Coil tap a humbucker?

[Inflames626]

Hey guys,
Is it possible to coil tap a split humbucker? I'm aware that coil tapping and coil splitting are not the same.

My question is whether you can split a humbucker and then tap the half that you've isolated.

Thanks.

[Chrisp]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

A coil tap gives you an output voltage proportional to the ratio of number of turns where the tap is taken. Doesn't the volume potentiometer do the same thing depending on where the wiper arm is?

[DreX]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

That would result in very weak output.

I think it would be interesting to tap a coil that's still humbucking, but then again I suspect the results would be similar to a "roll a split" mod, where you put a variable amount of resistance between ground and the split point so that one coil is full strength and the other is only partial strength, and so not worth the trouble.

[DreX]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

A coil tap gives you an output voltage proportional to the ratio of number of turns where the tap is taken. Doesn't the volume potentiometer do the same thing depending on where the wiper arm is?

Tapping a coil is a lot different tonally than turning down the volume. The more winds in the coil, the more self-capacitance eats away the high frequencies. Tapping the coil preserves more treble at the expense of output. Turning down the volume also decreases output, but doesn't bring back the lost treble.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Yes, it is possible. You would, of course, need the coil to which you will be splitting to have a tap built in when the pickup is made...or added when that coil is re-wound.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Yes, it is possible. You would, of course, need the coil to which you will be splitting to have a tap built in when the pickup is made...or added when that coil is re-wound.

This.It seems that unless you had a pickup that was wound on the "scorchingly hot" side that the output would be so low that you may think to yourself "why the hell did I think this was a good idea?" But you're not me, so you may like it.

[Inflames626]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Wouldn't you need to have two coil taps? One for each side of the humbucker?

[Inflames626]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Tapping a coil is a lot different tonally than turning down the volume. The more winds in the coil, the more self-capacitance eats away the high frequencies. Tapping the coil preserves more treble at the expense of output. Turning down the volume also decreases output, but doesn't bring back the lost treble.

This is fixed by a treble bleed mod, yes?

[Aceman]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Yes - you could do that. My question: WHY do you want to do that? What result are you hoping to achieve?

Seems like this would be reasonable ONLY if you had

- A VERY hot hum bucker, that even when SPLIT
- Had a very hot single coil sound, that you wanted to switch between that and
- Standard single coil tone/level/ etc.

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Unless of course there was a way that, when you tap the split coil, it goes into a buffer or booster preamp of some sort and gets its signal amplified to a decent output before going to the amp. That way you'd get all the benefits of a very low wind without the low volume.

[DreX]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

This is fixed by a treble bleed mod, yes?

No, the treble you lose through self capacitance in a hot pickup is GONE. A treble bleed mod will not bring back the dead.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

You would have to have it wound special but yes.



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[DreX]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Unless of course there was a way that, when you tap the split coil, it goes into a buffer or booster preamp of some sort and gets its signal amplified to a decent output before going to the amp. That way you'd get all the benefits of a very low wind without the low volume.

Low output pickups that can't push a preamp will sound anemic. You can increase the gain, but the signal to noise ratio becomes greater and it sounds like garbage. I had tried a set of Lollar Tweeds for fun, very low output, thinking the gain would tend towards the clean side, but they were just wimpy sounding more than anything.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

Wouldn't you need to have two coil taps? One for each side of the humbucker?

Not to do what the OP asked about. That would be ideal, though, IMHO.

[J E C]

Re: Coil tap a humbucker?

If you coil taped one of the coils but kept it in series with the other coil, would it be like switching from that PU as normal to it being a hybrid?