Mini Humbucker
Mini-Humbucker, Redesigned by Lindy
$180 – $360
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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Jump to Sound Clips and more Info:
Mini Humbuckers, Redesigned.
Want to learn more about our Mini Humbucker? Here's all the information you'll need:
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
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.
Sound Samples for Mini Humbucker:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
This set features our Stock Output Mini Humbuckers – with an Alnico 5 neck and an Alnico 6 Bridge.
Sound Clips performed on an Ash-Bodied Telecaster with a Maple Neck, by Phil Heesen III.
Tonal Graph For Mini Humbucker:
The tonal 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
Videos for Mini Humbucker:
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
Gibson-Style instruments
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
2-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
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 |
Additional Technical Info:
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.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, or 4-Conductor if available), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Mini Humbucker Dimensions:
Mini Humbucker Dimensions:
If converting a Mini Humbucker to a Soapbar, check your rout to make sure the Soapbar ring (pictured above) will fit your instrument.
Mini Humbucker Dimensions:
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 2 Weeks accurate?
It 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 beat our estimated Lead Times.
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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. To measure, hold the correct side down at its highest fret. Then, measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Product FAQ's
People frequently ask these questions about our Mini Humbucker. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, click "Ask" 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.
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
48 Genuine Reviews for Mini Humbucker
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I’ve come to rely on the Fralin mini humbuckers for my custom builds, great full sounding pickups.
Lindy and team are exceptional at what they do, thanks guys!! -
I’m really liking the mini humbucker you made . +4% . It’s in a Baratone build in the bridge position with a Klien P-90 in the neck position . It is replacing a firebird pickup that just didn’t have volume to keep up win the P-90 . These two work so well together. Great job , thanks !!!
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A year and a half ago, I purchased a guitar loaded with a Mini Humbucker in the neck and Pure PAF in the bridge. I’m a neck guy myself, so I bought it strictly based off the sound and feel of the neck pickup. It was everything I was looking for. Over the last year I’ve tried to convince myself to swap the pickups in an effort to customize the guitar, but I can’t. Both pickups are fantastic, but the mini is something I can’t describe well. Not because it’s not good – rather because I don’t have the words. It is incredibly articulate but still has character, and when I plug in and play, I forget that time is a thing.
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Awesome as always! I have Fralin’s in all of my guitars and have owned over a dozen sets of Fralin pickups. These mini humbuckers have a much sweeter top end than my Gibson pickups that were stock on my 1980 Les Paul deluxe. I am super fussy about everything and Lindy’s pickups always deliver the goods. I have tried many other builders that everyone knows and I always come back to Fralin Pickups.
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I installed it on a Japanese-made Firebird.
It had just the right high range, tenacity, and strength, and the sound was exactly as I imagined.
The tone is comparable to the 1973 LesPaul Dulaxe.
Extremely satisfied. thank you very much. -
I ordered one of these mini humbuckers (stock winding) for a customer who wanted it installed in the neck position in a Nashville Tele. After installing and tweaking the pickup height and pole pieces to get it to match with the other pickups I was able to get a good match and was pleasantly surprised at how clear-sounding this pickup is. What struck me especially was the roundness of the unwound strings. It’s not a pushy, scooped, or muddy sounding neck pickup – just clear, balanced, and articulate. Honestly, it really got my attention and I ordered one for my own tele. Lindy’s design is probably more akin to a Johnny Smith pickup than the mini humbucker that would have come on a Les Paul Deluxe. I’d say it works absolutely great for a tele for jazz and country – maybe not what you’d be looking for in a Les Paul.
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Ordering was effortless; on review of the confirmation email I realized that I had made a mistake on my order, and I sent an email asking for a correction. It was corrected immediately and the appropriate items were shipped- and shipping was much quicker than anticipated.
This is my first purchase from this company and the product exceeds my expectations; these pickups have turned a pretty good guitar into an exceptional guitar. What a sound.
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I installed Lindy’s new mini-humbucker in a current issue MIJ Telecaster. I wanted an ‘all-around’ guitar (‘all-round’ outside of North America?) and this pickup did the job. The guitar still has its single-coil Telecaster character, but for the music I play, jazz and instrumental Americana, it’s pertfect. For single note jazz lines and comping, backing off the tone pot slightly warms up the sound without it becoming muddy, as often happens with full-sized PAF type pickups. One could argue that the same results can be achieved with single coil Tele neck pickups, but in my experience, it’s more difficult to dial in the right balance of top end and body. This mini makes it easy, and even with the tone pot wide open, the top end is not brittle. Perhaps the alnico 6 magnets help with that. An added bonus is the quiet operation; no single-coil buzz. Great job Lindy!
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