Les Paul mini-humbuckers

[pippy]

OK Friends! (I hope);

 

I don't have the slightest clue on this one so can anyone out there shed some light on;

 

1) The Date of Birth of the mini-humbucker.

 

2) The designer of same.

 

3) Why it was introduced.

 

4) How, exactly, it differs from a regular-sized unit (apart from being, er, smaller).

 

5) Typical tonal differences (as compared with full-sized units).

 

Any Other Info??????

 

As far as I'm concerned number 3 on the list is the biggie.

 

I'm quite tempted by some late '60's / early '70's DeLuxes but would prefer not to look totally naive on the subject (which, of course, I am!).

 

All responses, no matter how sarcastic, will be gratefully received. :D/

[Stefptycia]

Hi Buddy.

 

See below which is an extract from the Gibson site

 

"When Gibson introduced the Les Paul Deluxe in 1969, it incorporated the mini-humbucker which had only been available on certain Gibson-made Epiphone models. With its smaller size, narrow magnetic field and unique design combination, the mini-humbucker produces bright and focused output, while retaining the famous Gibson humbucker performance.

 

Gibson now offers a vintage replica of the original mini-humbucker, featuring adjustable pole pieces and bar Alnico II magnets. It's authentic in every detail, from its creme plastic mounting and special coated enamel wire, to its maple spacers and vintage braided lead wire."

 

I hope this helps.

 

For my part I have a 72 deluxe which I love

 

Regards

 

Stef

[pippy]

Thanks Stef, that's much appreciated and very rapid!

 

Did you go for the Goldie or the CSB, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Best wishes.

[djroge1]

I'm not into buying multiple styles of the same guitar. I already have a Les Paul with full size humbuckers, but I absolutely love the sound of LP Deluxe. That is the first Gibson I ever played and I fell in love with that one... a 72 I think. I would buy a LP Deluxe if I could afford it.

 

I would love to have a wine red one, but I'd settle for a sunburst.

[L5Larry]

Also, the mini-humbucker and surround (mounting ring) as used in the LP Deluxe fit in the same routing hole as a P-90. This allowed Gibson to use the same "tooling" and machine set-up they already had, and had used on the pre-humbucker LP's.

 

Word "on the street" at the time was that the Deluxe model was introduced to allow Gibson the sell a "new" model with little or no re-tooling cost, and therefore a purely ecomonic move on their part. The Deluxe was built using existing design, technology, parts, machinery, and tooling. That's pretty good "start up costs" if your in the manufacturing business.

 

The different sound of the mini-humbuckers versus the full size ones was just a coincidence, and was not heralded a the time. We all wanted sunburst Standards, and it seems to me we had to wait a couple more years for them to be "re-issued".

[Stefptycia]

Thanks Stef' date=' that's much appreciated and very rapid!

 

Did you go for the Goldie or the CSB, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Best wishes. [/quote']

 

Hi Pippy

 

I have the Cherry SB. I have posted pics of it before on this site

 

Regards

 

Stef

[tulsaslim]

The story I heard is this: When everybody & his brother wanted humbuckers Gibson already had a boatload of LP bodies routed out for P-90s. They didn't think they could sell enough P-90-equipped LPs so they directed somebody to design a humbucker that would fit into the P-90 hole. Hence, the birth of the mini.

 

(I've always wondered why they didn't just re-rout the bodies for hums).