When first introduced, and throughout the original run of the Les Paul Deluxe, the mini-humbucker was considered inferior to Gibson's full-sized humbucker.
FUZZ SINGLE COIL VS HUMBUCKER INSTALL
The solution was to install them in Les Paul bodies that had originally been routed out for P90s, filling in the resulting gap with a specially made adapter ring. Interestingly, the only reason it was featured in the LP Deluxe was because Gibson had an overabundance of minis left over from Epiphone stock, and needed to find a use for them. The mini-humbucker first became widely known to rock guitarists in 1968, when Gibson introduced it as the stock pickup of the new Les Paul Deluxe model. This feature set the Sheraton apart from Gibson's ES-335, which was spec'd with full-size humbuckers, as both guitars were developed concurrently in a joint Gibson/Epiphone project. The mini-humbucker was the stock pickup of the original Epiphone Sheraton model. The only difference in a standard PAF-style design is that, rather than a second, non-adjustable bar magnet, there are typically several metal slugs arranged in series. The other coil in the pickup also contains a similar ferrous bar magnet, but without the adjustable pole pieces. Each coil has a bar magnet underneath of it, with the familiar adjustable pole pieces that most of us would recognize from a PAF-style pickup, each made of a magnetic, iron-based alloy (the technical term for this kind of metal alloy is "ferrous"). A good mini will also grind and sing like nobody's business when pushed hard.Īs previously mentioned, the basic construction of a mini-humbucker is essentially the same as a regular humbucker, only miniaturized. Fans of this somewhat underutilized transducer love it for its clarity and jangle, as well as its tendency to retain string definition even under the heaviest distortion. The mini also has lower iron content in its core (due to its size), which further contributes to these characteristics. It is immediately clear that Gorham's LP Deluxe sounds noticeably brighter overall than Robertson's Standard, which exhibits the heavy, muscular grunt we commonly associate with a Les Paul through a cranked Marshall. This rock-n-roll classic captures Phil Lynott and company at the height of their powers, while incidentally serving as a perfect reference for comparing the tone of a PAF-equipped Gibson Les Paul Standard with the tone of its mini-equipped younger sibling, the Les Paul Deluxe.ĭrop the needle on the album's first track, "Jailbreak," and you will hear Thin Lizzy guitarists Scott Gorham (panned right in the mix) and Brian Robertson (panned left) tearing through the song's monstrous opening riff.
Without question, the best real-world demonstration of the distinct sonic differences between humbuckers and mini-humbuckers is the legendary 1978 Thin Lizzy live document, Live and Dangerous.
This obscures the truth of the matter, however, which is best learned with one's ears. In fact, this is a common misconception among guitarists, owing at least in part to the term "mini-humbucker," which itself suggests that size is the single defining aspect of this pickup's personality. One could be forgiven for assuming that humbuckers and mini-humbuckers are the same but for their physical size.
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