Why do humbuckers' default split coil is usually the slug coil?

[Rex_Rocker]

Is there like a technical reason for that? I would think the coil closest to the bridge in a bridge pickup and closest to the neck in a neck pickup would be more desirable, rather? Or am I missing something?

 

[beaubrummels]

I don't know if it's the reason, but in the bridge, the slug is more useful. The screw nearest the bridge saddles is thin, weak and anemic, while the slug further from the saddles can be Strat-like.

 

[GuitarStv]

I don't know if it's the reason, but in the bridge, the slug is more useful. The screw nearest the bridge saddles is thin, weak and anemic, while the slug further from the saddles can be Strat-like.

+1

The neck screw coil sounds a little bit better than the slug, but the bridge slug coil sounds massively better than the bridge screw.

 

[Securb]

Call MJ

 

[Artie]

It's simply because diagrams show "shorting to ground" for simplicities sake. That means you're shorting out the red/green screw coil. But it isn't a rule. You can just as easily short to hot, or wire the humbucker white to ground, black/green together, and red to hot. Now, when you "short-to-ground", you have the screw coil active.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Many neck hums have enough slack in the hookup wire that they can be rotated physically, making electronic reversal unneccesary.
But as mentioned above, the difference in tone is small compared to the difference at the bridge.

 

[Supernautilus]

Isn't the slug beefier sounding than the screw? I thought I read that somewhere. Or is it a myth?

 

[Gstring]

Stating the obvious but you can always cut to the bridge slug and neck screw, Especially if you want hum cancelling.

 

[Gstring]

I........ You can just as easily .... wire the humbucker white to ground, black/green together, and red to hot. Now, when you "short-to-ground", you have the screw coil active.

Artie.... Question. Is there a technical reason for rewiring this way as opposed to just switching the black and green ?

 

[Artie]

Artie.... Question. Is there a technical reason for rewiring this way as opposed to just switching the black and green ?

Yes. That would reverse the polarity of the pup. The way I mentioned, just reverses the order that the two coils are connected. Since it's an AC signal, that doesn't affect the sound. Soewhere around here, I have a diagram that might make that easier to visualize. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Artie]

Stating the obvious but you can always cut to the bridge slug and neck screw, Especially if you want hum cancelling.

That's what I generally do, when I do it.

 

[Gstring]

Yes. That would reverse the polarity of the pup. The way I mentioned, just reverses the order that the two coils are connected. Since it's an AC signal, that doesn't affect the sound. Soewhere around here, I have a diagram that might make that easier to visualize. I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks. Diagram would help. Some years ago I wired up a couple of HBs the "wrong way around" For some reason there appeared to be no issue. Although that does not mean it was 100%. There were no coil taps .

I recollect reading some where a while back that there was a reason for (in the case of Seymour Duncan ) wiring the black to the hot side but it did not sink in especially in view of the previous experience and as I was then into OOP where obviously one pup deliberately becomes wired the other way. .

 

[Gstring]

I have a 2 HB guitar where bridge pup can be put OOP. Out of curiosity I just played it with the push pull in both positions( obviously no other pups involved) but could hear no difference.. Should I have?

 

[Artie]

When you switched polarity, you had BOTH pups on, right? OOP is only relative to how a pup works with another. It will make no difference when used by itself.

 

[beaubrummels]

I have a 2 HB guitar where bridge pup can be put OOP. Out of curiosity I just played it with the push pull in both positions( obviously no other pups involved) but could hear no difference.. Should I have?

No. On almost all guitars, OOP does nothing for a pickup by itself. The phase relationship is relative to another pickup.

The only exception I've ever encountered was on my Brian May guitar where flipping the phase has a subtle effect on individual pickups. Tracing the wiring, I believe it's because the pickups are all wired in series and there might some kind of loading or influence from the pickups that are technically off but still hanging on the circuit.

 

[Gstring]

OK Somehow I got a bit confused regarding your suggested improved wiring. So you can just switch the black and the green as I originally said. Of course you do this to both pups. I did not actually say this in my post as I thought it was obvious Otherwise pups would be OOP. Apologies if I somehow confused you to.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Just to add, regular (not RWRP) Seymour Duncan single coils are "south up" polarity, IIRC. The slug coils on SD humbuckers are "north ups".

Therefore, in HSS (or HSH even) configurations, when you coil split and combine with a single coil, you get a hum canceling pair.

Also, you can arrange the wiring on an SD pickup to coil split to the screw coil if you really want to in at least one of two ways:

1. By connecting the black and green wires to each other. The red then becomes your hot, and the white your ground (or maybe the other way around, depending on how the polarities work). When you coil split by grounding the black and green, the green becomes the ground for the screw coil, and the red remains the hot. Since both ends of the slug coil are grounded, the slug coil is rendered ineffective, leaving only the screw coil active via red and green.

2. By arranging the push-pull so that the pickup black wire goes to a common lug. In push the black connects to a wire out from the push lug on the push-pull to the hot wire to your volume pot or selector switch. In pull it disconnects or goes to ground (your choice). You also need to connect the pickup red wire to the other common lug on the other bank on the push-pull. In push it connects to the pickup white wire (also connected to the push-pull, of course), in pull it goes to ground.

 

[IMENATOR]

Ain't that because the slug poles are the most similar to the poles in a true single coil? I agree with some saying that using the screw coil may be too thin in the brdige humbucker, I also remember some video where someone would split to slug coil in neck and also flip it so the slug coil was closed to the neck and that improved the split tone. Also in my experience if you use a regular SSL-1 in the middle it will be hum cancelling with the slug poles of SD humbuckers.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

. Also in my experience if you use a regular SSL-1 in the middle it will be hum cancelling with the slug poles of SD humbuckers.

Yes, and if you happen to have a RWRP pickup as your third pickup, stick in the neck, not the middle like you might on an SSS steup.