SD mini 'bucker? Or Gibson?

[Telenator]

I need to buy a set on those mini-humbucker alnico II p'ups that used to come in Les Paul Deluxes.

Anyone have any actual gigging experience with these two p'ups? Not sure which one to buy.

[fezz parka]

I'd try the New York mini like they put in Epiphones...

[Tim Armstrong]

I've heard good things about the Kent Armstrong Firebird pickups...

Cheers, Tim

[OaklandA]

The mini's in the new LP Deluxes are pretty nice. I never liked the originals from the 70's...in the Deluxes that is. The Firebird version were always good. I'm not sure what Gibson did different, aside from covers and polepieces.

The SD Antiquity mini sounds great! I have a friend that took an Epi 56 LP and dropped a pair of these in place of the stock P-90's to make his own discount Deluxe. It sounds and plays really sweet. The Antiquities are expensive, though, but are handwound.

[Vibrolux]

+1 on the SD Antiquity minihumbiucker. I didn't ever care for the original Gibson minis in my buddy's Les Paul Deluxe, but I put an SD Antiquity mini in the neck slot of my Tele a couple of years ago and love it to death. Great warmth, great clarity, and an incredible organic quality to the sound. It was a bit pricey, but I'm really glad I did it.

[kludge]

I have a Kent Armstrong firebird-style mini as a neck pickup and I LOVE it. Really, one of the best pickups I've ever heard! It has a real wood-and-wire, almost acoustic quality to it. They also make a version with pole pieces for that Les Paul Deluxe look; I don't know if it's electronically different from the Firebird type. The Kent Armstrong floating mini-humbucker (again, probably the same pickup) is standard equipment on a LOT of extremely expensive handmade jazz boxes.

I don't know if the Seymour Duncan Antiquities compare, but I will say the Armstrongs are REAL good.

[kludge]

Oh, I should add that the Kent Armstrong version kicks the snot out of current reissue Les Paul Deluxes, to my ears. But the new ones don't sound as good to me as old ones, either.

[hipfan]

I have a pair of the SD Antiquity II mini-hums in an Agile LP P90 copy (my own little budget LP Deluxe, like OaklandA's friend did), and they sound really cool. They're pretty versatile pickups. Not as much girth or depth as a nice P90 (my favorite pickup style), but a unique, cutting tone in their own right.

*Very* nice slide tones are available with the SD Antiquity mini's, I might add.

[sleepingtiger]

The newer Gibson Mini's are MUCH higher output & sound nothing like the old ones! I have KA's in neck & middle & a SD standard issue Vintage mini in the bridge on one of my Firebirds & they all sound great. Many people have commented that it sounds so much better than other recent 'Birds they've played. I can highly recommend either the SD or KA mini's, though the KA's are much cheaper. I think the SD's have a little mure "growl".
Enjoy! mini's rule!
Tony