Mighty Mite Motherbucker 16k
The Motherbucker 16k is hot off the presses from Mighty Mite. It is a newly-approved commissioning of what’s great about a 16k-range humbucker. The sass, fire, grunt, growl, attitude, power, and versatility of that sweet spot that pushes our limits and drives our amps.
Motherbucker. What a fun name! Some might be thinking of the original Motherbucker behemoth from the olden days: Three coils! Bet you don’t miss any string coverage with that bad boy! LOL! In fairness, reports are that is more of a moderate wind. Today’s Motherbucker is a different story.
To be clear, there are 2 selections within Mighty Mite’s Motherbucker category. The hot-rod 16k and the face-melting 23k. We will be discussing the 23k a little later on. Today is all about the Motherbucker 16k.
Installation
The Motherbucker 16k is going in to a neutral-sounding shred-stick with a maple neck and 25-1/2″ maple board. It has a Floyd Rose double locking tremolo system with an official Floyd Rose brass block and brass trem claw. No copycat parts on my guitars! LOL! The harness is a Bourns 500k volume pot going straight to a Pure Tone 1/4″ jack. Strings are 10-46 gauge with a standard E tuning.
Evaluation
This is an ideal blend of old-school 80s and modern rock tones. The roughcast Alnico 5 magnet brings a percussive low end, growling mid-range, and rich highs. None of that icepick treble and flabby bottom. Roughcast is a great selection for this humbucker. The literally roughened outer surface of the magnet affects the magnetic field in a way that has the “just right” amount of a softening effect. Not like degaussing, mind you, but better.
Thankfully, the pickup department at Mighty Mite specified a thick insulation on the 44 AWG wire. This allows a little more space between the wire, which results in a more appealing distributed capacitance for those wanting added clarity. That makes for a nice balance and warmth to the voice. You will not find a finer example of this class of boutique-level humbucker at this price point. Mighty Mite definitely checks all the boxes with this one.
When you hit the first chord of the Motherbucker 16k, you know it’s the new re-imagining of a archetypical high-output high-energy hot-rod that is bringing only the best characteristics to your signal path. As you chug along, riffing on the pedal notes, you will notice the lows are have a welcome refinement. Arpeggiations rings out with clarity, resulting in a continuous flow of lyrical tones. Rich harmonic content is off the charts, prompting you to not want to stop playing.
Specs
DCR – 16.784 K
Inductance – 7.867 H
Split – 8.448 K
Split – 8.341 K
Parallel – 4.198 K
Magnet – Roughcast Alnico 5
Demo
This is the flavor of what your favorite 80s and 90s axe-slingers were using. Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby (RATT), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Steve Farris (Mr Mister), Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains), Steve Stevens, Alex Skolnick, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Jeff Beck (ahem!), even Eddie’s “5150” Kramer could all be reference points of what you’re hearing from the Motherbucker 16k. Here are some of those examples:
Conclusion
The Mighty Mite Motherbucker 16k is going to be good for blues rock, garage, grunge, punk, hardcore, hard rock, progressive metal, thrash, shred, tech metal, 80s metal, classic rock, pop, fusion, alternative rock, progressive rock, heavy rock, and more. It is available with black or with zebra bobbins, short mounting legs, and 4-con lead wire.
For a 2-hum guitar, maybe consider the vintage-hot 9k 1400 Model in the neck . If you want to spit some fire, maybe consider putting the 14k 1300 Model in the neck.
For reference, this Mighty Mite Motherbucker 16k 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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