Mighty Mite 1400 Model Humbucker

The 1400 Model humbucker is a pickup with over 40 years of pedigree for players that like to hot-rod their guitars. Chances are that you already know some 1400 history. If not, we can save some time and agree that there is a significant amount of lore surrounding Mighty Mite. There might have very well been a So-Cal guitarist that rose to prominence in the late 70s with an association to the 1400.

If that’s too vague, the 1400 is great for when you want to unchain the Trans Am on to the mean street and light up the sky with the beautiful girls! Alright, no one ever said I am subtle. Ha!

The 1400 is a USA-made pickup that clocks in at the vintage-hot range. This humbucker comes with 4-con lead wire for plenty of tonal diversity. The “classic” color code is black as hot, green+bare for ground, and red+white joined and taped off for full series operation. The short mounting legs allows for more convenient installation options, especially if you need to direct mount. As such, install is a breeze.

Installation

For this evaluation, I’m using a neutral-sounding single-humbucker workhorse. Maple neck with 25-1/2″ scale rosewood board. It has a Floyd Rose tremolo system, a Bourns 500k pot, and a Switchcraft 1/4″ jack. That’s right, it’s one of those simple setups without all the bells and whistles. Very little between your fingers and your amp! Strings are 09-42 and are an E standard tuning.

Evaluation

Considering a vintage-hot pickup such as this is a win-win. The 1400 presents clarity and it delivers punch. That’s crucial for both clean and dirty amp tones. By comparison to the upper-mid snarl of the 1300, the 1400 has more of a lower-mid growl. This is single-build 42 AWG. And at just over 9k, it’s hitting the sweet spot that is an ideal blend of presence and output.

On a clean amp setting, the control is all up to you. Volume control, that is. You can go from a prolific 80s LA Studio Clean to a classic AC/DC edge at the spin of the guitar’s volume knob. Throw in a switching option for split or parallel to really open up the variety. You can easily transition from crunchy rhythm to ethereal ambiance.

The 1400 does like to rock, and that’s what you get on your dirty amp channel. The lows and the low-mids are well-controlled with a bit of natural compression. This is great for aggressive riffing and powerful chords. The high end is very musical with a voice for strong lead playing. Better yet, the character of the 1400 is perfectly paired with harmonic whammy tricks.

Specs

Conclusion

You can play around with splitting options to really customize your personal tone. Plus, the overall moderate output and design of the 1400 gives you exceptional versatility. It’s great for classic rock, heavy rock, alternative, funk, garage, grunge, blues rock, metal, and fusion.

The pickup is potted, so high amp levels and microphonic squeals are not an issue. The 4-con lead offers access to split and parallel setups for multiple wiring options. The baseplate has short legs, so it’s a little more adaptable if you’re working with a shallow pickup cavity. You can get your 1400 Model humbucker directly from the Mighty Mite website. It is available with black or with zebra bobbins.

For reference, this Mighty Mite 1400 Model bridge humbucker pickup evaluation was conducted with the following: Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. ADA MP-1 Tube Pre-Amp loaded with Tube Amp Doctor ECC83 Premium Selected tubes, using the ADA MC-1 MIDI Controller. Fryette LX II Stereo Tube Power Amplifier. Physical cabs use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.

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