S
Spud
Guest
There is IMO a big difference.
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I totally get that. I have a Duncan Firebird style mini humbucker in my Tele neck. No pickup is "bad" per say, but the SD (single coil sized humbuckers) are marketed as equivalent/alternative to full sized and they are not. IMO they are not well suited for clean tones, however, I have only personally tried the lil 59 and the lil JB. I sold them.rick2 said:There are Humbuckers, Mini-Humbuckers and Single Coil sized humbuckers. Each has a different flavor.
Spud said:I totally get that. I have a Duncan Firebird style mini humbucker in my Tele neck. No pickup is "bad" per say, but the SD (single coil sized humbuckers) are marketed as equivalent/alternative to full sized and they are not. IMO they are not well suited for clean tones, however, I have only personally tried the lil 59 and the lil JB. I sold them.
DuckBaloo said:Spud said:I totally get that. I have a Duncan Firebird style mini humbucker in my Tele neck. No pickup is "bad" per say, but the SD (single coil sized humbuckers) are marketed as equivalent/alternative to full sized and they are not. IMO they are not well suited for clean tones, however, I have only personally tried the lil 59 and the lil JB. I sold them.
A little bit of trivia, the "normal" SD-embossed minibuckers look like Firebirds pickups, but have a different construction.
- Firebird PUs, and SD Antiquities use A2 slugs as pole-pieces, and have a brighter edge and more cut
- SD Minibuckers have a proprietary design with steel bar slugs as poles and a magnet underneath (A5 or Ceramic), and used to come in three different heat levels, the SM1 "Vintage", SM2 "Custom", and SM3 "Seymourized"
- Les Paul Deluxe/Epiphone mini's use a steel slug for the non-adjustable side and steel poles for the adjustable and have an A2 bar magnet underneath, these split the difference between PAF and Fender SC in tone and output, airing on the Fender side
Spud said:DuckBaloo said:Spud said:I totally get that. I have a Duncan Firebird style mini humbucker in my Tele neck. No pickup is "bad" per say, but the SD (single coil sized humbuckers) are marketed as equivalent/alternative to full sized and they are not. IMO they are not well suited for clean tones, however, I have only personally tried the lil 59 and the lil JB. I sold them.
A little bit of trivia, the "normal" SD-embossed minibuckers look like Firebirds pickups, but have a different construction.
- Firebird PUs, and SD Antiquities use A2 slugs as pole-pieces, and have a brighter edge and more cut
- SD Minibuckers have a proprietary design with steel bar slugs as poles and a magnet underneath (A5 or Ceramic), and used to come in three different heat levels, the SM1 "Vintage", SM2 "Custom", and SM3 "Seymourized"
- Les Paul Deluxe/Epiphone mini's use a steel slug for the non-adjustable side and steel poles for the adjustable and have an A2 bar magnet underneath, these split the difference between PAF and Fender SC in tone and output, airing on the Fender side
I am not sure Firebird pickups ever had a2 slugs in them. https://www.heliotricity.com/firebird-pickups/
What Do Firebird Guitar Pickups Sound Like?
Firebird pups occupy an interesting and unique place in the sonic landscape. One of things about them is that traditionally they are fairly low output. Gibson did reissue them in 1990 and those versions are quite different, using ceramic magnets and are wound much hotter, I’m not talking about those.
The originals by Gibson used AlNiCo magnets and the DCR on vintage originals was generally around 6.5k, some higher and some lower depending on actual thickness of the “42awg” wire. I’ve seen some 60s vintage bridge pups reaching 7k. Bicentennials are typically between 6 – 6.5k, often on the lower end of that spectrum. Here are some sound clips demonstrating how they sound:
rick2 said:DuckBaloo,
You are the fount! Do you know anything about the construction of DiMarzio mini hums? The Vintage MiniHum neck model is one of my favorites.
Spud said:I see what you are saying. Also, the diagram definitively shows that no Firebird pickup used "alnico 2 Slugs" as pole-pieces (per your post), rather they had alnico 2 BAR magnets instead.
Correct? :icon_thumright: