les paul deluxe - whats the low down?

[gwEm]

always on the look out for the unusal, and les paul deluxes have caught my eye lately.

how do they sound? what song would be 'typical les paul deluxe' tone?

i know pete townshend and adrian smith used to use them, which has attracted my attention. i suppose then they should be easily able to handle a bit of hard rock and classic metal. what about something smoother/heavier?

bit of idle interest i suppose. i'm toying (very non-seriously) of buying a p90 goldtop copy and putting mini-humbuckers in there.

[Philly Q]

Worth bearing in mind that Smith's Deluxe had the bridge pickup replaced with a DiMarzio Super Distortion and all of Townshend's Deluxes had DM Dual Sounds added in the middle position.  So (I'm guessing) they probably barely used the minibuckers!

Scott Gorham's playing a Deluxe in the pictures on Live and Dangerous.  And there must be loads of other people who use minibuckers, but at the moment I can only think of Johnny Winter's Firebird on his early albums.

I think minibuckers make great neck pickups, but they're a bit weak in the bridge position.  It's a pretty lame description, but think "halfway between a HB and single-coil".  They're lower output than even vintage-spec humbuckers, with Alnico II magnets (at least that's what the reissue Gibson ones have), so not best suited to tons of distortion.

[gwEm]

i was hoping you'd reply philly ;)

Worth bearing in mind that Smith's Deluxe had the bridge pickup replaced with a DiMarzio Super Distortion and all of Townshend's Deluxes had DM Dual Sounds added in the middle position.  So (I'm guessing) they probably barely used the minibuckers!

i didn't know that about smith's deluxe. i read an interview with townshend (maybe even on his website) where he said he prefered the minis to the DualSounds for his typical tone. Just used the DS for special stuff.

Scott Gorham's playing a Deluxe in the pictures on Live and Dangerous.  And there must be loads of other people who use minibuckers, but at the moment I can only think of Johnny Winter's Firebird on his early albums.

I think minibuckers make great neck pickups, but they're a bit weak in the bridge position.  It's a pretty lame description, but think "halfway between a HB and single-coil".  They're lower output than even vintage-spec humbuckers, with Alnico II magnets (at least that's what the reissue Gibson ones have), so not best suited to tons of distortion.

interesting "halfway between a HB and single-coil", i read similar elsewhere. but its also what people say about P90s - which I like. are minis 1/2 way between a fullsized humbucker and a P90 or a strat single coil? 1/2 between a p90 would be quite cool.

alinco 2 magnets seem not so useful :/ i remember an old post about bkp 'minimules', i'll search for their spec regarding the magnets.

edit: heres that old post http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=135&highlight=minimules

[gwEm]

philly: its definately been changed for something. doesn't look like a super distortion though.

[Kilby]

I am aware of Phil, having one of Tims Mini Mules, and there are a few mini HBs rewound by Tim.

I have found the gibson (and Tokai) mini HBs to have more top end and less mids than the P90s I have played (but some of that could be due to the amps).

Theres some info here about the mini HBs in firebirds and gibsons reasons for using them http://www.guitargonauts.com/pick-36.html and http://www.guitargonauts.com/pick-44.html

As Philly says theyre not that loud, and theyre bright.

Personally I like them, but then I tend to like single coil pickups.

Rob...

[Philly Q]

i read an interview with townshend (maybe even on his website) where he said he prefered the minis to the DualSounds for his typical tone. Just used the DS for special stuff.

That's interesting - I was thinking that because he'd taken the trouble to add the humbucker it would be the main pickup.  Dangerous to make assumptions...  :oops:

The P-90 comparison is difficult - I'd say the mini sounds more "humbuckerish" and the P-90 sounds more "single-coilish", but it's a clear, clean kind of humbucker tone.  A P-90 is more raw, more rock'n'roll.  The minibucker is kind of polite.  Thinking about it, minis would be really good in an electric 12-string - they have that kind of jangly, sparkly tone.  

edit: heres that old post http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=135&highlight=minimules

So the Mini-Mules were AIV, I guess that would make them a bit tighter and potentially more versatile.  AII can get mushy, I really like AII for neck pickups but I don't think I'd ever buy an AII bridge pickup.

I've got a Gibson minibucker which is going in the neck position of my Tele, if I ever get round to putting that guitar together.  If I don't like the mini's tone I may get BKP to rewind/rebuild it.

philly: its definately been changed for something. doesn't look like a super distortion though.

It's probably had several pickup changes over the years, but I'm 99% sure it had a cream SD at some point.  Could be wrong though, the ol' memory's not what it was.

[Kilby]

Thinking about it, minis would be really good in an electric 12-string - they have that kind of jangly, sparkly tone.  

Philly, you reminded me that Daisy Rock use mini HBs a lot, and indeed their electric 12 not only uses the mini HB but cuits it perfectly.

I find the fender strat 12 lacks mids totally, and the HB equipped ones are very boomy on the bottom Es and quite mushy up to the top b & e pairs.

I suppose the phrase balenced is a phrase that applied to the minis (so all the metal huys would say bass light :( )

Rob...

[gwEm]

thanks for the replies!

i read an interview with townshend (maybe even on his website) where he said he prefered the minis to the DualSounds for his typical tone. Just used the DS for special stuff.

That's interesting - I was thinking that because he'd taken the trouble to add the humbucker it would be the main pickup.  Dangerous to make assumptions...  :oops:

sounds like this thread is a bigger learning experience for me though ;)

The P-90 comparison is difficult - I'd say the mini sounds more "humbuckerish" and the P-90 sounds more "single-coilish", but it's a clear, clean kind of humbucker tone.  A P-90 is more raw, more rock'n'roll.  The minibucker is kind of polite.  Thinking about it, minis would be really good in an electric 12-string - they have that kind of jangly, sparkly tone.  

thats a really good description, and together with what kilby was saying, i'm starting to build up a picture of how it sounds. would be interesting to hear something from an AIV minimule owner.

Less rock'n'roll doesn't sound too promising. i thought it might sound bright and edgy for hard rock. in fact, it seems as if this may not be entirely the case.

philly: its definately been changed for something. doesn't look like a super distortion though.

It's probably had several pickup changes over the years, but I'm 99% sure it had a cream SD at some point.  Could be wrong though, the ol' memory's not what it was.

;) undoubtedly you're right. silly me! he probably changed it every tour in the 80s. wouldn't be surprising if it had an SD at some point.

[PhilKing]

I have lots of mini-Humbuckers!  I like the sound of them but they are a lowish output pickup.  I have a 63 Firebird, 59 Esquire with mini-hb in the neck (Brown Sugar bridge), custom walnut guitar with mini-mule neck and I used to have a reissue Firebird VII and I (I sold them to get the real 63).

I have also played in a few bands where the other guitarist had a LP deluxe.  If you want a good example of the driven sound of the mini-humbucker, listen to Wooden Ships by CSN&Y.

Many people do the swap to the standard size bridge pu, but the mini-hb is less muddy though with less bass.  They also are more distinct souning when you switch neck and bridge, because they are narrower and are further apart on the guitar.

[HTH AMPS]

I had a 90s Firebird for a while and the pickups were WAY too bright for me.  I really liked the feel of that guitar - would've persevered and got better pickups for it if I hadn't been skint at the time.

 :twisted:

[headtheball]

http:www.myspace.com/jointhedeafclub


All the lead parts here were done with a stock LP Deluxe. They aren't short of beef.