mini-humbucker vintage specs...

[Possum]

Does anyone have a real vintage Gibson mini they can measure? I got some parts from Mojo but am sure they are probably all wrong. Mostly interested in bobbin measurements, core size of the former, coil height, etc.

[soundmasterg]

I don't have any, but are you going for the Gibson mini, or the Firebird mini, or the Epiphone mini? They were all different. Personally I like the sound of the Firebird mini the best as far as minis go....

Greg

[Sweetfinger]

There's even more variants like the "Johnny Smith", the black covered ones that came on some early 70's SG's, and the split 3+3 pole version that was used on the Harmony made Silvertone 1446:

[jason lollar]

the variants including the 3X3 all used the same bobbins except the beatles- what was it called- the 160? the acoustic with the little pickup at the end of the fingerboard. The new covers are app 1/8" longer than the originals. sorry I dont have any other measurments readily availible for you

[Possum]

....

Basically looking for Gibson stock pole screws version. Guess I'll just have to buy one and destroy it. I doubt the WSC version is even close to vintage, screws are probably metric, wrong alloys, same old story....
cool Harmony!

[soundmasterg]

Thats the standard mini humbucker then. The Firebirds had bar magnets for both coils if I remember right. I don't much like the standard minis but the Firebird ones rawk!

Greg

[Possum]

...

Bar slugs with one magnet more likely....

[David Schwab]

Here's a page with some photos and info:

Mini Humbucker

I had a set from a LP Deluxe once and that's pretty much what they looked like on the inside.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I took apart one from an LP with those from the mid/late 70s and they looked pretty much like that. I remember the maple spacers that warped and popped the cover off making it go microphonic. I don't remember it falling apart upon taking the cover off like the writer of that article is saying, so either it didn't fall apart or it really wasn't that big of a deal.

[Possum]

....

When were the first mini's made? '61? Were the pole screw mini's only from the early 70's? I'm having difficulty finding dates on them in Gibson history books...

[oipunkguy]

the mini's are traced back to the epiphone company, before gibson bought them out. I'm guessing the 50's but not 100% sure. the newer firebird pickups have ceramic magnets and are wired to about 16k. the older ones are closer the the specs shown on seymour duncan's vintage minis.

[Possum]

....

I found out Gibson used them in '60, the ones with PAF stickers and yes from Epiphone, I wonder what models Epi used them on. I wouldn't put any stock in any factory pickups being authentic or the WSC parts for sure. Thats why I'm trying to find out whats real here. Not that I ever even liked them but its kind of PAF related in a way and I like old pickups. I wonder how the original first ones sounded...

[David Schwab]

I found out Gibson used them in '60, the ones with PAF stickers and yes from Epiphone, I wonder what models Epi used them on.

The '62 Wilshire and '61 Crestwood had them.

EPIPHONE CRESTWOOD DELUXE (1965) (30U-13276) - Elderly Instruments

In 1958 the Crestwood had dual New Yorker pickups. In 1961 they were replaced with the mini humbuckers. The '61 Crestwood had P-90's.

[oipunkguy]

personally, I love the sound of these pickups. they still can give you the thump of a humbucker, but the treble response is better in my opinion. If you are the type of guy that like humbuckers but think they can get too muddy in tone, mini's are a perfect choice. I bought a set of babybuckers from roi grande and these are wired so hot, it sounds really close the the standard size seymour duncan JB. I kinda like the vintage ones a little more, gives off a more jingly tone, particularly in the neck position.

David, did you ever get the message I sent you??????

[Possum]

...

Well PAF's weren't muddy pickups either, by the early 70's yeah then they were muddy crap. I guess the mini's were intended as budget pickups if thats where they were used first...