Mattia Posted October 9, 2005 Report Share Posted October 9, 2005 mattia: Cheers for the response, but you're describing a split, not tapped humbucker. A tapped humbucker will have another lead coming from somewhere in the middle of the individual coil windings. I just wondered how it was possible to pull that off, as in my mind it doesn't seem to be. Maybe when they refer to it as a modification, they still mean that they have to re-wind the whole pickup? Greg ← I think the two are the same, pretty much; they tap one coil by shorting out the other, grounding one of the two leads. I can't think of any possible way to tap the middle of a coil after the fact (or even easly before the fact...gets a bit messy, I'd guess). I've never seen the terms (coil tap vs. coil split) used in any way but interchangeably, although I'm hardly an electronics expert. You split the humbucker, or tap one of the coils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted October 9, 2005 Report Share Posted October 9, 2005 Do not confuse coil splitting with coil tapping - a coil tap is a single coil that has a separate conductor that shorts out a portion of the coil when connected. Although the two terms have been used interchangeably of late, there is a huge difference - a single coil pickup like a P90 or a Tele pickup can have a coil tap. Godin, good catch! That's a lot cheaper, and may well be a better switch to boot. And to answer your question, a tapped humbucker can go from mellow-ish PAF-ness to massive overwound zing if it's implemented correctly. It's not always done well, but it's definitely more than marketing hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 9, 2005 Report Share Posted October 9, 2005 (edited) Do not confuse coil splitting with coil tapping - a coil tap is a single coil that has a separate conductor that shorts out a portion of the coil when connected. Although the two terms have been used interchangeably of late, there is a huge difference - a single coil pickup like a P90 or a Tele pickup can have a coil tap. Godin, good catch! That's a lot cheaper, and may well be a better switch to boot. And to answer your question, a tapped humbucker can go from mellow-ish PAF-ness to massive overwound zing if it's implemented correctly. It's not always done well, but it's definitely more than marketing hype. ← Ah, OK, my bad. I guess my confusion comes from the fact so many people use phrases like "four conducter wiring for coil tapping". In a sense, electrically, there's little to no difference between the two; just one's within a coil, and one's between two coils. You're still cutting out a portion of a coil that's wired up in series, right? Have there been any topics on making single-coils with coil taps here? Or anywhere? Because honestly, it's the first I've heard of it, and it's suddenly very intruiging.. Also, got a few model names of commercial pickups that do this? Edited October 9, 2005 by mattia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted October 9, 2005 Report Share Posted October 9, 2005 Tapped single-coils are possibly the most confusing, as many people mistakenly think they are hum-canceling. That is not the case. They are in every respect a single coil pickup. The only difference is that there is a third wire which leads to a "tap" partway down the coil. You can install a switch to short this tap to either end of the coil -- thus altering both the tonal response of the pickup and how strong a signal it generates. In theory, you could switch between a heavy-metal powerhouse and a sweet bell tone on the same pickup. In practice, it rarely works out quite that well. There are few tapped single-coil pickups, I don't know of any in current production. The only current production I can come up with off the top of my head is the Bartolini 3S Strat pickup, but there are probably others. It requires more time and skill to produce tapped coils, which tends to make them fairly rare in mid-priced pickups, especially since most people are perfectly happy with half a humbucker for a single coil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Mattia- the key difference, even if the output is the same, is that the polepieces for 2 'single coils' (ie. 2 halves of a humbucker if you want to look at it that way) are in 2 different PHYSICAL locations, which creates a different sound altogether. That's part of the reason a hot single coil and a mellow humbucker still don't sound the same. 5 Bartolini single-coils with coil-tap... that could be used to make a 513. <chuckle> Maybe if we convince Jon Bell of Swineshead Pickups, he might be able to find a way to do it with 'humbuckers' for a reasonable price. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 You'll only need 4 tapped pickups (and one untapped single), but don't forget that you'll need two to be RWRP so you get the humbucking effect. Of course, I'll bet Jon could wind exactly what you need on standard humbucker bobbins, if you were to ask him real nice, and pony up some cash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Right you are, right you are. If I had cash, I would contact Jon. Anybody who's looking for pickups, custom or otherwise, should check Jon's site out anyhow, so I'm going to put a linkie linkie: http://www.swinesheadpickups.co.uk Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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