Splitting coils

[Norton]

Does splitting the coils make a big difference in sound with humbuckered guitars? Is it close to the real single coil sound or is it just not worth it?

[Grandturk]

IMO not worth it. I've never gotten a comvincing single coil sound out of a split humbucker.

[Rich#6]

It might be worth it if you where using a pickup like the dimarzio D-sonic since the 2 coils are different or the dimarzio dual sound. Personally I have never liked the sound when I have split a humbucker to only one coil.

[MartinBarre]

It depends on the guitar and how it's setup. In general use, I agree with the other two that it's not really worth it.
However, in my KE3, which only has a master volume control (no tone or seperate volumes) I fitted a push/pull so I can split both pickups if I want. In the middle position, it sounds much better for clean stuff than anything I could have got with the stock wiring.

Also, if you have an HSS guitar, with a genuine single coil in the middle, you might like the tones with the bridge split in combination with the middle for the "Mark Knopfler" tone so many people like.

[Newc]

Wiring the pickups to be out of phase with each other when both are on and split at the same time will yield a more Strattish tone.

It'll get you close enough to SRV/Pink Floyd tones, but the amp and your personal tone will have a lot to do with it as well.

If you need "perfect" Strat/single tones, use multiple guitars.

[DonP]

Does splitting the coils make a big difference in sound with humbuckered guitars? Is it close to the real single coil sound or is it just not worth it?

Yes, it does work good but depends on which humbucker you choose. Also, you notice the effect playing clean much more than under distortion.

One thing I notice is that a split humbucker doesn't seem to need the same DC resistance as a true single coil in order to get decent output. I have a split Full Shred neck, which humbucking is 7.4K, so 3.7k in single coil mod. Still has plenty of output.

My two favorite splits right now are the 496R/500T set in my LP Classic Premium Plus, and my Full Shred set in my 750XL.


Grandturk might know more than I do as to what a true single coil sound is like, because I'm not a big Fender fan. My reference single coil tones are a 1996 MIM Strat and a 50s Classic upgraded with Texas Specials.

To me, the 750XL seems to get very stratty tones when split (Smoke on the Water); the Classic seems to have more twang, I'd guess more Tele-like.


To me, I like doing it and try to split any humbucking guitars I have. It's easy to do so why not? You'll also notice that Gibson is doing this more and more on their guitars. They've finally gotten with the program.

[dg]

I agree with Newc & Don. I've never gotten a great Strat tone from anything but a strat, but some hums give an excellent single-coil tone that can give you all kinds of cool & unique options. The only way to know is to try it out.

[Newc]

A lot of what gives a good Strat tone is the combination of all the parts. I had a Floyd Rose Strat that really didn't sound much like a regular v-trem Strat, yet it had the same bolt-on neck and same body wood and same singles (neck and middle) and same number of frets. It sounded more like a Floyded guitar (Charvel, Kramer, etc) than a Strat.


Another point to consider is that even though a humbucker is split, it still retains the output characteristics of the humbucker. That means a Distortion humbucker will still have a hotter output than say a Jazz or '59.
If you're wanting to do it for cleans, you're not going to get as clean as you may think.

[DonP]

A lot of what gives a good Strat tone is the combination of all the parts. I had a Floyd Rose Strat that really didn't sound much like a regular v-trem Strat, yet it had the same bolt-on neck and same body wood and same singles (neck and middle) and same number of frets. It sounded more like a Floyded guitar (Charvel, Kramer, etc) than a Strat.

Oh don't say that. I was seriously thinking of Floyding a strat ala Dave Murray. Now having second thoughts because it sounds very good with the current V-Trem, and would represent early Maiden.

Another point to consider is that even though a humbucker is split, it still retains the output characteristics of the humbucker. That means a Distortion humbucker will still have a hotter output than say a Jazz or '59.
If you're wanting to do it for cleans, you're not going to get as clean as you may think.

That's what I was trying to say. The 500T split is still very hot, a lot hotter than a 8K single with a ceramic magnet (well, it does have three magnets).