Custom Handwound Replacement Mini-Humbucker & Firebird® Style Pickups
Vintage, Classic, Modern & Alternative Design Replacement Min-Humbucker & Firebird® design Pickups
From vintage sounding Mini-Humbuckers & Firebird® design Pickups to modern, custom & alternative design replacements, my Mini-Humbucker & Firebird® size range has been designed for a variety of sounds and styles of play - from the classic clear, crunchy and well defined sounds to modern, fatter, fuller and higher output versions.
I've tried to develop a replacement Mini-Humbucker & Firebird® range that not only covers the vintage sounds and styles still much loved to this day, but also adding modern, custom and alternative deisgns intended as direct drop-in replacements for those looking for something a little different in the same classic size and style.
I wind all replacement twin-coil Mini-Humbuckers & Firebird® design Pickups with a small, specific coil offset to open up more frequencies. A twin-coil humbucker by nature cancels some of the buzz you get with 60 cycle hum but in doing so a whole lot of other frequencies are shut out too which can lead to a somewhat sterile sound. I try and hold onto some of these frequencies through custom winding.
If you're after a custom set of replacement Mini Humbuckers or Firebird® style Pickups, just get in touch with details of the kind of voice and output you're after and I can work on the best design for you. I don't have pickups all boxed up ready to send out, each order is custom made so I can tweak the specifications to suit your own guitar & playing.
Handwound at my workshop here in Manchester
Use the tab menu below to view the full range of Creamery ReplacementMini-Humbucker & Firebird Style Pickups
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Replacement Mini Humbucker Pickups
Classic Mini Humbucker
Magnets Alnico 2 or 5 Coil Wire 42AWG Lead Wire Vintage Braided or Modern 4-Way Bridge Output 7.1k Neck Output 6.3k 
Creamery Classic Handwound Replacement Mini-Humbucker Pickup
The Classic, Vintage Clean Mini-Humbucker Sound
A classic mini-humbucker sound, rich and clear with great harmonics, somewhere between a humbucker & P90 single coil sound.
Brighter, tighter with more sparkle and clarity than a traditional, larger Gibson/PAF style humbucker yet fatter and rounder than a single-coil, they're great for the neck position or snarly when cranked in a balanced, calibrated set.
With my replacement mini humbuckers, the coils are asymmetrically wound giving more dynamics, with a richer clarity & string definition. A rich, vintage Mini-Humbucker sound.
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Replacement Firebird® Design Pickups
Classic Firebird®
Magnets Alnico 5 or Ceramic Coil Wire 42AWG Lead Wire Vintage Braided or Modern 4-Way Bridge Output 7.1k Neck Output 6.3k Creamery Classic Handwound Replacement Firebird® Pickup
The Classic, Vintage Clean Firebird® Sound
A different design to the Mini Humbucker, namely two coils side-by-side, each wrapped around individual bar magnets to give a RW/RP, Reverse Wound / Reverse Polarity Humbucker Pickup. Rich and clear with great harmonics and a fatter, 'doubled-up' single-coil sound. More crunch, spank and a tighter bass response than a Mini Humbucker.
Brighter, tighter with more clarity than a humbucker yet fatter than a single-coil, they're great for the neck position or snarly and crunchy when cranked in a balanced, calibrated set.
With my replacement Firebird® style pickups, the coils are asymmetrically wound giving more dynamics, with a richer clarity & string definition. A rich, vintage sound.
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Custom / Alternative Designs
Sweet '14
Magnets Alnico 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 or Ceramic Coil Wire 43AWG Double Coated Plain Enamel Lead Wire 2-Way with separate ground for Cover & Baseplate Bridge Output 6.3k Neck Output 5.3 
Creamery Sweet '14'
Custom Designed for a sweet, clear, rich & defined punchy, snappy sound
I've been working on this on and off for a couple of years, trying various specifications and modifications to get the design just right for that rich clean, snappy sound.
I've made parts by hand, had custom parts manufactured specifically and finally, finally, after many, many prototypes & testing sessions they're ready - The new Sweet '14 Foil style pickups. I wanted to create a customisable, standard Firebird/Mini-Humbucker size fatter single coil pickup that had the sweetness & warmth of the original Gold Foils whilst keeping great clarity & string definition with a modern punch & snap that really has a powerful sound when cranked - to really cut through the mix.
The thinner double coated plain enamel 43AWG coil wire helps push the sound that little bit more towards the mid-range for the sweetness I was after and although my personal preference is for an Alnico 2 Bridge/Alnico 4 Neck I decided to offer the full range of magnet options for those who like to create their own combinations - The original 'Gold Foils' people love had weaker rubberised ferrite magnets and although I chose not to use these for the new Sweet '14 Rich Coil pickups as I just wanted something stronger, something a little more modern, I will be using these for the new 44awg true spec/size Gold Foils I'm launching once I've had all the covers & baseplates custom manufactured.
I wanted these pickups to be something different rather than simply re-casing the original design into a humbucker size, as really, for this new Gibson/PAF Humbucker size pickup, I just wanted more snap, more punch whilst keeping that rich sweetness. Ultimately I wanted to create really defined clean sounds that can be the basis for pedals & effects etc.
Magnets don't have 'tone' but what they do have is strength and the custom sizes I've had manufactured do affect the overall sound - all other things being equal. I prefer the Alnico 2 bridge as the slightly weaker magnets help to round out the sound that bit more in the naturally brighter bridge position, whereas the stronger Alnico 4 set helps to keep clarity, definition and snap in the naturally darker neck position.
I've also designed these with a taller coil wrapped around a custom made plated steel blade with a double set of Alnico or Ceramic magnets to really help drive the amp when required for a more modern sound.
Customisable
I often get asked to make pickups with unique or different covers to suit a particular custom guitar and with this in mind, I decided to have my custom rounded edge covers manufactured in an open form design which then would allow the seperate top plate to be completely customisable with any design, colour or finish. Some prefer the old Gold or Silver Foil look whereas others have asked for patterns, prints even material, leather and textured card - to give a unique look and feel to the pickups.
You can see more pictures of custom cover plates and choose either the Gold or Silver Foil versions or just select 'Custom' from the dropdown menu here (single bridge or neck pickup, or calibrated set) and leave me a note at the checkout stage or just drop me an email telling a little more about what you have in mind.
> Back to the full range of Creamery Replacement Mini Humbucker & Firebird® Style Pickups
Custom / Alternative Designs
Classic '65 Staple
Magnets Alnico 2 or 5 Coil Wire 43AWG Lead Wire Vintage Braided Pushback Bridge Output 8.1k Neck Output 7.3k Hofner 511 in a Mini-Humbucker Size
Creamery Classic Handwound Replacement 511 "Staple" Mini-Humbucker Pickup
Based on the 1965 Hofner™ 511 Nova-Sonic "Staple" Twin Coil Humbucker but in a standard Mini-Humbucker size as a direct drop-in replacement
A classic mini-humbucker sound that's warm, rich and clear with great harmonics, somewhere between a humbucker & single coil - a fat single-coil, hum-cancelling sound. A little clearer and crunchier than a standard Mini-Humbucker due to the exposed "Staple" Poles, but warmer than a traditional Firebird pickup - Making a really unique sound.
With my replacement mini humbuckers, the coils are asymmetrically handwound giving more dynamics, with a richer clarity & string definition. A rich, vintage sound.
The coil wire used in the original 511 Staple Pickups were somewhere between 43AWG & 44AWG (Wire Gauge) so there was a choice of which to use for my own versions. After a number of prototypes using both wire gauges, I finally decided on the ever-so-slightly thicker 43AWG.
Handwound here in my workshop, Manchester.
PLEASE NOTE: My Handwound Classic '65 "Staple" Pickup is a standard Mini-Humbucker size, the original Hofner™ 511 Pickups are slightly wider. I designed these pickups to be a direct drop-in replacement for standard Mini-Humbucker pickups. I do often repair & rewind original, vintage Hofner™ ones, just get in touch.
> Back to the full range of Creamery Replacement Mini Humbucker & Firebird® Style Pickups
Custom / Alternative Designs
Classic 510 "Staple" Single Coil
Magnets Alnico 2 or 5 Coil Wire 44AWG Lead Wire Vintage Braided Pushback Neck Output 7.3k Hofner 510 in a Mini-Humbucker Size
Creamery Classic Handwound Replacement 510 "Staple" Single Coil Pickup
The Classic, Vintage Clean 510 style Single Coil Sound in a "Staple" Nova-Sonic design for a standard Mini-Humbucker size - Neck Position
Essentially a warm, sweet, jazzier single coil sound for the neck position. The extra row of exposed "Staples" help widen the magnetic field to help give a warmer, softer, sweeter sound than a traditional single coil.
The coil wire used in the original 510 and 511 Staple Pickups were somewhere between 43AWG & 44AWG (Wire Gauge) so there was a choice of which to use for my own versions. After a number of prototypes using both wire gauges, I finally decided on the ever-so-slightly thicker 43AWG for the humbucker and more turns of thinner 44awg for this single coil version.
PLEASE NOTE: My Handwound Classic '65 "Staple" Pickups are a standard Mini-Humbucker size, the original Hofner™ 510 & 511 Pickups are slightly wider. I designed these pickups to be a direct drop-in replacement for standard Mini-Humbucker pickups. I do often repair & rewind original, vintage Hofner™ ones, just get in touch.
> Back to the full range of Creamery Replacement Mini Humbucker & Firebird® Style Pickups