Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

[accipiter]

Hey all, you'll have to excuse my newbie ignorance to after-market pick-ups, so let's see how complicated I can make a simple question into. : ) I just put in a APH-1n pup and was wondering which coil should be active when I split it into single coil. The side with the screws- which would be closest to the neck- or the side that looks like a single coil?

When I split the Epi neck pup- that I replaced- I think that the active coil was the one next to the neck, but now with the new APH-1 split, it is the other side that is active. Is this because the APH-1 is installed wrong or is this the way a pup with screws on one side and single coils on the other is supposed to work when split? I put a Dimebucker in the bridge position and I think it splits the same way as the Epi that I replaced-with the active coil nearest the bridge when split.

With the stock Epi's, with the three-way selector switch in the middle and the split switch engaged, the coils that were next to the bridge and neck were active I think. The guitar is set up with a three-way selector switch, 1 vol,1tone,1 splitcoil swtch,1 phase swtch,1 pre-amp 9/v swtch. So I don't know if the original pup set-up had the pups set up for out-of-phase wiring or not.

Here is how I wired it up if it helps.

APH-1n- red/white together to the split-coil swtch, black to the top pin on the 3-way select/swtch, green and ground to the back of vol pot.

Dimebucker-red/white together to the split-coil swtch, black and green to the phase swtch, ground to vol pot.

The original Epi pups wire colors are white,black,red,blue set up as-BRIDGE PUP white/black together to the coil-split swtch,red and blue to the phase swtch. NECK PUP red to 3-way sel/swtch, white/black together to the coil-split swtch,blue to back of vol pot.

Hope I didn't confuse you as much as I am, it's just that I think my guitars tone is a little out of whack, but maybe it's me! : )

Thanks

 

[Artie]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Actually, its a pretty good question. And one in which the answer isn't so simple.

All the SD schematics show splitting to the stud, (non-adjustable), coil. The SD FAQ's say that they do this because the adjustable screws, extending out of the bottom of the pup, shift the magnetic field away from the strings, making the stud coil the stronger of the two. (You achieve this by shorting the red/white combo to ground.)

Lew pointed out to me, that the screw coil, (at least on the neck pup), sounded better when split, becuase of its position under the strings. I use a DPDT on-off-on switch to be able to select either or both. The sound of each coil is slightly different, but I like them both.

So, you're faced with the decision of selecting one or the other, if you use a push/pull switch, or you can choose both, if you use an external switch.

Did I just make things clear as mud? :laugh2:

 

[accipiter]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Thanks for the reply ArtieToo, I really appreciate it. Though I am still confused, even after reading it slowly! ha-ha But that's my fault for letting four wires and a ground confound me, it's just all the switches and a pre-amp that throw me for a loop when hooking up something new that has different color wires. But I get what you are saying in your reply.

I too, thought that the coil nearest the neck should be active when split, just because of the string definition closest to the neck. But, my guitar has 24 frets so I heard that alters the tone some on a neck pup, compared to a 22 fret neck. I guess my easiest solution would be to unhook the pup from the pickup ring and just spin it 180 so that the stud coil would be next to the neck. I guess that would make my reverse zebra a reversed reverse zebra. Or would that be a reverse zebra reversed or zebra reverse reversed! ha-ha

Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

 

[Artie]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Here is how I wired it up if it helps.

APH-1n- red/white together to the split-coil swtch, black to the top pin on the 3-way select/swtch, green and ground to the back of vol pot.

Dimebucker-red/white together to the split-coil swtch, black and green to the phase swtch, ground to vol pot.

Somehow, I missed that second sentence. You should have black or green going to the phase switch. Not both.

Use this as a reference:

Fig. 1 is the relative one. You should always have green to ground, and black to hot. Connect B for the stud coil, and A for the screw coil.

Fig. 2 just shows how to wire a DPDT on-off-on switch to select either/or. (Like I have.)

Sorry if I messed you up there by not reading more carefully. :smack:

Edit: I'm batting a 100 today. I managed not to make that clear either.
Connect your "splitting" switch between A or B, not the wires themselves. :blackeye:

Like this:

 

[sosomething]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

I prefer to split the adjustable coil, myself. Though in some situations it may be the weaker of the two coils, I find I like the adjustability of the pole pieces. I also play with a bit of compression in the effects loop, so the drop in output really only results in less gain. For my purposes this isn't a problem.

In a 24-fret guitar, I would think you definitely want to split the outside (closest to neck) coil, simply because of it's position under the strings. The inside coil on a 24-fretter is getting mighty close to a "middle pickup" position and probably won't result in the tone you want.

Edit: Overall it's really just a matter of preference - there is no right or wrong coil to use. Just try both and trust your ears.

 

[accipiter]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Somehow, I missed that second sentence. You should have black or green going to the phase switch. Not both.

My original Epi wires from the bridge pup-red and blue went to the phase switch, just on opposite terminals though. Maybe I have the color conversions wrong. The back of the phase switch has 6 terminals ,as does the coil/split switch and pre-amp switch. The switchs have 8A2011 written on them if that helps.

Here are the color code conversions if I understand them correctly. But I could be wrong. Ive tried looking for the Epi color code online, but to no avail, but thankfully I did get some help from some forum Bro's though.

Epi S.D.

red black
black red
white white
blue green

Thanks again for your time and I love those schematics you make, if only I could do that I might make myself more clear in my questions.

 

[accipiter]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Thanks sosomething, I appreciate it.

 

[Artie]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

I can't believe how messed up I'm getting on this. I completely missed that you said "phase" switch, even though I retyped it myself. I've got "splitting" on my mind. :smack:

For a phase switch, thats exactly correct. Red and blue for EPI, black and green for SD. Those are the two wires that would be reversed, like this:

phase switch

Here's an example of phase switching and coil splitting, together:

phase switching and coil splitting

I must be getting old. :yell:

 

[accipiter]

Re: Humb/n/pup, which coil should be active when split?

Thanks for your time and the great links Artie, and you're not getting old, I said I was going to make a simple question complicated!:laugh2:

Cheers Bro'