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.
Quick Links:
Jump to Sound Clips and Product Info:
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
Tonal Graph for Mini Humbucker:
The tone graph below for our Mini Humbucker features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Stock Output:
Attack: Bright & Sharp
+4% Output:
Attack: Dynamic & Full
+8 Output:
Attack: Soft & Round
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.
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:
Tech Specs
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Mini Humbucker.
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Stock Ohm Reading: | 6.5K* 1 |
| +4% Ohm Reading: | 10.5K* 1 |
| +8% Ohm Reading: | 11.2K* 1 |
| Magnet Material: | USA-Made Alnico 5 or USA-Made Alnico 6 |
| Magnet Wire Material: | USA-Made 42-Gauge / 43-Gauge Single Poly Nylon |
| Baseplate Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Cover Material: | USA-Made Nickel Silver |
| Polarity: | Reversible with 2-Conductor Lead |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
More Information:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
* Ohm readings are approximate and can vary.
Mini Humbucker FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Mini Humbucker have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 3-4 Weeks accurate?
It really depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to underpromise and overdeliver.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Mini Humbuckers to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. Measure by holding the corresponding side down at its highest fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
These are frequently asked questions about our Mini Humbucker. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask A Question" in the Quick Links section above.
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What's the difference between Alnico 5 and Alnico 6?
Alnico 5 features more of a Fender Sparkle, and Alnico 6 sounds more like a Humbucker – softer, warmer, and thicker, but with more output. If you’re looking for a Fender tone out of your Mini, opt for Alnico 5. If you’re looking for more of a PAF tone, opt for Alnico 6.
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What is a "Stock" set of Mini Humbuckers?
There are a lot of options with this pickup. The Stock Set is close to how Gibson made them in the ’50s. It’s a Stock Neck (6.5K) and a Stock Bridge (6.5K). This set will feature a clean, fender-like Neck and a bright, spanky Bridge. If you’re looking for something with more balance, you can opt for a +4% Neck (Alnico 5), or a Stock Neck with Alnico 6. Alnico 6 gives the pickup a louder output with more of a “Gibson” feel – more midrange, less highs – more like a traditional PAF.
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Can you wire the Mini Humbucker for Coil Splitting?
We can, but we don’t recommend it – the output is very low.
I got a stock, AlNiCo 5 Fralin Mini-Humbucker for the neck position in a Grosh Tele style guitar with a rosewood board several months ago and really dig it. I got another Grosh VT with a Maple board and decided to go with the aged, 4% overwind for this one. Love it too!! Just a little fatter in this slightly brighter guitar. Still has all the clarity. Now I’m wanting to try the AlNiCo 6 version. I’m sure it will be great too. Keep up the awesome work Lindy!
Fralin Mini-Humbucker
I replaced my beloved vintage mini-humbucker with the Fralin mini-humbucker. I’m happy I did. There is a lot of similarity between the two, but I find the Fralin is a little more nuanced and a tad more smooth. Also, it works well with the bridge pickup better in parallel and series – it matches up well in volume and tone. I found the Fralin to be very slightly larger than my vintage. I had to sand off a few thousandths of the pickguard, mostly at the ends for it to fit right. This was easy and quickly done. I upgraded to a 4-way switch on my Telecaster from a 3-way. This allowed me to have a series option. The wiring could have been a real challenge for me but I received a lot of help from Tyler and a surprise call from Lindy Fralin with a personal touch which was really helpful. Really nice folks at this factory, making great products. I’m sure I will turn to Fralin for any future projects. Jim H
So I had initially tried a p90 (humbucker size) neck pickup in a tele combination and didn’t like it too much. Called in and exchanged for an A6 stock neck pickup (Lindy’s rec). So cool to be able to call in and talk to the head haunch himself! Really love it with the high output tele bridge pickup. Used a 500k volume pot w/ a 500k resistor to the bridge pickup. This is a great combo and this mini humbucker thing in a tele is about as perfect a match as ever. Very versatile…middle position is something I’m really loving. Highly recommend especially this combination: high output bridge (tele) and the A6 stock neck.
These Fralin Mini-Humbuckers offer a complex and warm tone that belies their compact size, highly recommended! Yanuziello Stringed Instruments
Best mini-humbuckers I’ve ever heard.
Serious high-quality single coil chime in a mini-humbucker. Forget about coil-splitting your lame production humbuckers. I don’t know what Lindy does, but these are otherworldly. Almost a drop-in replacement for my reissue Guild Jetstar. Now it’s my favorite guitar to play.
Extremely articulate
I went with the A5+4% neck and A6+8% bridge. The Neck is an amazing pickup. Clear, punchy, round, straty yet full. Takes gain really well. Just an awesome pickup.
I went with the A6+8% bridge because I wanted a really thick and middy mini bridge with some punch. In that lens, I am disappointed a little bit. It sounds like other mini bridges I’ve heard. Maybe it’s my ear. Perhaps I should have gone with the Big Single but overall they sound great just a little bit different on the bridge than expected with the A6+8%.
I definitely will be buying from Fralin again.
If you’re looking for something different for your Tele, as my client was, there’s no better choice than the Mini-Humbucker. I’ve had one in my personal Tele for years and it just keeps getting better. With a 4-way switch set up, it’s a great combo with a Blues Special as the bridge p’up. After my customer heard this combo set up on my Tele, he had to have it for his. Lots of combos of tone with these p’ups and switch set up. Nothing but kudos abound for a great p’up and great combo of p’ups, for a Telecaster. I’ve been buying Lindy’s p’ups for over 25 years and will seek no other for mine, or my clients guitars. Happy New Year!
Mesquite Telecaster Build
I’ve used Fralin mini-humbuckers on several builds. They’re a great choice for the Tele neck position. A great compliment to the Tele bridge pickup.
Sorry about the previous review– wrong strings distorted the results.
If it all went bad today and I had to start over, I’d be buying a set of minis well before the Pure PAFs (heretical!!).
After 7 swap outs in 3 diff guitars I have the 6 in the neck and the 5 in the bridge on 250 pots w/vol kit and two caps on tone.
42 years and 50 guitars later, best ax I’ve ever played. They handle all the gain and pedals you can throw at them with the same aplomb the wifey gives ya when she tells you where you left your car keys without looking up from doing her nails. That CHING makes chords so special. Killer round note, killer jazz tones, killer everything.
FYI: These went in a Standard Jazzmaster (MIM) with spacing 50/-48(!) Bridge is great, but neck just barely gets outside of screws. With a 52mm saddles, the bridge barely fits, but the neck is perfect. So, plan accordingly!
Mini Perfection
Lindy’s Mini-Humbuckers are sounding incredible in my ’76 Deluxe… much better than stock! I have his pup’s in my Strat and Tele too, and they all are nailing the tones I love.