Can you coil tap any humbucker?

darcym

I'm currently humbucker shopping, and want to coil tap the neck humbucker into a single coil / not single coil with a push/pull pot. 
Does the pickup need anything specific to be able to do this - or can I do this with any existing humbucker. I see a few pages say "state if you wish to coil tap when ordering" which made me think it needs something.

Maynehead

If I’m not misunderstanding you, you will need a humbucker with 4 conductors. Some only come with 2.

darcym

Maynehead said:

If I’m not misunderstanding you, you will need a humbucker with 4 conductors. Some only come with 2.

Thanks Tian, yeah, that was my basic understanding of it, but I wasn't sure if that had to be done at build time or you could just do it with an existing humbucker

SteveRobinson

Maynehead said:

If I’m not misunderstanding you, you will need a humbucker with 4 conductors. Some only come with 2.

Three will do if one is connected to the link between the coils.

Chalky

You can also switch in a resistor and capacitor in parallel to cut the bass on a normal 2 conductor humbucker which will thin the sound making it single coil-ISH. See the bass contour control on Reverend guitars.

thegummy

I'm thinking you might be referring to a coil split (where one of the coils is cancelled out and one single coil remains) rather than a coil tap (where there is a wire coming off the wind part of the way round to give a lower output).

Either way, it's probably possible for a pickup builder to add a the wire to an existing humbucker but would doubt it's something that can be done easily at home.

Definitely get one with the appropriate wires.

IMO there's no downside to the separate wires even if you're not coil splitting; I found the braided wire in the SD 59 cumbersome and would always prefer separate wires if possible.

WezV

Yeah, 2 means if ain’t happening.  3 gives you coil shunt/split options.  4 gives you shunt/split plus parallel/phase options.

shunt/split are the way you remove one coil from the humbucker.  That’s what most people do most of the time but they often get the terms wrong.  

A tap often incorrectly refers to the same thing. A coil tap is actually a way to switch on/ off extra windings  on a coil and you can have taps on single coils as well as humbucker 

coil split- I want to remove one coil from a humbucker.  I have 2 6k coils that make a 12k humbucker.  I want a 6k single coil option.   I need 3 or r conductors for this
coil shunt- as above

Parallel- I want to switch my humbucker between series and parallel modes series will give 12k, parallel will give 3k.  I need 4 conductor wiring for this 

coil tap-   I have a 9k single  coil with a tap at 6k.  I need 3 conductor wiring for this. I have the options of a 6 or 9k single coil

Silly bugger-  I could have a humbucker with a tap on each coil.  18k in total series.  12k with both coils tapped, 6 or 9k with a coil split.  3 or 4.5k in parallel... or many more permutations on this theme. This would need 3 conductors per coil, 6 for the whole Pickup.... but it’s still basically a + and a - for each coil... plus a tap wire at any point in the winding to add or remove more windings


in theory you can have multiple taps per coil, but that gets a bit more silly 

tap is often misused in place of split or shunt 

Maynehead

darcym said:

Maynehead said:

If I’m not misunderstanding you, you will need a humbucker with 4 conductors. Some only come with 2.

Thanks Tian, yeah, that was my basic understanding of it, but I wasn't sure if that had to be done at build time or you could just do it with an existing humbucker

If there are 4 conductors coming out of the pickup, it means it has already been wired for coil split. However, 2 of those 4 wires (output of coil 1 & input of coil 2) would normally come pre-joined, giving full humbucking mode. If you want to split the coils, you will need to cut the joined wires and connect them to the splitting switch.

If the humbucker only has 2 wires coming out of it, it will not support coil splitting.

Alegree

Any pickup seller/builder that refers to coil splitting as coil tapping should be avoided - they clearly have no idea what they're doing.

If you have your eyes set on a pickup with single conductor + shield, it can be modded (by a professional, or risk destroying the pickup) into 4 conductor.

darcym

thegummy said:

I'm thinking you might be referring to a coil split (where one of the coils is cancelled out and one single coil remains) rather than a coil tap (where there is a wire coming off the wind part of the way round to give a lower output).

Either way, it's probably possible for a pickup builder to add a the wire to an existing humbucker but would doubt it's something that can be done easily at home.

Definitely get one with the appropriate wires.

IMO there's no downside to the separate wires even if you're not coil splitting; I found the braided wire in the SD 59 cumbersome and would always prefer separate wires if possible.

its a really good job you said that, yes, coil splitting ! thankyou.

Funkfingers

Yes, any dual coil pickup could undergo coil splitification - provided that it has the necessary number of output conductor wires. Exceptions are pickups on which the innards have been sealed with resin rather than wax. 

Some PRS humbuckers are supplied with the traditional push back cotton insulated conductor, braided screen and an separate plastic insulated wire connected to the series link between the two coils. Early DiMarzio Dual Sound (essentially, the Super Distortion + a DPDT switch) humbuckers also came like this.

Alegree said:

If you have your eyes set on a pickup with single conductor + shield, it can be modded (by a professional, or risk destroying the pickup) into 4 conductor.

Agreed. Whilst it is possible to perform this modification, it is not advisable for the average home tinkerer to attempt it. Chances are, something will get overheated or physically damaged in the process or the metal pickup cover goes back on wonky. You certainly would not want to be making such alterations to a vintage Gibson P.A.F. It might change the sound of the pickup. It would definitely reduce its perceived monetary value.

thegummy

Just a thought, would anyone even want to split something like a PAF or other vintage output pup?

I'd think it might be very thin and quiet once split.

Winny_Pooh

The prs style partial split works really well.

prowla

4-conductor gives you the option of series/parallel/single coil and in/out of phase.

Voxman

Funkfingers said: 

Yes, any dual coil pickup could undergo coil splitification - provided that it has the necessary number of output conductor wires. Exceptions are pickups on which the innards have been sealed with resin rather than wax. 

Some PRS humbuckers are supplied with the traditional push back cotton insulated conductor, braided screen and an separate plastic insulated wire connected to the series link between the two coils. Early DiMarzio Dual Sound (essentially, the Super Distortion + a DPDT switch) humbuckers also came like this.

Alegree said:

If you have your eyes set on a pickup with single conductor + shield, it can be modded (by a professional, or risk destroying the pickup) into 4 conductor.

Agreed. Whilst it is possible to perform this modification, it is not advisable for the average home tinkerer to attempt it. Chances are, something will get overheated or physically damaged in the process or the metal pickup cover goes back on wonky. You certainly would not want to be making such alterations to a vintage Gibson P.A.F. It might change the sound of the pickup. It would definitely reduce its perceived monetary value.

Spot on..its a pro job to modify a 2 wire h/b to 4 wire but its definitely doable and you don't need to replace the pups. I was going to have a Jimmy Page conversion done to my 1990 L.P. Custom but with push-pull pots rather than switches under the scratch plate as that required channelling in the body and I didn't want a mod that couldn't be reversed  

I never got round to it because I got hold of a quasitap pedal that gave me coiltap tones but I still might get round to it for the parallel and series variations too.  

prowla

As a side note, I've dealt with Alegree previously and have a couple more pickups repaired in the forseeable.  

Headphones

Oh no!

Common use of the langauge is not allowed, and suggests incompetence of the user of such.  Must remind a certain Mr Fender that when I meet him in the afterlife.

Why not help the chap rather than drip on about the language we were brought up with (not like we couldn't understand him)!

Simply - if buying go for four conductor if you wish to acheive your goal simply.  If you've got one with one or two wires it can be altered, but it's harder.

Most humbuckers can be altered to four coonductor with a little effort (I've done it a quite a lot) and it's ususally straightforward, though not entirely without risk, more so if it's covered.

thegummy

Headphones said:

Oh no!

Common use of the langauge is not allowed, and suggests incompetence of the user of such.  Must remind a certain Mr Fender that when I meet him in the afterlife.

Why not help the chap rather than drip on about the language we were brought up with (not like we couldn't understand him)!

Simply - if buying go for four conductor if you wish to acheive your goal simply.  If you've got one with one or two wires it can be altered, but it's harder.

Most humbuckers can be altered to four coonductor with a little effort (I've done it a quite a lot) and it's ususally straightforward, though not entirely without risk, more so if it's covered.

Not sure if your response is maybe coming from a previous experience that you've been lying on but in this thread no-one has been unhelpfully pedantic or chastising anyone for a misconception.

A few of us filled him in on the difference between the two things to make sure he doesn't order the wrong thing then went on to help with his actual query.

Some people are pedantic and offensive on forums but it's good to respectfully let people know of things they're mistaken about, the OP seems to have taken it the right way and not felt defensive.

OilCityPickups

Alegree said:

Any pickup seller/builder that refers to coil splitting as coil tapping should be avoided - they clearly have no idea what they're doing.

If you have your eyes set on a pickup with single conductor + shield, it can be modded (by a professional, or risk destroying the pickup) into 4 conductor.

It's always tricky with the whole tap/split nomenclature, as even some major guitar brands have referred to 'splitting', or perhaps more correctly for three wire setups 'coil shunting' as tapping. I totally agree that as pickup makers we certainly shouldn't muddy the waters. Personally I've not encountered a pickup maker who has used 'tapping' versus 'splitting' wrongly, but there are a lot of them out there these days ... so who knows. 

Just as it's perfectly possible for many of the forum members here to build a Les Paul from scratch it is perfectly possible for any of them to do their own pickup repair and modification work ... they are a pretty talented bunch. Making them aware of the pitfalls of trying it is a good plan, and let me say, opening up any covered humbucker is not for the faint hearted or ill equipped. Uncovered buckers are easier, and if you have done a magnet flip you at least know the geography of what's under the black tape! But I will write this large, IT'S REALLY EASY TO BUGGER UP A PERFECTLY GOOD PICKUP by a small slip. If you want to have a go, try it on a cheapo humbucker. I may do a photo article on just that actually.

As an aside, any of my own humbuckers I've supplied as two conductors I'll happily convert to four conductor for the price of return postage ... as it keeps our lifetime warranty intact.