Coil tap Vs Coil split

[Heft]

Hello,
I'm wondering if I can sub a tapped Seymour Duncan single coil for a coil split humbucker on a 5 way super switch.
Anyone have any idea how much work this would take?
Thanks,
Heft

 

[Hodgo]

Not much at all. Basically the same wiring, but you’ll have to tell us which manufacturer it is and if it’s 3 or 4 conductor on the Hb. Then we can tell you exactly how to hook it up

 

[stratamania]

Which pickup specifically you are asking about would also help. The wiring is likely not quite the same if swapping one for the other. The amount of work is roughly equivalent, depending on where you are starting from.

 

[Heft]

I'm looking at Seymour Duncan's for both. Probably a 59/custom and a quarter pounder will be what I go with.

 

[supertruper1988]

A coil split humbucker is not a coil tapped single coil pickup.

Coil split (some people get this wrong and call it coil tap) on a humbucker is splitting the coils of the humbucker to use only one or the other.

Coil TAP on a single coil means that the winder has made an extra leg where they wind XXXX number of turns, attach a tap wire and wind XXXX more turns. Its purpose is to have a vintage and overwound set of tones available in the same pickup.

They are not directly interchangeable on a super switch as a coil tapped single coil cannot be wired like a humbucker.

 

[stratamania]

I fully agree with the explanation of@supertruper1988 .

I'm looking at Seymour Duncan's for both. Probably a 59/custom and a quarter pounder will be what I go with.

The wiring to split a 59/custom is entirely different to tapping a Quarter pounder with a tap option. A standard QP you cannot tap at all.

Both easy enough to do, but a different approach to each.

What do you want to have in each of the 5 positions?

 

[Rick]

Exactly ... what switching do you want

 

[Heft]

No,
I want to replace 2 humbuckers with one quarter pounder and one 59/custom. The quarter pounder is the single coil tapped (neck) pickup.
Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Heft]

No,
I want to replace 2 humbuckers with one quarter pounder and one 59/custom. The quarter pounder is the single coil tapped (neck) pickup.
Sorry for the confusion.

Just to clear up what I want,
1) bridge humbucker, 2) bridge humbucker (as split or parallel), 3) both full, 4) neck tapped, 5) neck full.

 

[Hodgo]

	A - Vol pot	B - Jumper to A common	C - Ground	D - Not connected
1	Humbucker North
2			Humbucker N/S Finish
3	Humbucker North	Coil Tap Full
4		Coil Tap Low
5		Coil Tap Full

 

[stratamania]

For those for whom it may not be clear, just to clarify the grid of @Hodgo A, B, C & D are the common terminals for each pole of a super switch and 1,2,3,4 & 5 are the positions below each common for that pole.

So C1 is the red and white wire of the humbucker to give a split in position 2.

Two edits for clarity I would make to the graph are:

• if A3 is the black wire of the bridge humbucker (north) and then a jumper is needed, so I would call A1 jumper to A3.
• B5 Coil Tap Full and B3 jumper to B5

And of course, pickup ground and bare wires go to a common ground separate from the switch.

 

[Heft]

Thanks that helps a lot!

 

[Rick]

Also for those who are wondering coil split means literally you only have one coil from a humbucker. It's to try to get a single coil-ish sound.

Tapping, which I've never done, means you tap into the windings and reduce the output from the pickup. Like you wind the pickup, 5000 turns, then insert a wire out, and then continue winding to 10,000 or whatever turns, then you put in a mini switch, and you can go from a strong pickup, to a weak pick up, in an attempt to get a vintagey sound.

that's what you're trying to do right Heft?

 

[Heft]

Also for those who are wondering coil split means literally you only have one coil from a humbucker. It's to try to get a single coil-ish sound.

Tapping, which I've never done, means you tap into the windings and reduce the output from the pickup. Like you wind the pickup, 5000 turns, then insert a wire out, and then continue winding to 10,000 or whatever turns, then you put in a mini switch, and you can go from a strong pickup, to a weak pick up, in an attempt to get a vintagey sound.

that's what you're trying to do right Heft?

yeah,
I want the humbucker to split into basically single coil mode. I want the quarter pounder single coil to loose some of its power and effectively drop from 5000 turns to 2500 turns.
The quarter pounder is a high gain single coil so its really loud and bright with a .22 cap and 250k pots. Tapping it should tame it. It will also reduce output but that's what the volume knob is for!

 

[stratamania]

@Rick that is also the wiring solutions being given for a split humbucker and a coil tap single per the correct definitions.