A question about pickups..

[Dogbreath]

So a friend of mine asked me what it meant, and what the difference was, with split coil pickups and series/parallel pickups.

I told him I didn't really know but assume the split coil was basically just splitting a humbucker down to single coil probably by a push/pull knob and the series/parallel sounded more like a "tone" thing maybe brighter or duller.

?

Anyone got a more cohesive answer than my garbled question marks?


Much thanks...

 

[CLos]

here ya go.. this will explain it.
Guitar Pickups 101: Humbucker Wiring Series, Coil Splitting and Parallel Wiring - YouTube

 

[Dogbreath]

here ya go.. this will explain it.
Guitar Pickups 101: Humbucker Wiring Series, Coil Splitting and Parallel Wiring - YouTube

Thanks dude.

Much appreciated.

 

[andrew_s]

Yeah, you've got an idea. Split somehow splits hambucker and single ones into something that sounds massive or, how to say more narrow

 

[Lt. Bob]

Yeah, you've got an idea. Split somehow splits hambucker and single ones into something that sounds massive or, how to say more narrow

that's actually meaningless man.




Dogbreath:
A humbucker has two coils. Splitting simply drops one coil out leaving only a single coil left so it sounds like a single coil p'up. They don't really sound quite like a single coil though but they can get a lot closer than a full humbucker.

Series and parallel is usually talking about HOW the two coils in a humbucker are wired.
Series means they're wired in series and parallel means just that.
I believe series is hotter and fatter but it could be the other way around ... I forget.

 

[Dogbreath]

Thanks LT
That makes sense. The series/parallel thing is something I have to look up again every damn time I go to re-wire a cab or something.
That and the 4 ohm - 8 ohm thing.


Ima boob.

 

[ashcat_lt]

Two coils in series is louder and darker than either coil on its own and is the standard way of wiring an HB. Two coils in parallel is always brighter than either of the coils with volume about the same as the single. It's the standard way to connect two separate pickups.

More and more people are finding that an HB wired with its coils in parallel is close enough to an SC and sometimes preferable to splitting off one coil because it retains the hum-cancelling effect.