How much quack can you get out of a H H config??

[guitarman]

Can you gdt strat like tones on a H H guitar with coil split configurations???

 

[aarontunes]

Not really, IME.

That doesn't mean that the tones you do get aren't useful. Some players do well with that option, but to me a split HB always ends up sounding like a weak version of something else.


I prefer a guitar that excels at what it does, and doesn't try to be everything.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I think Double A said it just right: you don’t get Strat sounds, but you can get good sounds. I have come to really like the sound of a full humbucker and a split humbucker together. When I built my H/H Thinline Tele I took some extra time with the soldering iron and the 5-way to explore the different sounds that were readily available and recorded them for comparison purposes. While this won’t represent exactly what sounds your guitar would make, it might help you decide if the sounds you’re after are in there. I hope it helps!

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/vb-tunes/sets/pickup-samples-candy-apple-red-thinline[/soundcloud]

 

[TBurst Std]

I found that if you have HBs closer together as they would be in a 24 fret reposition, and you wire a position where you use the 2 inner coils, it can do it: IF
You have the HBs custom wound as separate SCs, and each coil tapped when used as a HB. 
So rather than splitting a normal HB to a whimpy SC, wind each coil of the HB as strong as a SC, with taps to lessen each when not split )equaling a normal HB)

Did I word that right?!? I know what I want to say

 

[Cagey]

Yes, that's clear, and agrees with what AA said, and has been my experience as well.

Humbuckers are designed to use two coils wired in series but out of phase, with opposing magnetic fields so they don't cancel each other out. Takes advantage of a phenomena known as "common mode noise rejection", which was known about and in practice long before Seth Lover ever got his patent on humbucking pickups, and is just another example of how the the USPTO gets played all the time since they're not omniscient. But, I digress.

If the two coils were as large as regular single coils, the output would be far too hot and dark to be useful for anybody but the the heavy death metal crowd. So, the coils are wound smaller, resulting in a more reasonable output. If you try using just one of those coils, it ends up being too weak. Usually doesn't sound too good without some kind of secondary signal processing, which usually ends up as a form of turd-polishing.

Best thing to do is use the proper pickup to produce the desired tonal character. Trying to make a guitar be a jack of all trades inevitably results in it being master of none.

 

[guitarman]

I was thinking about a tone zone air norton combo, which are voth pretty high in output. Maybe adding a single coil in the middle will be the better solution. Never played a HSH dough.

 

[guitarman]

Thanks for the audio comp! Definateley very usefull tones out there! But none of them really quacking.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks for the audio comp! Definateley very usefull tones out there! But none of them really quacking.

:icon_thumright:
In my younger years I was convinced that the only guitar you needed was a Telecaster. So when I got the Strat jones, I got a Nashville Tele. Which was indeed Strat-ish. It wasn’t until years later I finally caved and built myself a Strat and when I played it, understanding washed over me in an awesome wave: only a Strat sounds like a Strat....

 

[Cagey]

...when I played it, understanding washed over me in an awesome wave: only a Strat sounds like a Strat.

Perzactly.