Mini-humbucker

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1972 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 1972 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.jpg
1972 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

The mini-humbucker is a humbucking guitar pickup (used in electric guitars). It was originally created by the Epiphone company. The mini-humbucker resembles a Gibson PAF humbucker, but is narrower in size and senses a shorter length of string vibration. [1] This produces clearer, brighter tones that are quite unlike typical Gibson sounds. [2] It fits in between single-coils and full-sized humbuckers in the tonal spectrum. It is frequently used in jazz guitars, mounted under the fingerboard or on the pickguard.

The mini-humbucker technology was acquired by Gibson when they purchased Epiphone in the late 1950s. After this acquisition, Gibson began using mini-humbuckers in various guitar models. They continued to use them on many Epiphone electric guitars (now manufactured under license for Gibson) and several of Gibson's archtop jazz guitars. A slightly different variation of the mini-humbuckers was used on Gibson Firebird guitars, thus giving them a very distinctive tone.

The Firebird pickup uses a pair of long 'rail' magnets whereas the Les Paul Deluxe mini-humbucker uses a single bar magnet below one ferrous rail and six threaded ferrous pole pieces. The Deluxe mini-humbucker has adjustment screws for the pole pieces; the Firebird mini-humbucker does not.

In the 1970s, mini-humbuckers replaced Gibson's original P-90 single-coil pickups on several of Gibson's budget guitar models, as well as the Les Paul Deluxe: the size and shape meant that it could fit very comfortably into the space occupied by the P-90, so no extra routing was required in the solid body guitars. Only select re-issue Gibson models are still made with Mini-humbuckers, as they are less popular than standard humbuckers. In 2011, Gibson released a '70s Tribute line of guitars, offering inexpensive mini-humbucker variants of the Les Paul Studio, Firebird, [3] and SG Special; these use the Firebird style of mini-humbucker pickup. Mini-humbuckers were also used in some models of the Nighthawk.

A mini-humbucker pickup design is also used for the pickups in Rickenbacker 650 guitars and 4004 basses.

A number of third party manufacturers make mini-humbucker replacement pickups. As of 2018, EMG, [4] Seymour Duncan, [5] DiMarzio, GFS, Dragonfire, and Jason Lollar all make mini-humbuckers.

Notable users

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humbucker</span> Electric guitar pickup

A humbucker, humbucking pickup, or double coil, is a guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out noisy interference from coil pickups. Humbucking coils are also used in dynamic microphones to cancel electromagnetic hum. Humbuckers are one of two main types of guitar pickups. The other is single coil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson SG</span> Solid body electric guitar model

The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG Standard is Gibson's best-selling model of all time. SG stands for "solid guitar".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Les Paul</span> Solid body electric guitar

The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge, although variants exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single coil guitar pickup</span>

A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single coil pickups are one of the two most popular designs, along with dual-coil or "humbucking" pickups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson ES-335</span> Semi-hollow electric guitar

The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It features a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with upper bouts that are hollow and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Since its release, Gibson has released numerous variations of and other models based on the design of the ES-335.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickup (music technology)</span> Captures vibrations produced by musical instruments

A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an instrument amplifier to produce musical sounds through a loudspeaker in a speaker enclosure. The signal from a pickup can also be recorded directly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Firebird</span> Solid body electric guitar

The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson beginning in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphone G-400</span>

The G-400 is an Epiphone solid body electric guitar model produced as a more modestly priced version of the famous Gibson SG. Currently, Epiphone is a subsidiary of Gibson and manufactures the G-400 and other budget models at a lower cost in Asia. Visually and ergonomically, it is almost identical to a 1962 SG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P-90</span> Guitar pickup

The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1946, as well as other vendors. Compared to other single coil designs, such as the ubiquitous Fender single coil, the bobbin for a P-90 is wider but shorter. The Fender style single coil is wound in a taller bobbin, but the wires are closer to the individual poles. This makes the P-90 produce a different type of tone, somewhat warmer with less edge and brightness. As with other single-coil pickups, the P-90 is subject to mains hum unless some form of hum cancellation is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PAF (pickup)</span> Guitar pickup

A P.A.F., or simply PAF, is an early model of the humbucker guitar pickup invented by Seth Lover in 1955, so named for the "Patent Applied For" decal placed on the baseplate of each pickup. Gibson used the PAF on guitars from late 1956 until late 1962, long after the patent was granted. They were replaced by the Patent Number pickup, essentially a refined version of the PAF. These were in turn replaced by "T-Top" humbuckers in 1967, and production ended in 1975. Though it was not the first humbucking pickup ever, it was the first to gain widespread use, as the PAF's hum-free signal, tonal clarity, and touch sensitivity when paired with higher-gain amplifiers made the pickups popular with rock and blues guitarists. The PAF is an essential tonal characteristic of the now-famous 1957–1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitars, and pickups of this type have gained a large following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DiMarzio</span> American manufacturer of guitar pickups

DiMarzio, Inc. is an American manufacturing company best known for its direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces other accessories, such as hardware, guitar straps, and instrument cables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMG 85</span>

The EMG 85 is a popular active humbucker guitar pickup manufactured by EMG, Inc. It is paired with the 81 in the Zakk Wylde signature EMG set. It was originally designed to be used in the bridge position but is typically installed in the neck position by modern guitar producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMG 81</span>

The EMG 81 is a popular active humbucker guitar pickup manufactured by EMG, Inc. It is usually considered a lead pickup for use in the bridge position, paired with EMG's 85 as a rhythm pickup in neck position. It's not uncommon, however, to see a guitar with two EMG 81s in both bridge and neck positions.

The Gibson Les Paul Junior is a solid-body electric guitar introduced in 1954 as an affordable, entry-level Les Paul. It was first released with a single-cutaway body style; models with a double-cutaway body style were later introduced in 1958. The Junior continued through the first three years of the Les Paul/SG body redesign. The initial run was discontinued in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson SG Special</span>

The Gibson SG Special is an electric guitar made by Gibson that has been manufactured since 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Nighthawk</span>

The Gibson Nighthawk was a family of electric guitars manufactured by Gibson. Introduced in 1993, the Nighthawk represented a radical change from traditional Gibson designs. While its maple-capped mahogany body and set neck were reminiscent of the classic Gibson Les Paul, the Nighthawk incorporated a number of characteristics more commonly associated with Fender guitars. The Nighthawk was not a commercial success; production of all models was discontinued in 1998 after only five years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphone Genesis</span>

Epiphone Genesis refers to three Genesis Series models ever produced

The Epiphone Sheraton is a thinline semi-hollow body electric guitar. Though the Sheraton and all its variations were introduced under the ownership of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, Epiphone is the exclusive manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibanez GIO</span>

The Ibanez GIO Series is an affordable guitar series produced by Hoshino Gakki (Ibanez), replacing the Cimar line. The GIO line is intended as beginner models, similar to Fender's Squier guitars, and Gibson's Epiphone line. This series of guitars are produced in either China or Indonesia, depending on model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Spirit</span> Guitar model (produced 1982-86)

The Gibson Spirit was a guitar model sold under Gibson and Epiphone USA nameplates in the 1980s. This article does not refer to the made-in-China Spirit guitar sold under the Gibson Baldwin Music Education nameplate.

References

  1. Lollar, Jason (May 2009). "Humbuckers and Mini-Humbuckers". Premier Guitar . 14 (5): 60.
  2. "Mini-Humbucker". Gibson Guitar Corporation.