Jump to content

splitting HB's


katintokyo

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I have a question about splitting Humbuckers with a push-pull switch to get a single coil sound and a HB sound out of it.

 

Does it really affect the sound of the original humbucker? It shouldnt change the sound of the HB in the original (non-split) position, right?

 

Yes, I am talking about humbuckers that can have that done, of course, not EMG's and not 2 wire versions or sr acked ones etc.

 

Thanks in advance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

WOW that was fast!! Thanks for the replies!

Actually I already did it. I had the pickups on my PRS SE tremonti replaced for Bill Lawrence L500XL/ L500L and split them, then reversed the volume knob configuration so it's Bridge Volume (near the bridge pickup) and neck farther "back" (who the hell ever turns down their neck pickup!?!?) and one master tone, one pull/push splitter. LOVE The guitar, but I was just wondering if it had changed the sound of the pickups at all. And still looks the same. (which I am actually fond of - silver)

Im also thinking of getting a cheap second hand one (same model guitar) and doing all the same stuff with Bill's 500L/500R s to see how they are.

Thanks for the reassurance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Originally posted by RudeMood



I'm already confused. What's the difference?

A split is when you cut one of the coils and the remaining one is the only one active. Tapping is exactly what it says. There are two sets of leads coming from the coil, the tapped one coming out after a certain number of turns and the untapped one coming out after all the windings. Of course, with an HB, each coil needs to have both sets of leads.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

A humbucking pickup is two coils of wire connected in series, with one coil with reversed magnetic polarity.

A "coil split" is when one of those coils is bypassed, leaving only one half of the humbucker operating as a single-coil pickup.

A "coil tap" is when an second lead is attached partway along the coil winding. (Imagine a "keg tap" where the tap is sticking out the side of the keg.)

When the "tapped output" or simply "tap" is engaged, the output signal from the pickup is sent through the second lead to the volume pot and output socket, and thus the output signal is only coming from part of the coil windings -- not the whole winding. What this does is decrease the pickup's DC resistance and increase its resonant peak. Basically, this means that when a pickup is "tapped" it becomes a lower-output brighter version of itself.

So: a "coil split" turns a humbucker into a single-coil. A "coil tap" turns a darker, higher-output pickup into a brigher, lower-output pickup.

Note: only humbuckers can be split. Humbuckers OR single-coil pickups can be tapped, provided the second output wire is present on each coil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...