anyone have a photo of the inside of an offset mini bucker?

[belwar]

I'm wondering if anyone has a guts shot, or can explain the magnet-pole setup in an offset mini humbucker. They seem to be early 60's before the firebird pickups so my gut says they use a single bar magnet, but what fills the void where the other six screws should be? Is there a slug? dead space? I'm trying to write some history of minis and I have no idea whats inside this variety.

thanks for any help

bel

[Peter Naglitsch]

Thats a mighty interesting pickup. I have never ever seen one like that. However a quick google search ended up with this from Curtis Novak:

Looks like some type of slug (s) in there

A history of minis. Great. I would love to read that when you are done!

[Peter Naglitsch]

Also found this
Seth Lover | Vintage Guitar® magazine
were Seth Lover mentions this offset mini being designed for Epiphone. Lover says it was weeker with more treble than the Gibson ecvivalent (mini or not isn't mentioned) and anyone with good eyes can see Novak's notes on 7.11K in the picture

[belwar]

Peter, that was exactly what I was looking for, and with a great quote as well from seth! Thank you so much. At first I saw the black on the slugs and I thought they were magnets (since gibson would mark magnetic direction with a felt pen) but then I zoomed in as far as I could and it looks like the black is just tape to hold the slug in place

I was under the impression that the mini was designed by Seth for Epiphone, but the wording in the article posted makes it sound like he took an existing design and altered it. Either the mini was his design or someone else and Gibby just repackaged it. Maybe i'll write Seymour an e-mail and see if he knows the origin - If anyone in the world does it would be him.

[Peter Naglitsch]

Agreed, sure looks like tape. I also first thought that the black was to indicate the magnetic direction. However that wouldn't work with both halves faceing the same direction...

[Sam Lee Guy]

Yes it's a single layer of 1/4" black paper tape round a steel slug. Some have rough sheered ends and some are chamfered on the ends. The tape helps keep the slug in the coil and also stops it rattling against the cover. Strangely the slug does not extend below the bobbin to make contact with the magnet. I've repaired these from Harmony and Epiphone guitars and most I've seen were around 6.8K and wound with 42 PE.

[David Schwab]

Yes it's a single layer of 1/4" black paper tape round a steel slug. Some have rough sheered ends and some are chamfered on the ends. The tape helps keep the slug in the coil and also stops it rattling against the cover. Strangely the slug does not extend below the bobbin to make contact with the magnet. I've repaired these from Harmony and Epiphone guitars and most I've seen were around 6.8K and wound with 42 PE.

Hey Sam! Nice to have you chime in.

I was thinking that the slug made no sense because it removes the whole split coil aspect of the pickup. But if it's not connected to the magnet, that would actually make more sense.

[belwar]

Agreed, sure looks like tape. I also first thought that the black was to indicate the magnetic direction. However that wouldn't work with both halves faceing the same direction...

Peter, I just noticed you are in Sweden - It's a shot in the dark, but do you know Nysse Nyström?

[Possum]

The slugs were probably to load the coils down to help kill some brightness. Even if they weren't connected to the magnet, being right next to magnetic conducting pole screws would also dumb down the treble a little bit too, I've done experiments along those lines.

[Peter Naglitsch]

Peter, I just noticed you are in Sweden - It's a shot in the dark, but do you know Nysse Nyström?

Well, I know who Nysse is, but I don't know him personally. He's a bit of a legend in the industry. Are you two old buddys?

[belwar]

Yes it's a single layer of 1/4" black paper tape round a steel slug. Some have rough sheered ends and some are chamfered on the ends. The tape helps keep the slug in the coil and also stops it rattling against the cover. Strangely the slug does not extend below the bobbin to make contact with the magnet. I've repaired these from Harmony and Epiphone guitars and most I've seen were around 6.8K and wound with 42 PE.

As always, thanks for the information