Strat Dummy Coil

[dlaxer6]

Since i dont use the middle pickup on my strat i was wondering if i could switch it with a dummy coil and switch the 5 way to a 3 way to always have the dummy coil on. like a gibson blueshawk but with stratpickups instead of p90s

lol as for the dummy coil, it sounds like you just need the coil, no magnet so if i was to take the magnet off of the bottom of the middle pickup it could function as a dummy coil? where would i solder the dummycoil to keep it selected all the time? would i just skip over the 3way selector and go strait to the vol. pot? and finally, would this noticably alter the sound? like would it just sound like a split humbucker or would i still have my strat tone?

thanks

[jnewman]

Since i dont use the middle pickup on my strat i was wondering if i could switch it with a dummy coil and switch the 5 way to a 3 way to always have the dummy coil on. like a gibson blueshawk but with stratpickups instead of p90s

lol as for the dummy coil, it sounds like you just need the coil, no magnet so if i was to take the magnet off of the bottom of the middle pickup it could function as a dummy coil? where would i solder the dummycoil to keep it selected all the time? would i just skip over the 3way selector and go strait to the vol. pot? and finally, would this noticably alter the sound? like would it just sound like a split humbucker or would i still have my strat tone?

thanks

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What are you trying to accomplish? Do you just want your strat to only have neck, neck/bridge, bridge positions? If so, I'd just wire it that way, because adding a dummy coil, whether in series or parallel (which you didn't specify and would make a differnce) WILL change the sound. I'm not sure exactly how, as I've never done this with a strat, but it would certainly be different. If all you want is a strat with only a bridge and neck pickup, why not just unwire the middle pickup and leave it there so it looks normal, and wire the neck, bridge, and neck/bridge positions into a three-way switch? What is the point of the dummy coil?

A split humbucker sounds different from a single coil because it has (in general) fewer windings and has a bar magnet under it and ferrous pole pieces as opposed to magnetic pole pieces, as well as generally shorter/fatter bobbins (at least on the traditional ones - I can't promise anything about the crazy loud output newer ones). A normal strat pickup doesn't have a magnet you can take off the bottom, the magnets are the pole pieces themselves, so if you took them out you'd have what looked like a pickup cover with nothing in it.

[donbenjy]

what does a dumym coil even do? i presume just adds resistance to the circuit?

[Jester700]

You could use a dummy coil, but IMO you'd get better results replacing the 2 pickups you use with stacked humbuckers. Same idea, but better implementation. Yes, these won't be exact clones of true singles, but they'll be closer than the dummy coil idea. If one pickup is RWRP, you can wire it so only the top (active) coils are used when the 2 are both on. This WILL give you true "2 single coil" sound, and will still be humbucking.

[dlaxer6]

yeah so sounds like ill go for the stacked single coil option.. i figured it could make the guitar quieter when im using only the bridge or the neck, which are the only settings i use. i heard of the dummy coil in the blues hawk and thought itd be a very inexpensive way to hush it up

jnewman, i guess mine are cheap pickups, they have a bar magnet that pops right off and the poles arnt magnetic

jester, awesome idea with the rwrp rewiring