Clean

This was unplanned, I wanted to play the acoustic. However, I have not really played this clean since the day I got it. So it was plugged into a clean setting throughout. Not very inspiring. The mini humbuckers do not possess the thumping tone of the full-sized counterparts. They lack bass. The midrange & treble were more audible but this isn't something you'd want to hear coming from a clean tone. Even the average acoustic guitar, unplugged, has more depth than these pickups. 

I love these pickups for overdrive & hard distortion. The lower frequency's less prominence helped with single note definition. As such, you won't hear the Clapton-esque woman tone much. Also, it's good for those brash sounding black metal numbers ala Darkthrone. I have no plans to swap these pickups out in the mean time. 

Notorious appeal

I seldom get turned on by DiMarzios especially before I get to hear them in action personally. The DiMarzio Notorious minibucker was conceived for Polyphia's Tim Henson & it sounds the works for a midrange intense tone. Watch/ listen to the following demo & understand why this pickup speaks for this kind of almost bass-devoid tone. Don't get me wrong, it won't decimate your lower frequencies altogether but if you wish for a phantom response in that bandwidth with loads of crushing midrange inclined distortion, this is it.

PG-13

A new one by DiMarzio, the PG-13. It's a collaboration with Paul Gilbert whose current fix is a mini humbucker. 'Mini' here does not imply a reduction to conform to single coil measurements, these are not stacked units, so let's not get confused there. These are the narrower humbuckers like the ones in GIbson's LP Deluxe back in the 70s. From the manufacturer's EQ reference, these should give us a strong bass response with very controlled top end. 

Be informed that mini humbuclers won't mount into standard humbucker rings, you need the customized version (unless your guitar came with minis as default). 

Gibson 2018

September means Gibson is ready to announce their 2018 models & true enough, the list is out sooner than expected. I'm just listing a few here which I find more sensible than the rest, starting with the LP Tribute. Yes, the Tribute range represents the manufacturer's more affordable take on the upper tier models without skimping too much in various departments. The satin finish stays put & for 2018, the Tribute offers a non-weight relief model (seen here in an awesome gold top) so that is something to look forward to- especially so when it's listing for less than USD1K 👍

The SG Special looks the works with mini humbuckers but prices go up by USD100 for 2018 😠

It's good to see the LP Classic getting a P-90 twist as well. Controls revert to the 4-knob affair unlike the current 3 (knob) + 1 (flick switch) manifestation. This Pelham Blue finish is stunning.