful to start with.

But he stuck to his guns so I wired up a push pull and the parallel measured a good old 1.5k ohms... I was preparing my sinister "I told you so" laugh, I plugged it in and I was totally knocked out by the parallel to self.

I get the idea that a parallel to self is a little more complex than a coil split but this sound was amazing.

Considering that any mini is going to have more output than a standard telly neck pup, the parallel sound was what I imagine the original neck in a telly should have been...clean and articulate without the mud.

In the middle position it sounds just like a regular tele. When you return the mini to series you get a significant umph.

I guess this is the exception that we talk about when we say that resistance isn't everything.

So he's got it set up with one of my favorite tricks... When the mini is parallel to self he dials up the preamp just short of dirt in positions 1, 3 and 5. And when he returns the mini to series it sings. And when he switches to 4th position the mini and bridge go in series and it really cuts well.

So live and learn, again I'm not entirely sure why this sounded so good. I did shoot the whole mod however I've done this mod so many times before that I didn't use my room mic.

If I can find time I think I'll go ahead and put the video together anyway and we'll see what we can hear from the good old microphone in the cell phone.

​​​​​​

 

[Drak]

^ ^ That is an interesting story and thanks for having the courage to parallel a mini.
Which leads me to this: the Bill Lawrence/Gibson Marauder bridge pickup.
I have three of them I bought for about $25.00 each years ago and bought to put in the necks of Teles.
I have to make a pickguard router cutout template for them yet.

These things ohm out at 2k & some change... like 2.2k IIRC.
I've always believed they were humbuckers permanently wired in parallel (only two wires so no options)
Which would put each coil at around 4.4k, and if it could be done, series connected for a high 8k pickup.
And their aperture window is about the same size as a mini, they're bigger and beefier than a SC.
So I'm expecting glorious (if not permanent) toanz from my old Marauder pickups in a Tele neck.
Mine are the later-issue black cover jobs.

Maybe install two of them side-by-side and series THAT?

Interesting story.

 

[zionstrat]

Drak, thanks for the kudos but the client almost had to bend my arm to get me to do it (that's also a lot of wiring in a standard tele cavity

Mararder photos are cool! Although obvious now, I didn't know they are stacked hbs... Very interesting.

Your maths sound right so it would be interesting to see if they can be converted... Guessing they don't have a lot of historic value?

As far as pickups side by side, why not give it a shot? I've got a bathtub strat that I use for this type of experiment. Some think that this creates interference between pickups but why not see what happens?

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[Drak]

No conversion possible, they're all entombed in epoxy with two leads, but one could install two of them and wire that in series...

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Minis and firebirds are my favorite pickup swap for a tele neck and I recently had an opportunity to install a DiMarzio 4 conductor mini.

The DiMarzio does exactly what a mini should.. it cleans up well and does light crunch nicely.

It was a major rewire with a five way to add hoop and series... however the client asked me to do something I have always avoided...to parallel a mini.

He's listened to me compare and contrast coil cuts to parallels for years and he wanted to experiment. However I told him this is not the place or time to mess with coils because minis aren't that powerful to start with.

But he stuck to his guns so I wired up a push pull and the parallel measured a good old 1.5k ohms... I was preparing my sinister "I told you so" laugh, I plugged it in and I was totally knocked out by the parallel to self.

I get the idea that a parallel to self is a little more complex than a coil split but this sound was amazing.

Considering that any mini is going to have more output than a standard telly neck pup, the parallel sound was what I imagine the original neck in a telly should have been...clean and articulate without the mud.

In the middle position it sounds just like a regular tele. When you return the mini to series you get a significant umph.

I guess this is the exception that we talk about when we say that resistance isn't everything.

So he's got it set up with one of my favorite tricks... When the mini is parallel to self he dials up the preamp just short of dirt in positions 1, 3 and 5. And when he returns the mini to series it sings. And when he switches to 4th position the mini and bridge go in series and it really cuts well.

So live and learn, again I'm not entirely sure why this sounded so good. I did shoot the whole mod however I've done this mod so many times before that I didn't use my room mic.

If I can find time I think I'll go ahead and put the video together anyway and we'll see what we can hear from the good old microphone in the cell phone.

​​​​​​

I always prefer parallel to split coil. It gets that clean bright tone with no hum.


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