Single Coil Sounds from Humbuckers: Coils in Parallel vs Capacitor along Shunted Series to Ground

jaymenon

I have two humbucker equipped guitars which afford single coil simulation.

The first (Les Paul) does so by connecting the humbucker coils in parallel; 
The other (Guthrie Govan Charvel) involves a 0.1uf capacitor along the humbucker's shunted series connection’s path to ground.

Humbucker coils in parallel
1. Better hum-cancellation (even superior to conventional humbucker series wiring)
2. A mid-scooped sound (a bit reminiscent of the in-between positions on a Strat)
3. A significant volume drop

0.1uf capacitor along the humbucker's shunted series connection’s path to ground
1. Not quite so impeccable hum-cancellation
2. A superior single coil sound (with preserved mids)
3. No perceptible volume drop

On balance, I much prefer the 0.1uf capacitor (by a long shot), but would very much appreciate other people's experiences / perspectives...

ICBM

I strongly dislike wiring a guitar humbucker in parallel - to me it always sounds weak and gutless, much worse than any variety of using one coil only - full coil split, resistor or cap partial split. But I like bass humbuckers in parallel a lot. I don't know why there should be such a difference...

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

I strongly dislike wiring a guitar humbucker in parallel - to me it always sounds weak and gutless

This is precisely the reason why I use a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot mounting surround to interconnect the coils of a P-Rails pickup in parallel. On a semi-hollow guitar, the thin, gutless result reminds me of a Rickenbacker pickup.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

This is precisely the reason why I use a Seymour Duncan Triple Shot mounting surround to interconnect the coils of a P-Rails pickup in parallel. On a semi-hollow guitar, the thin, gutless result reminds me of a Rickenbacker pickup.

Not sure why, when Rickenbacker pickups are actually very midrangy, jangly and not thin at all .

Actually a P-Rails probably won't sound like that, since the two coils are so different that there won't be as much harmonic cancellation.

jaymenon

Here's what it sounds like...

0.1uf capacitor + 3.3kΩ resistor  along the humbucker's shunted series connection’s path to ground

jaymenon

When you split a humbucker in the manner of PRS

...and you use a resistor (rather than a capacitor) along the humbucker's shunted series connection’s path to ground...

do you then get a proper single coil with hum, as opposed to still getting some hum-cancellation with the capacitor?

normula1

I can't remember how much hum the capacitor variant has, the resistor method has quite a bit, I don't find it overly intrusive though, perhaps because the pickups I split have mismatched coils anyway.

ICBM

jaymenon said:

When you split a humbucker in the manner of PRS

...and you use a resistor (rather than a capacitor) along the humbucker's shunted series connection’s path to ground...

do you then get a proper single coil with hum, as opposed to still getting some hum-cancellation with the capacitor?

You still get hum, although slightly less than with a full split.

jaymenon

Thanks John, I meant how much relative hum in terms of resistor versus capacitor please?

ICBM

Slightly more low-frequency hum, but about the same higher-frequency switching noise - which is the more intrusive anyway. (Resisting calling it ‘buzz’, since that’s confusing with electrostatic noise .)