Mini Humbucker
The Fralin Mini Humbucker is cleaner and clearer than full sized humbuckers. Our Mini Humbucker sounds more “Fendery” than other Mini’s, which are darker and muddier. We have two magnet choices – Alnico 5 is bright and clear, and Alnico 6 is loud and thick.
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Mini Humbuckers, Redesigned.
Want to learn more about our Mini Humbucker? Here's all the information you'll need:
Mini Humbucker FEATURES:
Lindy’s passion for the tone of vintage 50’s humbuckers led us down the road to design our Mini Humbucker. The Lindy Fralin Mini Humbucker is one amazing-sounding pickup. Lindy modified the design of the original Mini Humbuckers, experimenting with winds and magnets. The result gives you a clean vintage tone that’s more articulate than most modern humbuckers. Our Mini Humbucker is a lower output, which is more expressive than higher-output designs.
Features:
- Modified Gibson Design – Re-designed by Lindy Fralin
- Modified Gibson® specifications with attention to increased output and clarity
- Brighter and more ‘Fender-y’ tone. Smooth, late grind and a crisp attack
- USA-made Alnico Magnets for optimal tonal balance and output
- Compensated Overwound Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Sound
The video above features a Stock Neck and Bridge with an Alnico 5 Magnet in the Neck and an Alnico 6 Magnet in the Bridge.
Clean, clear, and articulate. Our Mini Humbucker will stay clean as it won’t break up as early as modern humbuckers. You’ll find that it’s loud, while still remaining clear. Built with AlNicCo V or VI magnets, and 42 & 43 Gauge SPN wire, the Mini Humbuckers are a gateway to vintage tone. When playing clean, you’ll find that this pickup sings what you put into it: it’s dynamic, clear, and warm. Expect a smooth grind with distortion, with a pronounced pick attack. If you want a darker sound, choose to go with the +4% or +8% output options. More coil will thicken the midrange up more, and less will make is sound more like single coils and cleaner.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Our Mini Humbuckers consist of USA-Made bobbins, baseplates, magnets, and wire. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone.
We assemble each pickup one at a time, by hand. This allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. Finally, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup, and prevent microphonics.
Tech Specs
Materials:
Wound with 42 & 43 Gauge Single Poly Nylon Wire and Alnico V and VI Bar Magnets. All USA-Made Baseplates and covers.
Ohm Readings:
The Stock Neck will read about 6.5K, and the +8% Bridge will read about 10K.
Sizing
Lead Color Codes
See below for our Lead color codes. For help with matching to other manufacturers, check out this resource here.
Gibson Braided Lead:
2-Conductor Lead:
Mini Humbucker Questions And Answers:
Notice:
Have a question about our Mini Humbucker? Ask it here. Your Question will be publically visible. If you want to ask a Private Question, please contact us through our Contact Us Form.
If you have multiple questions, please call us at (804) 358-2699.
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I purchased a Michael Kelly 55 series black ebony striped equipped with your mini humbucker for the neck position and your True PAF for the bridge. In there literature it shows your mini as being splittable. Mine came unable to do so. Were they wrong in their description (Mod 8) of the abilities of your pickups or was it some kind of wiring problem on your end. I would appreciate if you would clarify this for me. I kept the guitar because the pic...
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Q I purchased a Michael Kelly 55 series black ebony striped equipped with your mini humbucker for t...... Read moreA
Hey Neil, we don't wire our Mini Humbuckers to be splittable - that seems like a communication error on their end.
Can one of these be pickguard mounted for an archtop jazz guitar? My D'Angelico New Yorker came with what I was told was a Fralin pickup, and I love it, and would like to have one put on my Campellone as well.
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Q Can one of these be pickguard mounted for an archtop jazz guitar? My D'Angelico New Yorker came w...... Read moreA
Hey Jim, we have a limited amount of pickguard-mount covers in stock. The best way to order this is to email "[email protected]" with your cover choice of either Nickel or Gold.
Hi! Just took delivery of a mini humbucker (A6+4%) for my Bridge position and noticed that per the guidance on this website (raised D pole, treble side leads) and direction of writing on the back, it seems that it’s supposed to be installed with the screw poles toward the neck instead of down on the bridge side as I’d expect. Again this is Bridge position so just want to confirm the recommended orientation for installation. Thanks!
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Q Hi! Just took delivery of a mini humbucker (A6+4%) for my Bridge position and noticed that per th...... Read moreA
Hey Desmond, yes, we make the Mini Humbucker with the Lead coming out of the treble side on both pickups.
I’m building a partscaster strat with 2 mini humbuckers & 3 way toggle. I play at church now and my go to guitar has always been my Gibson Les Paul with 490’s. I love it but sometimes the 490’s are too much. I’m looking at your mini humbuckers and am wanting something that can still be clean and chimy but still get darker and gritty when pushed. I’m thinking the 4% overwound set with alnico 6 magnets and 300K pots. Music influences ...
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Q I’m building a partscaster strat with 2 mini humbuckers & 3 way toggle. I play at church now ...... Read moreA
Hey Jean-Claude,
Great question - I personally would go with the Stock Neck Alnico 5 and +4% Bridge Alnico 6. You'll get a cleaner, sparkly tone out of the neck, and the Bridge will be thicker and warmer with more output and ability to break up. You could choose 300K pots for a general warmer tone, or 500K pots, which we recommend for the most clarity.
How hot can you wind your mini humbuckers while still using 42 gauge wire? (I need some for my Crestwood and want to make them as fat and punchy as possibly without them becoming wooly)
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Q How hot can you wind your mini humbuckers while still using 42 gauge wire? (I need some for my Cr...... Read moreA
Hey Luke, our Stock output is about as hot as we can wind using 42-Guage wire. You can opt for Alnico 6 magnets that will give you a fatter tone while retaining clarity.
Note:
Asking a question here will be public to all users of this siteHey!
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Excellent bridge minihumbucker for my firebird. I had to set it really close to the strings for full power.
Fralin pickups custom made it to my specs and did a fine job. Great service,great products, fast shipping.
absolutely love the difference this minihumbucker set made in my gadow american classic. direct drop in replacement for the stock gfs p90’s, but the sound is now over the top. i opted for standard wind alnico5 in the neck and alnico 6 in the bridge in nickel and the look is perfect and the sound is even perfecter :).
after receiving and installing the set, my tech discovered that they were manufactured out of phase. one quick phone call with Lindy and the bridge pu was on it’s way back. turn around was literally 1 day as it arrived in the morning and shipped that afternoon. back in the guitar the next morning and BOOM!!!
i am certainly reminded of a ’72 las paul deluxe i owned in the 80’s and now have that sound again without the weight.
great job y’all
I put these pickups in my ’65 Gibson Melody Maker. They fit perfectly without modding the guitar. ( I did need to get a repro pickguard)
The pickups sound so great! I feel like I found the Holy Grail!
Couldn’t be happier!
Excellent! They were exactly what I was looking for in a mini-humbucker.
I am a return customer! I have p-90 equipped guitars loaded with Fralin! I am trying to fall in love with my Firebird! Stock pickups just didn’t cut it. Ordered this pup actually to go in my Epiphone Les Paul 55. Decided to install in my Firebird instead. I have found it sounds best cranked! I ordered on 8% over stock. Came out to around 10k. Quality built, excellent customer service. You can call and actually talk to Lindy. He was a great help in deciding. It’s still a little bright sounding unless it’s wide open. Now I realize Mini humbuckers are brighter by nature. volume pot and cap value change might do the trick! Volume rolls of really quick on the Bird! Nothing to do with the pup! It’s clean and clear. I can crank the volume on my Marshall and get that early Johnny Winter tone! I love the Mini and will be a return customer! I can highly recommend Fralin Pickups!
I love the feel and balance of the Gibson Firebird, but never cared for the stock pickups. Sound tinny and require a lot of amp/pedal tweaking to get a tone I liked (I play doom/black metal type stuff, FWIW). Came across Fralin pickups during my search for a replacement, and boy am I glad I did. Lindy’s mini-HBs completely nail that warm, “hollow” PAF sound that makes old Gibsons such a tonal delight. I chose the overwound options for both bridge and neck, and they provide an absolutely perfect balance of punch and presence. I play through various Friedman amps, and the Firebird with the Fralins doesn’t need anything additional in terms of boost or distortion – they deliver a perfect tone right out of the box, and it would be a shame to put anything between the guitar and the amps.
Other reasons I was glad I bought the Fralins: great web site with tons of helpful instructional videos (I like to tinker with things so these are great), prompt response from to questions, and their being based in Richmond, Virginia, where a lot of my people from my great great grandfather on down are buried. I always “buy South” when I can, and I am proud to spend my hard-earned dollars on a true Southern craftsman. I’ll be ordering a set of P90s for a Gibson SG later this year. Thanks, y’alll!
My first go with a mini-humbucker and this little beauty has set the bar impossibly high for others. Just a terrific sounding, balanced pickup.
I dropped it in the neck position of my PRS Vela — ordered an A5 alnico, stock wind. Excellent balance and dynamics, and has the perfect amount of humbucker body without being boomy or woofy. Nice top end like a P90 without being shrill, yet not quite bell-like in strat neck pickups. Sounds particularly great with finger style soul licks and country picking. Threw all kinds of drives at it and still retains clarity and punch. So stoked!
+100 for the sexy matte black cover option, well worth the extra couple of bucks.
I put these into my Stratocaster in neck and bridge, with a hum-cancelling single coil in the middle, using all 500k pots. The wind is stock neck with 4% overwound bridge. I chose both with A5 magnets. These are brighter and lower output than other mini-humbuckers I used. There is not too much top end, although they have good bite in upper mids. After adjusting the height of the pickups, the balance between neck and bridge is exactly what I wanted. The bridge pickup is fantastic as a fusion lead or blues tone, played though a Marshall style amp. Both pickups work well with a good range of gain settings. They are the most versatile pickups I have used in a Strat. The clean and low-gain tones are vastly improved over the “Fast track” and “Cruiser” blade style pickups from another manufacturer.
I saw Aaron Currie play lead at a Josh Turner concert and asked him what kind of pickup he had in his white tele. He said it was a Fralin mini hum, so I decided to buy one myself and see how it would sound. I paired it with vintage 52/59 pickups in the bridge/strat position of an American Professional Fender Nashville tele. My luthier said he was very impressed with the sound after he got it installed. I am completely happy with it, and everybody who has played my new setup has really loved the tone. I am no longer looking for the “best” after finding this. I do believe I have found the ultimate country sound for my personal taste.