Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

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Ralle
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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Ralle » Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:55 pm

Forgive me for being stubbern, but when you say simular... do they have the same speqs ( copy ) or are they just built simular?

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by leadguy » Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:34 pm

The Mighty Mite Distortion and DiMarzio Distortion type pickups share the same sort of basic specs but there are differences because they were/are made by different companies.

DiMarzio had nothing to do with Mighty Mite.

Mighty Mite jumped on the DiMarzio Distortion bandwagon.

The DiMarzio Super Distortion came out in 1972 and Mighty Mite came along later on and copied it.

The Mighty Mites used bondable wire which might have ended up being wrapped around the bobbin in a different way to the DiMarzios.

The Mighty Mite's bondable wire was to prevent the windings from moving and producing microphonic feedback.

The way most pickup makers deal with microphonic feedback is by wax potting the pickup and the wax prevents the windings from moving and producing microphonic feedback.

So, Mighty Mites never needed wax potting because of their bondable wire.

Ed might have used Mighty Mites for this reason until he discovered how to do wax potting.

DiMarzios from the 1970s had no wax potting and just used the usual pickup wire and not bondable wire.

There might be differences in the Mighty Mite and DiMarzio bobbins shape which leads to the wire being wrapped in a different way and therefore the magnetic field is different.

And there might be differences in the hex slugs and other things.

All of these things can affect how a pickup sounds.

So the Mighty Mites are similar to the DiMarzios but not exactly the same.

This is from Seymour Duncan who did some OEM work for Mighty Mite back in the 1970s.

"Mighty Mite pickups were made at a Southern California company called Turbo-Jet and the bobbins were wound using a bondable wire. After the bobbins were wound, the coils were heated in ovens and the special insulation would bond to each other making a solid coil. The coils were difficult to remove if the bobbin needed rewinding or turns needed to be removed. There are other bondable wires that are activated by chemicals but can get very messy when working with them. I prefer a hot wax solution used with a vacuum to draw the air bubbles out and this allows the pickup to be repaired easier and potting with epoxy also makes the pickup almost impossible to repair."

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/fa ... -a/451475/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"When your swinging, Swing some MORE" ~Monk

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Ralle
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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Ralle » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:53 am

Is there a company that sells the real MM 1400? I checked their site, but I couldn't find any 1400's

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Marshall SL12301 » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:03 am

Ralle wrote:Is there a company that sells the real MM 1400? I checked their site, but I couldn't find any 1400's
NO they discontinued those years ago :( but if you have a old one you can have a pup winder copy it for you like JEFF at high order pickups. He could make you a clone no prob. And
I completely agree with LEADGUY the MM and dimarzio's are similar but never exact.
The best place to find a old original is good ole Ebay :lol:
R.I.P Mark Abrahamian, You will be remembered!

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Strat78 » Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:48 am

The new Mighty Mite company has nothing to do with the Mighty Mite of the 1970's. You just need to keep your eyes open for the vintage MM's, I fund one for Roger last week on the bay. To clone it you would probably need the wire with the bonding coating, so I doubt these can be cloned. The 13k's came in black, cream and zebra. The 9k's can be cream or zebra. Sometimes the Mighty Mite MFG is stamped on the inside of the plate so you can't see it, but there are other ways to determine that it is a MM by examining the face of the bobbins. I've got too many projects right now to do a good comparison of the 70's MM's to the 70's DSD's. Ralle, don't you have a vintage cream Mighty Mite from Ben?

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Ralle
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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Ralle » Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:17 am

Yes, but that's a 1300, I think... this one I have now ( wich isn't mine... I'm testing it, but belongs to Nick Phillips ) is black and messaurers 8,6k... and it sounds really great... actually better than my DSD... the MM1300... hmm... not so good... too muschy...

So I would like to get my hands on a MM 1400 9k isch
:wink:

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by vanhalen5150 » Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:45 am

One of those 9k MM's sold for about $24 on eBay 2 weeks ago.
12000 Metro Kit

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by jape88 » Sun Dec 18, 2011 11:58 am

Ralle, it's actually cream the guy I got it off painted it black! so you think it's better than the 1300 and DSD?

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Ralle
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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Ralle » Sun Dec 18, 2011 2:45 pm

jape88 wrote:Ralle, it's actually cream the guy I got it off painted it black! so you think it's better than the 1300 and DSD?
He he... I thought I saw some cream colour on it...
Yeah, Nick... I actually think it's ... well not better, but it's better for the early Ed sound... I just removed your pu, and put in my DSD, it is rawer in a way...
But I would really like to buy the MM from you... :wink:

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Marshall SL12301 » Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:58 pm

Ralle wrote:
jape88 wrote:Ralle, it's actually cream the guy I got it off painted it black! so you think it's better than the 1300 and DSD?
He he... I thought I saw some cream colour on it...
Yeah, Nick... I actually think it's ... well not better, but it's better for the early Ed sound... I just removed your pu, and put in my DSD, it is rawer in a way...
But I would really like to buy the MM from you... :wink:
i think ed used the MM 1400 vintage and not the 1300 in the early days so i can see why you like it more :wink:
R.I.P Mark Abrahamian, You will be remembered!

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by MrBeasty » Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:26 pm

I own a MM 1300 Screamer and a vintage DiMarzio Super Distortion (2 wires). They look similar ... from afar. The MM is clearly a cheap copy; the plastic is cheap, there is no wood spacer so the bobbins sag under the pressure of the screws (you can see it in the MM pictures too) ... the MM1300 reads around 13.5K, like the Super Distortion.

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.

See pix:
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr23 ... ortion.jpg

Old Dimarzio SD:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/ ... G_1812.jpg
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/6 ... 105522.jpg

If Ed bought that pick-up (which I am convinced he did) it was probably because it was cheap to acquire.
Also, the MM1300 did not appear until after the Japanese tour of 1979, on the Shark guitar. The same guitar he hacked after recording VH1 and tried different pick-up into to try to "revive" it. The MM1300 appears to still be in that guitar, although he has long stopped using it.

That said, he started using a lot of white pick-ups from 1980 onward (Star Guitar, Frankie, Unchained guitar, etc), either MM1300s or Dimarzio Super Distortions ... and to this day all his pick-ups are of the "13K family": the Frankie pick-up, the Wolfgangs, etc

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Ralle
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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Ralle » Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:59 pm

What company sells that MM 1400 now? Or are they out completly?

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by leadguy » Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:48 pm

Ed was using a white Mighty Mite in early 1977 in a burst Strat.

The old Mighty Mites are not made anymore.

The only way to get one is to buy a used one.
"When your swinging, Swing some MORE" ~Monk

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by Bore Em at the Forum » Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:56 pm

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?)

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Re: Mighty Mite MFG 8.6k...

Post by rgorke » Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:26 pm

Bore Em at the Forum wrote: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 think that is the only way. What is the wiring like? Red, white, black, bare?
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