Talk to me about the M series pickups

[Scott Peterson]

I am getting a huge bug for a Hollow Cobra S... but mentioned I am very taken with the H/S/S setup.

Tom suggested the M series mini-humbuckers and really have no experience with mini-humbuckers at all.

I read the (well written) Guitar of the Week from December that introduced the M series pcikups on a Hollow Cobra and it piqued my interest in these mini-humbuckers. Then I read the take on them from the NAMM show guitar of the week and my interest piqued a little higher.

There is no info - yet - on the Anderson site about these.

I am interested most in the M1, M1, M3 but want more input on them all.

Anyone (Tom, Jack, anyone?) got more background/experience on mini-humbuckers in general and specifically the Anderson version of them?

I have one Anderson dealer (Motor City Guitars) in my area (near one of my clients anyway) and I will be heading there to see/hear what they have in stock. But they are a smaller outfit and I highly doubt they will know much.

Any help/info is highly appreciated!

[oscar100]

scott

ive ordered M! M1M3 for my rosewood neck walnut cobra from jack at magdon

still waiting........

:D

[tom]

we've only shipped a few guitars with m's. there are a few more coming thru now. it's still a new thing, and with our backlog, it takes a while for dealers to get the new stuff.
i just got an email from a guy who replaced his antiquity mini's in a custom firebird style guitar with ours, and he raved. as for me, in my cobra i am getting the vintagy strat tones that i could never use from a vintage strat. strats were always too small when compared to my favorite humbucker tones. for whatever reason, the m1's give me this great single coil tone with all the best qualities i could ask for. what is weird, is that the same guitar has an h2 in the bridge and it balances and works really well together with the m1's. i'm not saying this because i think we're smarter than anybody else, we just fell into a format that really works. because of our different magnet structure, the coils had to be tall and thin, ulike traditional humbuckers. it' s not a gibson mini at all. i'd say the m1 sounds way more like a single coil than a humbucker. the m2 and 3 are bigger, but still have a clarity that humbuckers just don't have.

[ToneLounge]

Hey Tom - can I chime in?

B

[tom]

of course! we all hear things differently and use different words to try to describe what our ears are hearing. the more the merrier.

[ToneLounge]

I've been playing a Cobra with three mini's since September...

M1/M1/M2

Current Switching:
1. Neck full
2. Middle full
3. Neck full/Bridge split
4. Middle full/Bridge split
5. Bridge full
Pull pot (tone) splits the Bridge only in position 5.

This set-up is the result of lots of gigs and experimentation on Tom's part - thanks T!

In general, the mini's have girth without being over-bearing. They are very articulate. They handle clean to dingy to overdrive to crazy gain in a very dynamic fashion, without ever cleary crossing some imaginary line. They respond very well to right hand dynamics and volume control changes.

Neck
Clean sounds are warm and round with a distinctly clear voice. Not as broad as a full HB, but very useful for jazzy stuff, as well as clean leads. Overdriven, the neck has great clarity and articulation.

Middle
I agree with Tom's assesment - this p/u by itself sounds like a fat single coil. Great tones when overdriven.

Bridge
This pickup sounds good for everything! Clean/Split does a pretty convincing tele... Full is fabulous! Overdriven, this p/u is fat and singing without taking up too much sonic space (like full size HB sometimes do). It's like Goldie Locks' meal...just right!

Combinations
I use this guitar for grindy, dingy overdriven rock and funky clean Modern Pop. The combo sounds deliver everything I used to use my Strat for, and everything the Strat could never do.

I've owned and gigged with 8 Andersons over the past 17 years (first guitar in 1987) and the Mini HB equipped Cobra is by far and away the best match for me. It does everything well. From tracking, to live performances of any size, the Mini's are just super musical.

Sorry for the long ramble - but I'm in love...

Brian

[oscar100]

c'mon tom

finish my pickups!!!!!!!

toneL's review has got me salivating even more

my walnut cobra is so ready.......moist even......

;) :D :rolleyes:

[tom]

finished and cut the p90 adapter rings today. they'll ship tomorrow.

[oscar100]

yeehaw.........

britain is now ready to rock!

:p

[oscar100]

i just heard from jack at magdon that i have the first ever set of p90 fiited M series

that make me feel good ......

:p