Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

[mongrollo]

It is just a question that came to my mind. For me the difference it is not so noticiable, but the slug tends to sound cleaner and the screw tends to sound louder. Probabely this last it is due the polepieces height... Usualy the screws are set higher thatn the slugs.

I just want to know your opinion, I thought it could be interesting...

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Really it depends on the actual position rather than the pole type, to me the coil closest to the bridge gives more of a tele like sound, while the coil farthest from the bridge gives more of a strat sound ... I generally will go with the inner coil (farthest from bridge) ... that's in regard to the bridge pup, same deal with the neck, the outer coil tends to sound to me a bit more natural, but the inner coil is a little more stratty, maybe that's quite the correct expression, but it has a bit more bite, and is better distorted for rhythm or lead. I generally go with the outer coil there though.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

I've never been able to tell the slightest amount of difference.

 

[Tony_H]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

To my ears, there was a difference with a Gibson 496R pup: the stud coil sounded brighter and louder while the screw coil sounded thinner and hollower. That said, I have a PGn that was long wired with the screw coil active (when split), and I recently rewired it so that the stud coil is on, and I can't tell the difference.

I think it depends on the screw settings really.

 

[Lightning]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

I thought PGs were imbalenced. If on any PU you could hear a difference imbalenced coil PUs would provide the greatest difference. Pardon if I'm wrong about the PG, coil arangement is not provided in the SD cataloge i'm in right now.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Having flipped a Custom 5 and which coil got split when around several times, I've got to agree with Kent that the position in relation to the bridge or neck makes a much bigger difference than slug vs. screw coils. Of course, if you've got the screw poles raised, that makes a difference too - generally brighter and slightly more output.

Just thought about covered pickups - there might be more difference there since the slug poles are hidden under the cover...

Chip

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Just thought about covered pickups - there might be more difference there since the slug poles are hidden under the cover...

Chip

Speaking of which a neat trick that can be done with the coversed pups is, if you happen to have taken the cover off, and you decide to pup it back, if you get a metal shop to make, or can just find a piece of rectangular flat steel, the length of which will cover the studs you can with the right length and thickness put it over the studs, soldered the cover on, and then pot it.
A friend did this said it gave much better sustain on bends, and gave a different attack. Kinda a cool idea I guess as it basically acts similar to a rail or fin type pup. Just remembered tht and thought I'd share ... fftopic:

 

[dd12939]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

How do you choose which coil you're splitting?

 

[mongrollo]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Speaking of which a neat trick that can be done with the coversed pups is, if you happen to have taken the cover off, and you decide to pup it back, if you get a metal shop to make, or can just find a piece of rectangular flat steel, the length of which will cover the studs you can with the right length and thickness put it over the studs, soldered the cover on, and then pot it.
A friend did this said it gave much better sustain on bends, and gave a different attack. Kinda a cool idea I guess as it basically acts similar to a rail or fin type pup. Just remembered tht and thought I'd share ... fftopic:

That is very ingenious!!! I will remember that...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Most think the slug coil has inherantly better tone than the screw coil. Maybe so.

The only thing I don't like about using the slug coil is that it's not positioned under the 2nd octave harmonic like it would be in a Strat neck single coil.

Makes it sound a little less full than it would if it were under that harmonic...where the 24th fret would be if there was one.

But for the bridge pickup, the slug coil is a little further from the bridge and for that reason it has a thicker tone than if you chose the screw coil...and that's a plus, I think.

So all in all, choosing the slug coils is probably the best choice.

Lew

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Speaking of which a neat trick that can be done with the coversed pups is, if you happen to have taken the cover off, and you decide to pup it back, if you get a metal shop to make, or can just find a piece of rectangular flat steel, the length of which will cover the studs you can with the right length and thickness put it over the studs, soldered the cover on, and then pot it.
A friend did this said it gave much better sustain on bends, and gave a different attack. Kinda a cool idea I guess as it basically acts similar to a rail or fin type pup. Just remembered tht and thought I'd share ... fftopic:

OFF TOPIC:

To the same effect I have done the following unbuckerization exercise, and it worked. My 8.70K on my walnut warmoth strat did not have the punch I wanted even with an a5 magnet. It is not the pickup, it is the wood, I know that. Anyway, what I have done is to insert a match under the screw side of the magnet, so that the magnet is not flat now. Then I have adjusted the screw bobin flat to the strings, and the slug bobin with an angle like 10 degrees or so.

It worked.

And Lew tells me that it is the same working principle of Fralin's unbuckers (apart from the unbalanced coils). And I did not invent this as I tried to imitate my timbuckers (wound by Tim White). Now that ant looks exactly like one, and it delivers what I wanted.

B

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Lindy makes two versions of the Unbucker: In the original version he winds one coil alot hotter than the other. In the second version, the nickel covered version, he recesses the slug poles under the wound strings more deeply into the bobbins. So Doc Barlos's method resembles the second the version. Lew

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

Most think the slug coil has inherantly better tone than the screw coil. Maybe so.

The only thing I don't like about using the slug coil is that it's not positioned under the 2nd octave harmonic like it would be in a Strat neck single coil.

Makes it sound a little less full than it would if it were under that harmonic...where the 24th fret would be if there was one.

But for the bridge pickup, the slug coil is a little further from the bridge and for that reason it has a thicker tone than if you chose the screw coil...and that's a plus, I think.

So all in all, choosing the slug coils is probably the best choice.

Lew

I'd have to agree 100%, the other coils are useful, and attractive sounding as well; Given a straight out choice I'd take inner bridge coil, and outer neck coil for just the individual pups by themselves in single coil mode.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

OFF TOPIC:

To the same effect I have done the following unbuckerization exercise, and it worked. My 8.70K on my walnut warmoth strat did not have the punch I wanted even with an a5 magnet. It is not the pickup, it is the wood, I know that. Anyway, what I have done is to insert a match under the screw side of the magnet, so that the magnet is not flat now. Then I have adjusted the screw bobin flat to the strings, and the slug bobin with an angle like 10 degrees or so.

It worked.

And Lew tells me that it is the same working principle of Fralin's unbuckers (apart from the unbalanced coils). And I did not invent this as I tried to imitate my timbuckers (wound by Tim White). Now that ant looks exactly like one, and it delivers what I wanted.

B

So stated in a joking way, you applied the a slanted version of the DMZ airbucker principle to only one coil ... LOL!
That is a cool idea though, I saw you speak of that in a previous post, I don't think it is something that I would do as a matter of personal taste, but a very cool idea.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

How do you choose which coil you're splitting?

I assume you are referring to the actual wiring here, check the SD schematics page under coil splitting. There are a couple of different ways to do it depending on whether it's a *hot tap* or a *ground tap*, and whether or not it involves phase reversal or not. Check their first, and on the FAQ section as well, I think you'll find what you need.

 

[Oldslowhand]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

How do you choose which coil you're splitting?

there's a good vault that Robert-S explains how to do this but I've just had a little to much Merlot to remeber how it's under "confused about coil tape", and on personal note I prefer the little extra snap from the screw side of a split at the bridge and the tone from the slug side at the neck.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

there's a good vault that Robert-S explains how to do this but I've just had a little to much Merlot to remeber how it's under "confused about coil tape", and on personal note I prefer the little extra snap from the screw side of a split at the bridge and the tone from the slug side at the neck.

Didn't know that robert had one in there ... cool! There are a couple different ways to do it though ... cheers on the Merlot ...

 

[Lightning]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

So Doc, I always run my poles low to the coil. Raising them tightens up the sound and lowers the output. What does burying them do?

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

L,

Increasing the screws changes the shape of the magnetic field. and the magnetic field (working with the same principle of least resistance) is rather flat than vertical to the body of the guitar. And increasing the screw pieces definitely increases the level of the magnetic hyperplane of the magnetic field.

Well at least that's what I have learnt.

Yet then there was the discussion about changing the tone by cutting (shortening) the screws. The claim in that discussion was (I did not try it, the spot of the discussion was here and the LPF, let me know if you need that LPF thread) cutting the screws made the tone beefier.

Shortening the screws definitely affects the magnetic field under the strings, which help in turn to shape the magnetic field. From what those folks say, the magnetic field (with shorter screws) gets more dense due to the absence of unnecessary loss of magnetic field (which is underneath the pickup).

Go figure!

Anyway, I think those guys are overkilling! But it is a great intellectual exercise anyway, tho not necessarily practical in applications.

B

 

[Lightning]

Re: Which coil do you think sounds better spilt? Slug or screw?

B,

I remember those long vs short screw underneath the pickup threads. Didn't try it. I did convert a Metric PU over to Allen (socket heads) and yea "more focused". I put a Gibson base on a DMZ PAF and couldn't hear the difference but I didn't record and had no direct A/B so thats by memory.

SK Guitars has some representations of magnetic fields. These are the mental images I have.

B, what I was asking is how does it effect the tone? Also why didn't you shim both sides?

Later Chuck