Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

S

SJ318

New member
Hi,
There is so much talk about muddy/boomy/unclear neck humbuckers, (regardless of favorite diff. winds and outputs for bridge h.buckers), I wonder why mini HB's are not mentioned as a clean neck pup. I may be way off, however it seems there was a case made for PRS's "narrow field" neck pickup. While being a h.bucker, the narrow design "seeing" less string vibration (or shorter area) seems like a good way for a neck pup to be or sound clearer and have less booming, muddy, character.
Where am I off on this, as I never have used a mini, in theory it makes sense. Consider the Firebird, pretty much a mini from what I have read here many times. J.Winter, '68 Clapton, etc. sure sounded awful bright, in a good way of course. Moving one of those bridge Firebirds to the neck would still be pretty clear. Forget about aesthetics on this one, if that's ok.
-Steven ........ I normally read this on my iPad in bed, but it is in Chinese now (only S.Duncan, no other sites, and only the pup lounge????), can't seem to fix it. but I have no computer skills. someone volunteered to help on another matter, maybe I will take them up on this one. If they read this. I forgot who it was, forgive me whomever it was.
 
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Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Once I went on the road with a singer that owned a 1980 LPDeluxe.

He INSISTED I used HIS guitar. It had the muddy neck/thin bridge syndrome in spades and then some. From that time on, I avoided mini-hums, as the syndrome reflects the physics: The neck read harmonic nodes closer to the neck and the bridge closer to the bridge than a standard HB.

That's my story, you can read it as you see fit.

HTH,
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

I've got a Firebird, and the love the mini-HB in the neck, very clear and articulate. I knew a guy a few years ago with a Firebird, and the rich tones he got from that guitar were wonderful.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

I think mostly because there aren't a lot of guitars sold today with them. LP Deluxe sales seem to be driven by Pete Townshend 40 years ago, and new guitarists have no idea who he is. So, you wind up with companies rarely routing for mini-hums, and so they become less popular. I have heard good sounding LP Deluxes, but they were generally really heavy guitars that were not the example of fine Gibson craftsmanship of the time. To a bigger extent, current music trends have a huge segment of the MI industry, and there simply isn't anyone famous out there for young people to emulate.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

"Vintage correct" Firebird PU"s are underwound HB's (around 6,2k) with two magnets instead of the pole pieces. You know how they sound, Steve, since you mention Johnny Winter. :-)

Here is how they look inside: http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_...ucker/Firebird_Mini_Humbucker_Pickup_Kit.html


LP Dlx mini HB's are different. They contain more wire, a single bar magnet, a steel rail and six mini screw poles:

http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_...mbucker/Deluxe_Mini_Humbucker_Pickup_Kit.html

This architecture gives them more inductance, tends to flatten their resonant peak and to deliver slightly "subdued" upper harmonics.

I've an Epi Wilshire with such mini HB's and I love it as it is. But the neck pickup is closer to the bridge than in a typical LP... and I wouldn’t consider it simply as a clearer sounding HB: it has its own tone IMHO.

FWIW.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

I see plenty Tele's these days with mini humbuckers in the neck position.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Neck minis are great. Or I should say the Zhangbucker ones I have are great. They do sound nice and articulate and less tubby.

The issue is that they operate on a way different mounting to regular buckers, plus if you do fit one, there in an unsightly gap.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

AlexR said:
Neck minis are great. Or I should say the Zhangbucker ones I have are great. They do sound nice and articulate and less tubby.
Click to expand...


A mini-HB neck and full HB bridge is a great pairing and should be a common sight.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Wow,
Thank you, all. Lots of love for mini's after all. Sounds like the diff between a stat and a HB. I am surprised what they look like inside, as I visit Stew-Mac from time to time. dr.barlo, great sound on the neck, I almost had to pull my wah wah out. thank's for taking the time..
-Steve
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Minis are great at adding perhaps a rasp that is not present with full size buckers. And I'm talking the Deluxe style here. They are quite underrated.......perhaps due to the rather underpowered 70's iterations coupled with the toppy amps that existed back then too.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Hi again,
As far as Duncan mini's, which do you think would be the cleanest in the neck? BTW- the adapters from Mojotone work great with mini's, I have seen them. Cool drop in ring for HBuckers!
-SJB
 
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Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

The Vintage Mini sounds to me to be the cleanest, but all neck minis (to me) have a lot of mids going on with them. They aren't ever clean and clear like a Jazz or anything.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

You have to separate 'clean' from 'sterile'. The Jazz is clean in that it is flat and neutral. The typical low output neck pickup will usually get the 'clean' from the low wind making the treble or crispness more evident, even with the mids being there due to the wind. For the blues type player a regular vintage pickup is clean as it has dynamics, but also expressiveness and character when pushed/played harder.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Agreed,
I use a Seth w/a A4 mag (even cleaner) and recently acquired a fantastic Bloomfield pup from ECPickups that just kills with cleans in the neck. Seems the forum is split on yea or nay a little on the mini bucker.
Glad I asked, good answers and info either way. Even if I never play live again, I will try one in the bridge. I backed up Harvey Mandel for a week and his neck was killer clean. But, that's Harvey, and "all in the fingers" applies greatly for him. He used a stock late '60s LP w/mini's, or maybe an early '70's. I have 4 hours of tape to prove it. Only guy I ever heard tap SLOW and it sounded like music you'd hear in heaven. He is the single MOST underrated guitarist ever (imho) and is on the verge of death from cancer, has been fighting it for what seems like a almost 2 years now. If you don't know him, listen to Shangrenade, where he shows his tapping way before Eddie, and his taste in general. There is no one that sounds like him before or since.
sj
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

I particularly like Firebird mini. It's SM-1n.

11004331_10153032610082593_478685804_n.jpg

It's loud and can compete with SP90-2n in the bridge which sounds fabulous too, a well-matched pair in this mahog hybrid guitar.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

elepe-
That is as cool looking guitar as I have seen. I want to plug it in at a house where I can crank it, and I bet it can be ferocious as well as clean. So Firebird mimi neck is a more clean/bell like sound than the other mini's ? Hopefully that is a yes or no question, but yes and no questions are a rarity. BTW, are those trems as stable as a std. Strat? never seen the inside nor played one.
Thanks for answering,
Steve
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Firebird minis are constructed more like a strat/tele pickup......in that the magnet is also the poles (in this case 2 blades). The Deluxe mini is constructed with a bar mag like a full size humbucker. I'm sure I don;t need to elaborate on the differences tonally.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

Used to have an old Tokai Tele with a Gotoh mini in the neck.
Experimented with a full size bucker in the bridge, a standard single coil and yet another setup with two mini's.
On that guitar I stuck with the latter option.
 
Re: Why no talk of Mini-HB neck (regardless of HB bridge)?

SJ318 said:
elepe-
That is as cool looking guitar as I have seen. I want to plug it in at a house where I can crank it, and I bet it can be ferocious as well as clean. So Firebird mimi neck is a more clean/bell like sound than the other mini's ? Hopefully that is a yes or no question, but yes and no questions are a rarity. BTW, are those trems as stable as a std. Strat? never seen the inside nor played one.
Thanks for answering,
Steve
Click to expand...

Thank Steve. Indeed ferocious as well as clean is what the guitar is intended to be. Well, I never play a really good sounding minihb that I can compare to firebird mini (sm-1n) to give a fair testimony. Lower wind minihb might give you good clean sound but I'm not sure about bell like which sm-1 can deliver. Even sm-3n isn't as sparkly as its sibling. Jag/JM trem is as stable as strat trem. And I use it for subtle playing anyway. Thicker strings gauge also maintain the stability (I use 11-49) and in term of tone, it compliments the raunchy, gritty sound of the guitar when I crank it.
 
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