StratMatt77
New member
Hey everyone, I haven't posted in probably 7 or 10 years (under the user name StratMatt777)…
This forum is just full of knowledge! It's awesome.
I've done a search of the forum in an attempt to not ask questions that have already been answered before.
Any opinions on coil-splitting a TB-11 Custom Custom to get something that sort of slightly resembles strat quack?
Which coil sounds best?
I've read one old comment here that says that the proximity of the coil to the bridge is what really determines the brightness... To which two people replied to correct and say that the Slug always sounds warmer and the Screw/Adjustable one is always brighter. And I've read one comment that says the opposite.
While I was reading through my forum search results I came across a great post by Gregory in a thread called "HSS with coil split wiring"
where he said (in reference to using all Duncans):
I assume that this is also true for the TB-11 Custom Custom?
Despite the endless rambling below, THIS is the question that my post is REALLY about!
Unfortunately I've made the effort to phase match even more complicated because I bought a RW/RP single coil of a different brand- a Kent Armstrong VS4R ($40 on close-out).
I'm trying to avoid soldering it all up and finding that everything is out-of phase, but maybe that's what's gonna happen because of the mis-match of pickup brands.
For the last 8 years my setup has been the Custom Custom and Fender Original '57/'62s in the middle and neck -on which I reduced the stagger (using vice grips and washers and a small screw) to correct string volume imbalances because my fretboard radius is a flat-ish 9.5-12").
So what I'm wiring up now, to take advantage of the RW/RP, is the TB-11, Kent Armstrong RW/RW VS4R and one Fender Original '57/'62, wired in accordance with the Seymour Duncan diagram for auto coil split.
I've not soldered anything up yet, but I'm about to rewire all my electronics into a new pickguard, complete with a push-pull pot that I will use as a toggle to turn the neck pickup on regardless of the position of the 5-way ("Gilmour mod"?).
I already have a CRL 5-way installed and am not considering a super switch because I'm tired of being strat-less and want to put it together ASAP!
Also, I've had NO exciting pickup switching options for the last 20 years and have gotten by so the addition of the auto coil split and neck switch should be enough of an upgrade.
For years I've had a 500K volume pot and the stock 250K tone pots from my '97 MIM Strat that this guitar started life as, with the bridge bucker wired to the neck tone pot.
I like the brightness of my singles with the 500K volume and am using a 500K volume again (which is mandatory for the bucker anyway).
The Alpha push-pull pot I'm going to use to turn the neck on/off and control tone on the bridge humbucker is a 250K. I have a second 250K alpha on hand, plus 3 CTS 250K pots.
I recently read a comment from an expert on a tele forum and also saw a Dylan Talks Tone video where both of these experts said that the value of the tone pots don't make any difference because they merely act as a gate to allow some signal (treble) to be bled off into the cap only IF the tone gets backed off of 10.
So, according to these two experts who are smarter than I am, it sounds like a tone pot on 10 is doing nothing to the signal. So I guess it's not like the volume pot where the pickup is going to see 250K or 500K of resistance even when the pot is on 10 (corrections are welcome since I am just parroting their knowledge).
If you got this far, thank you!
You deserve an award of some kind.
Thanks everyone!
This forum is just full of knowledge! It's awesome.
I've done a search of the forum in an attempt to not ask questions that have already been answered before.
Any opinions on coil-splitting a TB-11 Custom Custom to get something that sort of slightly resembles strat quack?
Which coil sounds best?
I've read one old comment here that says that the proximity of the coil to the bridge is what really determines the brightness... To which two people replied to correct and say that the Slug always sounds warmer and the Screw/Adjustable one is always brighter. And I've read one comment that says the opposite.
While I was reading through my forum search results I came across a great post by Gregory in a thread called "HSS with coil split wiring"
where he said (in reference to using all Duncans):
I assume that this is also true for the TB-11 Custom Custom?
Despite the endless rambling below, THIS is the question that my post is REALLY about!
Unfortunately I've made the effort to phase match even more complicated because I bought a RW/RP single coil of a different brand- a Kent Armstrong VS4R ($40 on close-out).
I'm trying to avoid soldering it all up and finding that everything is out-of phase, but maybe that's what's gonna happen because of the mis-match of pickup brands.
For the last 8 years my setup has been the Custom Custom and Fender Original '57/'62s in the middle and neck -on which I reduced the stagger (using vice grips and washers and a small screw) to correct string volume imbalances because my fretboard radius is a flat-ish 9.5-12").
So what I'm wiring up now, to take advantage of the RW/RP, is the TB-11, Kent Armstrong RW/RW VS4R and one Fender Original '57/'62, wired in accordance with the Seymour Duncan diagram for auto coil split.
I've not soldered anything up yet, but I'm about to rewire all my electronics into a new pickguard, complete with a push-pull pot that I will use as a toggle to turn the neck pickup on regardless of the position of the 5-way ("Gilmour mod"?).
I already have a CRL 5-way installed and am not considering a super switch because I'm tired of being strat-less and want to put it together ASAP!
Also, I've had NO exciting pickup switching options for the last 20 years and have gotten by so the addition of the auto coil split and neck switch should be enough of an upgrade.
For years I've had a 500K volume pot and the stock 250K tone pots from my '97 MIM Strat that this guitar started life as, with the bridge bucker wired to the neck tone pot.
I like the brightness of my singles with the 500K volume and am using a 500K volume again (which is mandatory for the bucker anyway).
The Alpha push-pull pot I'm going to use to turn the neck on/off and control tone on the bridge humbucker is a 250K. I have a second 250K alpha on hand, plus 3 CTS 250K pots.
I recently read a comment from an expert on a tele forum and also saw a Dylan Talks Tone video where both of these experts said that the value of the tone pots don't make any difference because they merely act as a gate to allow some signal (treble) to be bled off into the cap only IF the tone gets backed off of 10.
So, according to these two experts who are smarter than I am, it sounds like a tone pot on 10 is doing nothing to the signal. So I guess it's not like the volume pot where the pickup is going to see 250K or 500K of resistance even when the pot is on 10 (corrections are welcome since I am just parroting their knowledge).
If you got this far, thank you!
You deserve an award of some kind.
Thanks everyone!
Last edited:
