Should the inside coil be active?

[JeffTronics]

Hello.

I’m trying to determine if it is normal for the inside coil of my bridge pickup to remain active in position 2 of my 5 way switch.

This is regarding a new Godin LGXT I purchased in 2018. Here’s the manual:

The LGXT delivers electric sounds via 2 Seymour Duncan humbucker pick-ups (SH II jazz in the neck and a Custom IIIin the bridge) thanks to a special 5-way switch set-up, extra meaty humbucker tones co-exist with glassy single coil sounds in the second and forth position.

When comparing the behavior of the neck pickup coils; in position 4 the Neck pickup inside coil is OFF/Inactive. I confirmed this by tapping the pickup poles with a small screwdriver. There is no contact noise whatsoever. The coil is off.

But with the Bridge pickup in position 2, the inside poles sound like they are still active, but at a much lower volume. The outside coil (closer to the bridge), is active of course.

Godin’s take on this is; These are sympathetic overtones and vibrations coming through and a byproduct of coil splitting on these pickups.

Can anyone comment on what the is expected behavior is?

Thanks,

JT

 

[AlexR]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

A lot of times with certain guitars they set up the wiring so that the splits are either hum cancelling (if its an HH setup), or that there is a partial split in the notch positions to better match the output of a regular singlecoil.
In your case you would have to see what the manufacturer has set up for the wiring. The reply you got sounds more like marketing guff rather than trying to answer your query to me.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

Welcome to the forum!

This is what I hear when splitting coils of a more powerful bridge pickup. You always get some kind of sympathetic sound coming through when you do the screwdriver test when one coil is 'off'.

 

[JeffTronics]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

I appreciate the input and I too question the response I received from the manufacturer and is why I decided to solicit a response from some guitar and SD’s forums. I’m not needing to rewire anything of course. Just to understand if my guitar is behaving properly.

@Mincer, the screwdriver test revealed to me there is definitely an electric signal occurring when touching the inside coil poles. I would not consider this truly “off”, compared to the neck pickups behavior.

I will admit I’m unclear of the strict definition of “sympathetic” sound, when discussed in context with the bridge pickup terminology. But I suspect it implies there are vibrations and tones bleeding over from the outside coil? This is fine if it’s expected but I can see AlexR’s point about needing to understand the wiring since my feeling is, shouldn’t it be off completely therefore no sympathetic sounds occurs? Or to put it another way, shouldn’t it behave the same as position 4?

The greater context of my question started with me reaching out to them because of extremely low output in position 2. And, when checking out a youtube video for the same model guitar, I noticed there was no significant drop in output when the reviewer switched to position 2

https://youtu.be/OYqIyvo_8vo
03:55 m

Here is where it all started when I inquired about the low output. In this response, this was from their tech.

from Godin:

Yes, it is perfectly normal for this guitar to be this way.

Position 1 is the bridge humbucker. That's two coils in series, (in series meaning that it is stronger than just two bobbins)

Position 2 it just one coil. The volume drop is inevitable.

Position 3 is two humbuckers

Position 4 is one neck Hb's single coil. Not as much drop as position two since there much more string velocity in front of the magnet than at the bridge pickup. Still, it's going to be weaker than position 3 and 5.

Position 5 is just the neck humbucker. It's going to have massive output.

Suggestion would be to just install a 3 way switch, eliminating the weaker position 2 and 4.

Just as general knowledge: a humbucker is constructed from two relatively weak single coils. Once these coils are connected in series and their magnets inversed, they deliver some seriously hot output, with strong mids and without 60 cycle noise. The highs are tamed down, making the single coil still of interest.”

hope this helps.
I think this is very normal for humbucker guitars with various positions.
I have owned quite a few guitars, from various companies before working at Godin, and they all were like this.

 

[VinceT]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

Welcome to the forum!

This is what I hear when splitting coils of a more powerful bridge pickup. You always get some kind of sympathetic sound coming through when you do the screwdriver test when one coil is 'off'.

I’m with Dave here, I’ve had coils that are off react to a screwdriver tap in high output humbuckers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[JeffTronics]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

Thanks for the reality check. I will put the concern to rest and get back to playing - lol

A follow up question. So given the output is really low in position 2, what are the common ways to make-up the gain when switching to it? or, does this get into the world of serious modifications and rewiring and/or swapping the pickup?

The impact is this. When playing, I have to make-up the gain either via a pedal or on my amp when I switch over to the 2nd position. Of course, I'd prefer to just have a seamless transition when switching to position 2. where the balance is the same.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

If the coils automatically cut, then no.

The point of the cut coil is to give you that lower output.
Just like with all guitars where there are positions that don't cut, sound or have the same drive, it is up to you to figure out where to use them in your playing.

 

[JeffTronics]

Re: Should the inside coil be active?

Just want to say thanks for all the great responses. Appreciate the support from you guys.