Put that router away and say hello to brighter, grittier tone with these drop-in, humbucker-sized single-coils.
Transforming a guitar’s sound with a new set of pickups is exciting, but it’s not always easily doable without routing. We’ve assembled 10 options designed to serve up delicious P-90 tone, but sized to slip right into your humbucker-routed guitar.
H90 Standard
These low-wind pickups offer snappy and brighter single-coil tones for those in need of more chime and less power, and can be ordered with custom wood tops.
P90 – Humbucker
Boasting clear lows, thick mids, and percussive highs, this vintage-voiced P-90 was designed for versatility, clarity, and snarly midrange, and is available in a number of finishes.
Dream 90
These P-90s are reported to provide fat, warm-yet-crunchy body, and can offer full humbucking performance when both pickups are selected, because the neck pickup is reverse wound.
Heavy House P94
Based on the company’s House Special P-90, this pickup brings all the power and tone of a true P-90 but in a humbucker package—measuring 7.4k for the neck and 7.8k for the bridge.
Humbucker Sized P-90
A faithful recreation of a vintage P-90, these pickups feature spec plain enamel wire, alnico 4 magnets for the neck for clear and fat sounds, and alnico 5s for the bridge for bite and grind.
Pro-90
For those chasing authentic tone, these pickups duplicate the construction, materials, and growl of a vintage ’50s-era P-90 by using the company’s proprietary Vintage Core specifications.
Hum-90
Housing alnico 2, 4 , or 5 magnets and 43AWG coil wound around its humbucker-sized P-90 bobbins, these pickups are said to offer single-coil tones with clarity, presence, and a defined voice.
Fat Bastard
These single-coils are designed to offer plenty of crunch by capturing the classic P-90 tone of the 1950s with “a little South Texas funk” thrown in.
V-90
Regardless of your style, these degaussed alnico 5 pickups were made to be touch sensitive, respond well to pick attack, and provide tight lows, grinding mids, and singing highs.
Why? Yeah, they're smaller, but they can also offer brighter, clearer, more focused tones than their full-sized cousins.
Whether you’re rehabbing a Les Paul Deluxe or an Epiphone Sheraton, or simply working on a different model or project that calls for mini humbuckers, we’ve rounded up 10 contemporary options to wire up, drop in, and rock out.
DIMARZIO
PG-13Originally developed for Paul Gilbert to deliver the sonic versatility he needs, this pickup was designed to combine the noiseless operation of a ’bucker with the focus and clarity of a single-coil.
$99 street
dimarzio.com
LACE
Drop & Gain Mini HumbuckerIntended for drop-D tunings and high-gain rock, these humbuckers have two discreet coil functions: one to drive output and the other for punch, crunch, sustain, and fast articulation.
$115 street
lacemusic.com
DRAGONFIRE
Mini BuckerThese vintage-wound pickups use alnico-5 magnets to achieve rounded and dynamic rhythm and lead performance for everything from blues to classic rock.
$45 street
dragonfireguitars.com
LOLLAR
Mini HumbuckerCompared with a vintage mini, these pickups are reported to be fatter and hotter without extreme microphonics, and, next to a full-size humbucker, brighter and tighter.
$175 street
lollarpickups.com
RIO GRANDE
Baby BBQ DawgbuckerFeaturing oversized polepieces and available in a number of different finishes, these double-wax-potted pickups were dreamed up to offer more power and presence than their vintage predecessors.
$170 street
riograndepickups.com
SEYMOUR DUNCAN
Seymourized Mini HumbuckerThese handmade neck minis were designed to provide more midrange and clarity for clean tones that are clear and snappy, and distorted tones with a pleasant mid-based growl.
$109 street
seymourduncan.com
CURTIS NOVAK
Mini-HumDesigned to deliver distinctive, harmonically rich tone with no shrillness, these old-school humbuckers are handwound to vintage specs, but can be custom wound upon request.
$160 street
curtisnovak.com
EMG
Mini Hum M-50For those in the active camp, this alnico-5 mini was designed to provide plenty of inductance and a beefy sound—great for driving a Marshall, but also good for playing slide through a Deluxe.
$99 street
emgpickups.com
KLEIN
Mini HumbuckerWound to vintage specs, these mini humbuckers are reported to be brighter than their full-size counterparts, with more depth and presence, and offer plenty of bite and grind when dug into.
$150 street
kleinpickups.com
GIBSON
Mini HumbuckerThis vintage replica from the company that introduced the mini humbucker in the ’60s uses alnico-2 magnets for its bright and focused output, but still retains Gibson’s well-known humbucker performance.
$155 street
gibson.com