Big Single Mini

This is a one year follow up review. Everything said previously still applies, in fact, I may love them even more now if that’s possible.
Here’s a simple recipe:
Get them.
Play them.
Done!
Thanks Lindy!

This is the second guitar that Lindy has helped me move out of storage and into my studio guitar rack. I put the 42 gauge version into the the neck position of my PRS Vela. It’s a drop-in perfect fit, although I did have to reverse the hot and ground wires to get the correct polarity. Fortunately, it sounds remarkably similar to the stock pickup (which I really liked) but without the horrible noise. It also balances perfectly with the stock bridge humbucker which is crucial. This guitar is dead quiet now – I actually have had to look at the volume knob to see if it’s on. It’s taken a guitar that I have had a love/hate relationship with to one that I truly love.

This is my second set of big singles and they lived up to my love of the first set. I put these in a Gibson ES390 that came with mini humbuckers, which were too woofy and powerful for my tastes. They made the guitar sound overblown. The big singles, by contrast, brought out the woody sound of the guitar and sound very natural.

If you are looking for clarity while maintaining a fat warm tone in the neck position, this pickup is for you!! More bell like and clear than a traditional mini bucker and just a little of the bite of a p90 while staying clear. Have fun!!

I put the 43 version of this pickup in the neck of a PRS S2 Vela. Talk about an improvement! The clarity and tone are unmatched. This took an already versatile and fun guitar up several notches.

I purchased a 1999 Les Paul Deluxe last spring, having contracted a case of Les Paul fever. I’ve always found guitars with humbuckers to be sluggish and one dimensional so I went for the Deluxe hoping the mini humbuckers would provide a more articulate and dynamic playing experience. They were certainly closer to what I want to hear but they were terribly microphonic … pretty much unusable.
This is where the Big Single minis came in. I read as many mini humbucker reviews as I could find and watched a bunch of YouTube demos. Once reaching a decision, I took a leap of faith on these Fralin Big Single minis, 42 gauge set.
They are bang on. They are detailed, balanced, full, warm, round, and clear. Earlier tonight I was tracking with the Fralin equipped Deluxe and a Strat. The Big Singles give the string definition of a single coil but when compared back to back with the Strat the Big Singles still had some of that humbucker beef that you just can’t find in a single coil pickup, not to mention more output while remaining entirely hum free. I should add that I followed the advice of other Big Single users and tried them with the 500k pots the Les Paul already had in it. In this case it was a good call … no harshness or brittleness, just rich tone … with low notes that are almost piano like. And yes, they grind out and snarl when cranking an amp.
These are super versatile and kick serious ass.
I’ll buy Fralin’s again.

Very nice pickups. Clean and clear. Sound as they were described

Customer added no additional comments

Big Minis
I put a set of big minis into my Les Paul Deluxe. They have incredible clarity, and a very nice top end Sparkle, but doesn’t kill the sustain. They kind of force me to be more precise in my playing. They are also dead quiet, which is fantastic when I’m playing with gain settings. This is my third set of Fralin pickups, and I have yet to be disappointed. I started buying them when I bought a Fano guitar off a friend and it had some of the most beautiful tone and ever played. Every Fralin pickup I have bought since, has been a Fralin, and everyone has been equally as good.

Perfection…again!
I put this pickup in the neck position of my PRS Vela and wow! It and a Big Single in the bridge have transformed what I already felt was a cool guitar into a truly unique tone machine.

superduper! My ’66 Firebird doesn’t sound like a monkey being raped by an elephant anymore! Great!

Lindy has done it again! These are great sounding pickups! I like to think this is what Epiphone and Gibson were trying to do back in the 60s but they didn’t have Lindy’s expertise. I bought a set of the stock wind 42 gauge variety to replace the Gibson alnico v Firebird pickups that came in my 2018 Gibson SG Special. These pickups are the sound I had in my head when I bought the guitar. I liked the stock Firebird pickups but they had too much midrange and lacked that Fender sparkle. The Big Singles are perfect. Big fat single coil sound with no hum. As another reviewer said they remind you of a Telecaster bridge pickup (think Broadcaster/black guard tele). I like to think of them as in between a Tele bridge and a P90. They sound fatter than a Telecaster but without the pronounced mids of P90. As the sound diagram shows they have exceptionally balanced treble, mids, and bass which makes for a crazy versatile pickup. In my SG they sound awesome for lead and rhythm with a great sound that cuts through the mix with ease. I feel bad for my #1 Tele because these sound so killer in the SG and it’s a good pound lighter. The only problem now is I’m itching to try out the 43 gauge version to compare to the P90s. I also have visions of a Strat with three of these in it like in Michael’s review. Thanks Lindy!

All I can say is these pickups are Tone!! If that’s what you need, and who isn’t looking for that sweet spongy bounce, with immediate percussive response out of pick up that reacts with total dynamics for the player you are. These are so different and yet still vintage, that they’ll bring you joy for wanting more… you’ll have a hard time putting the guitar down. The experience I get when I play these pickups is what I’ve been looking for all my life…I own over 10 great Strats which I’ve swapped pickups over time maybe 4 to 5 times each guitar just to get it right, it takes a while but when they sound like these and you hot rod it with options from Lindy… like outa phase bright switch, blender cap push-pull Potentiometers you’re talking tons of endless tone options. So, what are you waiting for – If you need mean tone then Get a set of these you’ll never Regret it. Aloha???? Maui Mike Rollins

Mini humbucker love!
I put this pickup in a custom jazz master in the bridge. It sounds more like a Tele single coil than a traditional mini which is what I was going for. I’m super happy with this purchase

I tried Lindy Fralin Blues Spesial on my Strat, and were very satisfied. I therefor bought a L F Blues Spesial single coil and a L F mini humbucker to my custom made tele, and it sounds perfect.

This is a great pickup. I’m using it in a tele neck position with 250k pots and it sounds great. I’m considering it for a couple of my other guitars.

First off, customer service is exceptional. Since I paid for the pickup but had it sent to a different address (my guitar repair man), they contacted me to make sure the transaction was legitimate. Once I confirmed the order, we had the pickup in just 2 days. As for the pickup itself, it’s a 42 gauge/6000 turn with 2-conductor lead installed in a 1991 MIJ ’62 Reissue Tele. The raw nickel cover fits the aesthetic of the guitar perfectly. Sound wise, it’s beautiful, sitting somewhere between a low output humbucker and a Strat-style neck position single coil. It’s full and fat without being muddy, and at the same time bright, chime-y and articulate. It responds very well to pick attack and volume changes, and I really enjoy dialing a little bit of grit into an amp and using the guitar itself to clean up the sound or dirty it up just based on my playing. My bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue, and the two pickups sound great together in the middle position, retaining some of the fatness of the Big Mini but with a clearer, “quackier” tone, almost Knopfler-like. All in all, the Big Single Mini is an excellent pickup that I’d recommend to anyone, especially those looking to beef up a Tele. Thank you!