Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

[MrBeasty]

Reviving this thread....

I have a couple of Mighty Mites with adjustable pole pieces (from the 70's).....is there a way to tell the difference between a 1300 and a 1400, other than measuring them (13.5-ish on the 1300, 9.5-ish on the 1400?)

I don't think you can "see" the difference between a 1300 and a 1400. That said, the 1400 should have less wire than a 1300.

[Bore Em at the Forum]

Cool, thanks for info. I love these pickups. Even if they aren't THE pickup, they are in the mix as ONE of the pickups, verified. A good start on the tone chase, for sure.

[somethin'else]

Man, you are lucky to have 'em, Bore Em. Those puppies are pretty near extinct and nowhere to be found. Even DSDs kinda don't sound the same as the vintage ones I gather.

I'm really interested in the 1400 since Ralle's clips. That is the shit to me.

Given Leadguy's diff list of 1400 vs the Dimarzio Super2, would a Super2 be worth entertaining?
I mean, the "freqency analysis" on Dimarzio's site shows the Super2 as being really treble bound.

Same but different as a 1400? Wire diffs being the main thing?

And if HighOrder made a Super2 or 1400 clone, I imagine it'd be closer to Super2 because of the regular wire vs the bondable wire too? I'm gonna go bug Jeff again,

Or could I just grab any ole ceramic pup and throw it in my HighOrder/Gibson purple wire 8.9k mutt and just see what the diFF? Is a ceramic just a ceramic is a ceramic? Some fatter, some regular? Geez.

I'd love a 1400 that's for sure.

[Bore Em at the Forum]

Finally dug out the multi-meter and measured the Mighty Mites -

One is the Screamer/distortion, in the high 13's (didn't bring info with me to work)
One is the Vintage (looks identical to the Screamer), measured at 8.65

Both are creme.

I have an 1800, it's in some stuff at my brother's place, has the flat pole pieces. Any idea what they typically measure?

Also - are these 3 models (to our knowledge) the only 3 hum buckers they were building in this era?

[Marshall SL12301]

I scored a MM 1300 on the bay for $20 and already had the 1400.
The 1300 i have is 13.6K and the 1400 is at 8.8K. It has been said that the dimarzio super 2 is a potted version of the 1400.
When Mighty mite put out the screamers they were meant to be a set(neck and bridge) so tyhe 13000 goes in the bridge and the 1400 well you now! LOL/
These were put out to mimic the dimarzio super D and super 2 set that many were installing in their les pauls back in the 70's.
IMHO i think eddie used all of these minus maybe the super 2 at one point or another,i guess it can be assumed that when he went on his PAF kick he used the MM1 1400 maybe with a PAF mag?(zebra MM in black frank from the jenny lens photo)

[Bore Em at the Forum]

Thanks for that background. By doing searches of threads, I can piece together all of this, a bit at a time.

I bought my two as a "set" from a seller, so my guess is they've been together all along.

From a logical point of view, you can certainly see how Eddie was trying these hotter pickups in that 76-77 time frame leading up to VH1. They weren't expensive and were considered "upgrades" over stock pickups. So he had to try them. And they caught his ear....for a while. He had a couple of PAFs on hand and made his judgment on those....

You get to May 77 and a record deal/demo to be made...he was already on a further "tone chase" but used what he was most used to/comfortable with for the album, but already was starting to lean in another direction. October-December was probably the time that he was tweaking his rig, maybe getting that Duncan re-wound PAF, etc......

And it totally makes sense that he DOESN'T LIE (as much as it's attributed to him)....in interviews when he says, I use a PAF that's rewound to be hotter....I've used all kinds of pickups (Dimarzio, Mighty Mite, whatever's lying around)......he "burns" on the Dimarzios as being too hot.....because by the time of that interview, he had moved on from the SD approach to his rig - and has even said he didn't care for the sound on the VH1 album.

It all makes logical sense in chronological order, but you have to get an idea of what he's IMPLYING....he doesn't spell it out for you. In his mind, he thinks he's told you everything and it's a simple setup.

If he had said, "I used MM's and SD's all through 1977, wasn't my dream sound, but good enough, had to get the album done, then got that PAF rewound and NOW I'm totally happy.....that would have filled in the blanks!

Probably after the spat with Seymour over the "VH" pickup - is when he got a lot harder to pin down about pickup choice. If he went back to SD's, he wasn't gonna own up to it cos it amounted to a commercial opportunity for Dimarzio. As long as he had that rewound PAF, he had something no one could totally pin down and sell as "his" pickup.

[Marshall SL12301]

Your post is SPOT ON Bore em at the forum,! I think like you said eddie was not lying he just was not being extrtemely detailed moment by moment which is understandable.
Like you said BTT he did his first major interveiw,he already had different taste for tone(he liked a cleaner warmer tone overall ala Brown sound PAF). He did not like that 1st record tone any longer so he moved on.
At this point it is pretty vlear to me that for all the earliest stuff a MM1300 or dsd will get that tone,for the 1st record I like the SH5 and dsd/MM after that most PAF types will work fine as has been proven on all the clips.
IMHO the EVH frank pup will do the second album through 5150 with the right amp/effects/hands but so will the duncan CC,59,dp 103,etc,etc

[ericernest]

Mighty Mite made three humbuckers back then:
The # 1800 - a PAF clone without adjustable polls.
The #1300 - "Distortion" looks like a Super Distortion (13.5k)
The #1400 - "Vintage" looks like the 1300 but with less output (9.5K). Intended for neck position.
All were available with split coil as an option.

I thought I might help clarify this a little.

The # 1300 - "Distortion" 12 adjustable pole pieces (13.5k)
The # 1400 - "Vintage" 12 adjustable pole pieces (8.85K)
The # 1800 - "Super Stud" 12 slug pole pieces. Has CHROME base. (13.5k)
The # 1900 - "Mother Bucker" Three coils.

Hope this helps.

[mightymike]

I wonder if I ended up with the 8.6k Black Painted MM1400 that Ralle tried but belonged to Jape88.
I actually hope it isn't because the seller said it was from an estate sale.

That being said, the listing showed a measurement of 4.37k from white to red. I think the red and white should be tied together for the coil tap, and measurement should be from black to mesh.

My guess is that it should read 8.72k.
It should have arrived by the time I get to check my mail tonight

[jape88]

I wonder if I ended up with the 8.6k Black Painted MM1400 that Ralle tried but belonged to Jape88.

I still have that one.

[rgorke]

I wonder if I ended up with the 8.6k Black Painted MM1400 that Ralle tried but belonged to Jape88.

I still have that one.

Whew, we thought you were goners...

[mightymike]

I wonder if I ended up with the 8.6k Black Painted MM1400 that Ralle tried but belonged to Jape88.

I still have that one.

Glad you're still alive

[EJSLPlexi]

I thought I might help clarify this a little.

The # 1300 - "Distortion" 12 adjustable pole pieces (13.5k)
The # 1400 - "Vintage" 12 adjustable pole pieces (8.85K)
The # 1800 - "Super Stud" 12 slug pole pieces. Has CHROME base. (13.5k)
The # 1900 - "Mother Bucker" Three coils.

Hope this helps.

All The chrome baseplate ones are wound by seymour duncan, they are the earliest versions
i have a 1400 with a silver baseplate as well as a 1800 and 1300
Randy Zacuto was the founder of Mighty Mite.
He hired Seymour Duncan (OEM work) around the mid 1970s to design and work on Mighty Mite pickups.
The brass ones are after duncan no longer worked with Mighty mite.

[sine_wave]

I know I'm probably alone on this one… But all of the pups that Ed used (both black bobbin and cream colored) were Gibson PAFs. Ed had stated his dislike for ceramic magnet Dimarzios (SD) very early on. Also, his cream colored pup had 3 holes in the bobbin just like a vintage PAF should.

To back me up on this, a few years ago they auctioned off an Unkert-made Kramer that Ed used to own. I watched a video of Unkert inspecting it. When the subject of the pickup was raised, he said something like, "it's most likely an original PAF. I used to have a drawer full. That's what Ed liked and wanted in all of his guitars".
Add to that all of the statements SD has made about various PAF rewinds he had done for Ed back in the day.
I also think Ed's subtle change in tone throughout the first 6 albums could have had been a side-effect of having a different grade magnet (Alnico 2, Alnico 5, plus the short magnets that were made post 1962).

I would never believe Ed's incredibly dynamic tone was the result of a ceramic magnet pickup. Listen to how his guitar would clean up when he would bring his volume way down. You can't get that kind of organic action from a brittle sounding ceramic pickup. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. I think guys like the added boost (gain) they give them and then decide "oh yeah, this must be what Ed used". But don't forget… Ed's tone was distorted, but at the same time incredibly clean and articulate. When he'd hit a chord you'd hear every note and they wouldn't clash off each other. I've never heard a ceramic be able to do that. Sorry guys, those are just the things I've experienced as a player as well as the info from Unk and SD and Ed himself! He knew what he wanted. Otherwise why would he take the PAF out of his Gibson 335 and put it into what became his #1, the Franky?

[jnew]

Well, I wouldn't completely count out ceramic mag PU's. His guitars have been reported to use treble bleed cap&resistor circuits so when rolling down the volume, you can get those clean dynamics. And if your amp isn't overly gained, so to speak, you will retain beautiful dynamics. And remember, the Super 70 PU's used AlNiCo 8 magnets. And those are far more similar to ceramic magnets.