If you could only have it one way.
- Thread starter JUjuHound
- Start date
I'd split the neck pickup. I use a bridge humbucker most of the time. I only use the neck for the occasional part where I want something different, but that might be a lead tone or a different kind of rhythm sound or clean stuff, so flexibility there would be more useful to me. I have no need for a bridge single coil sound.
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Neither.
Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
Same, also, if I have a middle single coil, the split neck pickup will work better with it.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
I'd split the bridge because splitting the neck just reduces the volume, while splitting a bridge, both coils are in positions along the string that sound very different.
:chairfall
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
If you are playing in the living room by yourself, sure it makes a difference. In a band situation, the biggest difference you get is volume drop.
Plus in general I'd rather spend my mental effort improving my musicianship than my tone.
hamerfan
Well-known member
I use parallel wiring for non ceramic high output humbuckers in the bridge (like JBs), they give quite a good in between sound of a strat. In the neck i prefer a partial split of a lower output humbucker (a la PRS) which does a nice P90/ fat strat neck sound.
Most splits to single coil sound weird and thin IMO.
Most splits to single coil sound weird and thin IMO.
freefrog
Well-known member
BOTH, potentially.
But I understand what hamerfan said above because the interest of alternative wiring depends on the humbuckers involved IME.
With powerful HB's, I'd favor parallel wiring.
With Standard HB's in the P.A.F. / T-Top range, I'd consider coil splitting, partial or not.
Anyway, such solutions can be useful. My main stage guitar of these last decades hosts rails pickups with series/ parallel option... Parallel wiring gives me clean Telecaster tones. Series delivers thick warm sounds rivaling with the tone of my Gibson's. Really not a gadget if many different sounds are required live, IME and IMHO. Mileages may vary.
But I understand what hamerfan said above because the interest of alternative wiring depends on the humbuckers involved IME.
With powerful HB's, I'd favor parallel wiring.
With Standard HB's in the P.A.F. / T-Top range, I'd consider coil splitting, partial or not.
Anyway, such solutions can be useful. My main stage guitar of these last decades hosts rails pickups with series/ parallel option... Parallel wiring gives me clean Telecaster tones. Series delivers thick warm sounds rivaling with the tone of my Gibson's. Really not a gadget if many different sounds are required live, IME and IMHO. Mileages may vary.
freefrog
Well-known member
I rely on inductance to choose...
A 16k humbucker with an inductance in the 8H range ends with 2H of inductance in parallel and its resonant peak shifts up accordingly. Split, it would measure 4H and would be noisy.
A 8k humbucker with an inductance in the 4H range would sound too thin in parallel because of an inductance of 1H. But split, it measures 2H, which is the value of a Fender CS69, and sounds accordingly.
The main consequence of such factors is that a 16k/8H in parallel and a 8k/4H split have similar inductances, which puts their resonance at similar frequencies (not identical because of parasitic capacitance of their coils but "close enough"). So they sound close to each other... ;-)
A 16k humbucker with an inductance in the 8H range ends with 2H of inductance in parallel and its resonant peak shifts up accordingly. Split, it would measure 4H and would be noisy.
A 8k humbucker with an inductance in the 4H range would sound too thin in parallel because of an inductance of 1H. But split, it measures 2H, which is the value of a Fender CS69, and sounds accordingly.
The main consequence of such factors is that a 16k/8H in parallel and a 8k/4H split have similar inductances, which puts their resonance at similar frequencies (not identical because of parasitic capacitance of their coils but "close enough"). So they sound close to each other... ;-)
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Bass cut, dark switch, out of phase, half out of phase, choke coil, blower switch. All of these are more useful to me than coil splits, and I've never seen a tappable humbucker.
