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Anyone using the SM-1, SM-2, SM-3 ????

The grit amp; grind of the SM-2 sounds appealing to me....how close are they to the Custom 3 P-90s????

Nope, but I wish I was

I have an SM-1 in the neck position of my MIM Tele Nashville. I love it. I was thinking about a '59N, but with the middle pickup on this axe, I figured a mini-HB would fit better. It's turned out real well, the SM-1 balances nicely with the single coils but still sounds like a humbucker.

Ditto on the SM-3n in a Tele -- very warm and full tone that strides the line between HB and SC tones, and matches nicely with the output of a good vintage Tele lead pickup.

HHmmmmmmmm...never thought of them in a Tele !

Did you guys have to reroute the neck cavity or did you already have buckers in there amp; just work out the gap?

How do they compare to a P90? Same grit without the noise?

I have the SM-1 in the neck of my ash MIJ Fernandez 50's style tele and it balances extremely well with the JD lead.

It's not quite as hollow sounding as my Phat Cat, and it is a bit smoother, but with some drive it can definately get rude and grind with the best of 'em.

BTW, since my tele was true to vintage specs, I had to route under the pickguard.

I have a SM-1 in the neck of my 67' MelodyMaker. Love it !!
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lt;lt;lt; Not ta mention da 2 Gibby mini's in da Bird.

Let me ask this:

If you were gonna build a Firebird, what pickup would you put in it amp; why???

Minis
P90s
Humbuckers

I'm intrigued by the Mini amp; I'm thinking that's the tone I have in my head amp; want, but if they don't work out you have the routing issue....same with P90s. And the Minis aren't extremely popular, so is there areason why???

With the humbucker route, you could use Phat Cats for the P90 tone or go with the variety of bucker combinations.

Hmmmmm

I think that mini's aren't as popular as humbuckers, Fender style singles and P-90's because most guitars with mini's are somewhat rare and more expensive than the other guitars; thus making strats, teles, and pauls (standards) more familiar to most gitar players.

At this point, I can pick up a Musician's Friend catalog and buy a strat, a tele, and something with humbuckers for under $1000 (all three). To get something with mini's, I'd have to step up to a Firebird or a Lus Paul Deluxe (off the top of my head), both of which retail for well over $1000.

Personally, I'd go with mini's. If you don't care for them, you can install P-90's, which are a bit more popular.

IMO Mini's are the best kept secret in the PuP world. The sweet vocal sound of a SC with the growl of a HB all rolled into one PuP! The Trick is you need a WARM sounding amp.(i.e.) a JTM 45, BF Bassman or even the Crate
that Jeffrec had at the NY jam. If you use a SF Twin or late model JCM800 you will find they sound shrill and unplesent.( It took me years to figure this out )

Puckboy
Firebird mini humbuckers are awesome pickups.
I had a 1976 Ibanez Firebird copy, made of mahogany with (unfortunately) a bolt-on mahogany neck, which kinda defeats the purpose of building a Firebird, as Firebirds have a 'thru-neck' construction with the 'body being giant wings on the side of the thru-neck (but I'm guessing you know this already) anyway.... mahogany is very brittle and not really suited for using with bolt on necks..

So the guitar was a bit of a crapper really... but those Ibanez Firebird pickups!! Whoa! they sounded hot! The beauty of the mini-humbuker is that it does sound like a PAF Humbucker crossed with a sweet telecaster type twang. It has the basic body and undertone of a warm grinding hi-gain sound but with a very clear and defined 'clean' sound 'sparkling' on the top.

Yeah I agree with Benji... everyone has Strats Teles and Les Pauls because that is all that the big companys (fender, Gibson) offer across all manufacturing and price points, and it seems to be what most companys that make similar or 'copy' guitars have also made. As a broad group we are 'told' what we should play.. even me, I have a Tele, a strat and a Les Paul. I kinda wish I had a Gretsch a Firebird and a Rickenbacker or and ES-175...

Anyway, Firebird pickups are not un-popular because they suck... no sir! they just aren't used in major production guitars... if Jimi had've used a firebird as his main axe instead of a strat... then firebirds would be everywhere now!

Note Neil Young has a Firebird Mini humbucker in the bridge of his (black) 1953 Goldtop. With a P-90 in the neck. So check out some of his electric stuff to hear how a mini humbucker can sound....

paspallum

I love Mini Humbuckers.... In my 76 Les Paul Deluxe i had a SM1 and a SM3 in the bridge.... The SM 3 is a nice higher output mini......

Most of the current MiM and MIA Teles (except HWY1, Classics, and Vintage RI) are factory routed for a full size neck HB, so you just need a new pickguard cut to fit one, and you're all set. The SM-3n is very warm sounding with low end growl and some nice harmonics on the high end. It has some of the SC hollowness and HB compression, gets a great woman tone with the tone rolled off, and delivers excellent sustain. From time to time, I think about turning my Texas Special Strat into a Firecaster with a pair of mini-HBs (and maybe a Strat SC in the middle). If you have a guitar with pickguard-mounted HBs, then you can get a new guard and load up the mini's for a test run -- they'll probably stay put.

Sounds like the perfect strat would be an H/S/S with a SM-3 in the bridge... And 2 fender texas specials in the neck and middle.... w00t that'd be a nice guitar.

So I had to use TCT and make it :\

Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99How do they compare to a P90? Same grit without the noise?

In a strat neck position, the SM-1 has a lot of the P-90 sound. To my ears, they are a little more scooped, and closer to true strat single tone, but still the meat that you would expect from a HB. Some of that may be that my SM-1 is in a strat , and the P-90's I have are in a gibson with the appropriately shorter scale neck. I actually would like it if my p-90's had a little more clarity, like the SM-1. I really want to try the SM-1 amp; SM-3 in the bridge of a longer scale guitar.

GREAT comments fellas....much appreciated!!!!


Originally Posted by kmcguitarsIMO Mini's are the best kept secret in the PuP world. The sweet vocal sound of a SC with the growl of a HB all rolled into one PuP! The Trick is you need a WARM sounding amp.(i.e.) a JTM 45, BF Bassman or even the Crate
that Jeffrec had at the NY jam. If you use a SF Twin or late model JCM800 you will find they sound shrill and unplesent.( It took me years to figure this out )

Strings make a difference with the minis too. I prefer vintage nickel over the quot;bright wiresquot; or similar.