Members Bookumdano2 Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 A couple of my old Les Paul Deluxes from 76 or so have mini humbuckers which are chrome. I haven't dug into them to check.... but I've read that the chrome covers don't easily remove from the pickups themselves. Is that right? I see a couple of ebay ads for gold covers, which I'd like to get ... but dunno if the switcheroo is easy. Anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HP Hovercraft Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 It's pretty easy as long as you can solder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 It's pretty easy as long as you can solder. Not with the Epiphone/LP Deluxe Mini's, it's not. They aren't built like full-size humbuckers. I have several '70's spares around here, both working and not. 1) The original LP Deluxe Mini is so tightly packed, it's near impossible to get the cover off of one without damaging the coils, and almost as dangerous to install/reinstall a cover. 2) The cover is integral in the construction of the PU, without its cover the coils won't stay in place. It's doable, but it ain't "easy." Many boutique pickup makers have avoided going into Mini's because it is a hassle to put hem together, it's also the reason Gibson redesigned the Mini to be cheaper to assemble when they built the Firebird. Then of course, there is the issue where they will still have nickle-plated pole pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StaffyDaddy Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 I bought a Les Paul Deluxe new in '74. A couple of years after that I convinced myself that if I took off the chrome covers I would get a hotter sounds. I only operated on the bridge pickup, heating a table knife then holding it against the cover. It eventually worked, and didn't bother the coils underneath at all. Don't think that it changed the sound either. I've read in a few places that you can't really remove the covers without having problems with the coils getting loose. Last year, I replaced the mini hums with Lollar P90s and have been pleased with the difference in tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bzja Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 If indeed they are original Mini's as previous posters have stated they are NOT like PAF's. The cover is integral to the construction, removal unless done carefully and you have a lucky nature about you can be hazardous to the life of the pickup. Whatever the benefit you intend to garner from the surgery will be quickly lost when you render the pickup useless. I would suggest replacing with Duncan Antiquities, or Lollars. Now if it were me I would go with a TV Jones replacement. They seem to be the new pickup of choice. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HP Hovercraft Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 Not with the Epiphone/LP Deluxe Mini's, it's not. They aren't built like full-size humbuckers... Interesting, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 59refin Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 Not with the Epiphone/LP Deluxe Mini's, it's not. They aren't built like full-size humbuckers. I have several '70's spares around here, both working and not. 1) The original LP Deluxe Mini is so tightly packed, it's near impossible to get the cover off of one without damaging the coils, and almost as dangerous to install/reinstall a cover. 2) The cover is integral in the construction of the PU, without its cover the coils won't stay in place. It's doable, but it ain't "easy." Many boutique pickup makers have avoided going into Mini's because it is a hassle to put hem together, it's also the reason Gibson redesigned the Mini to be cheaper to assemble when they built the Firebird. Then of course, there is the issue where they will still have nickle-plated pole pieces. Did Epiphone use the mini-hums before Firebirds came out in the early/mid sixties? I don't recall any Gibsons using mini-hums before then. *******EDIT********Ok, I googled some old Epiphones and they apparently were using the mini-hum pre Firebird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 Pre-Gibson Epiphone used "New Yorker" mini-humbuckers, so called because Epiphones were made in NYC. When Gibson bought Epiphone and moved production to Kalamazoo ('58?), Gibson redesigned the mini-HB into the pickup into the PU used in the Rivera, Sheraton and Les Paul Deluxe. The Firbird came along a couple of years later and Gobson redesigned the mini to make them cheaper to produce, and the tone changed as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 59refin Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 Wyatt, here's where I'm losing the plot. LP Deluxes weren't introduced until the early/mid seventies. So you're saying it was basically an Epiphone p/u until it was modified for Firebirds in the sixties, but they went back to the orginal design for the later Deluxes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 Wyatt, here's where I'm losing the plot. LP Deluxes weren't introduced until the early/mid seventies. So you're saying it was basically an Epiphone p/u until it was modified for Firebirds in the sixties, but they went back to the orginal design for the later Deluxes? They never discontinued the Epiphone PU, they just never used it for Gibsons until '69. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 59refin Posted June 10, 2012 Members Share Posted June 10, 2012 They never discontinued the Epiphone PU, they just never used it for Gibsons until '69. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted June 11, 2012 Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 What about just buying a new set of gold minis? I don't know for sure but there must be some quality ones out there and you could save your Gibson pickups from potential damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bookumdano2 Posted June 11, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 More expensive that way, but sounds like the safest route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted June 11, 2012 Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 Wyatt I've have a pair Of PAF mini Humbuckers from a 63 Firebird they're different than Epi mini's and they redesigned them to fit in P90 size routes in LP's that became Deluxes. Pre Gibson epi pickups were'nt even Humbuckers they were single that looked like Humbuckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted June 11, 2012 Members Share Posted June 11, 2012 Wyatt I've have a pair Of PAF mini Humbuckers from a 63 Firebird they're different than Epi mini's and they redesigned them to fit in P90 size routes in LP's that became Deluxes. Pre Gibson epi pickups were'nt even Humbuckers they were single that looked like Humbuckers. Well, for the LP Deluxe, the Epiphone mini's were put in the custom soapbar pickup ring to use the same surface shape as the P-90, but the interior shape the rout itself was actually different to accommodate differences in mounting. The Epiphone/LP Deluxe mini-HB is built more like a traditional humbucker...it has steel pole piece (adjustable steel screws on one coil and a big steel slug in the other coil) with a magnet underneath. The Firebirds borrowed an idea from Fender and got rid of the steel poles/bottom-mounted magnet and just uses two Alnico 5 magnets as the poles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jtr654 Posted June 12, 2012 Members Share Posted June 12, 2012 Firebird Pickups are a diferent design than Deluxe & Epi mini Humbuckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted June 12, 2012 Members Share Posted June 12, 2012 Firebird Pickups are a diferent design than Deluxe & Epi mini Humbuckers. Uh, yeah, I said that. THREE times in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.