GFS mini humbucker question

[TimmyM]

I don’t know if this is the right place to ask this but, a couple of years ago I bought a set of GFS crunchy mini-humbuckers (with pole pieces) the kind that sit inside of the P-90 covers. They sat around for a year or so until I for a factory second Les Paul Deluxe to put them into. I have been working on the project and am now at the wiring stage. My problem is that the pickups are unmarked as far as neck and bridge, except that one of them has a piece of red shrink tube on the end. I checked them with a multimeter and one measured in at 8.2 and the other weighed in at over 12...is this possible? Does anyone have any experience with GFS markings? I have tried to contact them directly twice (last Monday and again on Wednesday) and they have not answered my question, which is odd because I have always had good experiences with their customer service in the past. Any information is appreciated.

 

[Zepfan]

The 8.2 one will be the neck pickup and the 12k one will be the bridge. As far as the wiring goes, I've seen a color code chart for their pickups in a Google search once.

 

[Zepfan]

found these.

 

[dougstrum]

Those will be pretty hot minihums.
Minihumbuckers are usually somewhere in the range of 6-6.5k

 

[crazydave911]

On the emails for over a year if you don't put an order number in the subject line it seems to be ignored. It could be ANY order number lol. I always keep the notification emails for just this purpose

 

[TimmyM]

On the emails for over a year if you don't put an order number in the subject line it seems to be ignored. It could be ANY order number lol. I always keep the notification emails for just this purpose

I believe this to be the case as I have had good response in the past

 

[TimmyM]

Those will be pretty hot minihums.
Minihumbuckers are usually somewhere in the range of 6-6.5k

I agree, that’s kind of why I asked the question. They are supposed to be hot or crunchy (I can’t honestly remember what I bought) they were on clearance. The 8+/- I get but the 12+/- I must be getting a bad reading somehow. I’m just going to finish it up and if I have to reverse the pickup it’s really no big deal.

 

[TimmyM]

On the emails for over a year if you don't put an order number in the subject line it seems to be ignored. It could be ANY order number lol. I always keep the notification emails for just this purpose

When I first received the pickups they came with black covers although I specifically ordered cream. I called and they immediately sent me replacements… Somehow I’m as I have fallen through the cracks but it’s no big deal I’ll figure it out

 

[bender66]

When I first received the pickups they came with black covers although I specifically ordered cream. I called and they immediately sent me replacements… Somehow I’m as I have fallen through the cracks but it’s no big deal I’ll figure it out

I'm confused. You said in the OP that you bought minis, but here you say the covers are cream/black, which makes me think P90. Am I understanding you correctly?

 

[crazydave911]

I don’t know if this is the right place to ask this but, a couple of years ago I bought a set of GFS crunchy mini-humbuckers (with pole pieces) the kind that sit inside of the P-90 covers.

Bender66

 

[dougstrum]

@TimmyM might as well try them;
if you don't like them try changing the wiring to parallel.
I got a pair of minihums from Guitar Madness a couple of months ago. They are wound about 6.5k ,sound great and only $20.

 

[jvin248]

.

+1 the 8k is neck and 12k is bridge.
You'll want at least 500k pots for those pickups. You might want high spec (measures 550kohm) volume pot or even 1Meg if the guitar sounds 'too dark' after first wiring it up. Or a series cap (0.047uF) on the pickup(s) hot lead if 'too muddy'.


Forget trying to track down wire color codes.

Use a meter and a little testing time to figure out which is which.



.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Measure the width of the poles on the pickups. It's likely that one has a wider spacing and that's your bridge position.

I de-boxed and mixed up a set awhile ago (different pickups, but same vendor), found they were not marked, but determined which was which by this method.

 

[TimmyM]

I'm confused. You said in the OP that you bought minis, but here you say the covers are cream/black, which makes me think P90. Am I understanding you correctly?

They were the mini humbuckers like the ones that are found in A Les Paul Deluxe...they utilize modified P-90 covers.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

With those DCR readings, you have a pretty heavy set. 12 would be the bridge. As stated, previously, a 500k pot would be a minimum consideration with a 1meg being a possible necessity. With the 1megs you will undoubtedly need treble bleed circuits; they get muddy really fast when you turn them down.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

Mini HB's on a Lester sounds like the beginnings of an awesome Thin Lizzy tribute band. I hope you get your dilemma figured out.
When in a similar situation, I ask myself "what damage can be done if I wire this wrong". In a guitar, it's probably a very slim chance, so I go ahead & solder it up the best way it makes sense to me. If it doesn't work, I swap the leads.

 

[bender66]

Bender66

D'oh. I read that as in P90 cover even though I know a Deluxe has the rings.

I'll throw a duh in there for good measure.

Carry on.

 

[crazydave911]

D'oh. I read that as in P90 cover even though I know a Deluxe has the rings.

I'll throw a duh in there for good measure.

Carry on.

 

[TimmyM]

Thank you everybody for the advise. When I bought these pickups I was thinking “mini-humbuckers, I’m gonna go with 350k pots. Like Old Deaf Roadie mentioned, I’ll just wire it up and if I don’t work right, then I’ll fix it.

 

[bender66]

Thank you everybody for the advise. When I bought these pickups I was thinking “mini-humbuckers, I’m gonna go with 350k pots. Like Old Deaf Roadie mentioned, I’ll just wire it up and if I don’t work right, then I’ll fix it.

I used 300k pots with real minis in a Firebird. It sounds like ass. Totally underwhelming.