What results from "coil tapping"?

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cellardweller

cellardweller

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I've read about the how it is done, but what is the resulting change of sound? Increase in gain... what???
 
A humbucker is essentialy two single coil pickups wired in ...series or parallel...I forget which.

By placing a tap between the two coils and adding a switch, you can get the thing to operate as a humbucker or single coil. I've done this to all my guitars that have a humbucker in the bridge position.

They make special volume pots that have a switch incorporated - you simply pull out or push in on the knob to turn the switch on/off. You can also used a dedicated toggle switch (more convenient IMO).
 
Ahhh, thank you very much!

My schecter does not have this special pot, but is supposedly wired into the "jumbo" (wtf?) 5 way switch.

Guitar came with NO documentation at all, the warranty card was not filled out in the apporpriate places (assembled by__, inspected by___, intoned by__). Another bangup job by MF apparently.

*EDIT* do both halves of the humbucker work when it is "tapped" or only one?
 
My G&L ASAT Deluxe has a coil tap switch... I think a lot of guitars with the H/S/H pickup configuration have a coil tap in the H/S and S/H position.


The difference in sound is without the tap you have a humbucker sound (Les Paul).. With the tap, you have single coil (Strat).
 
I thought coil tapping was something altogether different than single/double coil switching that Phyl described. My understanding is that coil tapping is where there are two different outputs from the pickup winding - one taken at the end of the coil and one taken (tapped) from somewhere in the middle of the winding. This effectively gives you the ability to switch between two different numbers of coil windings. Not quite sure what it's implications are on tone (just knowing that higher impedence pickups tend to be louder, I'm guessing the fewer winding option would be quieter and clearer in tone).
 
Gonny said:
I thought coil tapping was something altogether different than single/double coil switching that Phyl described. My understanding is that coil tapping is where there are two different outputs from the pickup winding - one taken at the end of the coil and one taken (tapped) from somewhere in the middle of the winding....
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Sounds interesting.. I don't think I've ever heard of that on a guitar before.
Maybe "coil tapping" means different things in different situations.
 
I could be wrong on that definition of coil tapping. It's something I remember from waaaayyyyy back, and my memory's hazy. I always heard of single/double coil operation as just that...single/double coil switching. hmmm.....
 
Gonny said:
I thought coil tapping was something altogether different than single/double coil switching that Phyl described. My understanding is that coil tapping is where there are two different outputs from the pickup winding - one taken at the end of the coil and one taken (tapped) from somewhere in the middle of the winding. This effectively gives you the ability to switch between two different numbers of coil windings. Not quite sure what it's implications are on tone (just knowing that higher impedence pickups tend to be louder, I'm guessing the fewer winding option would be quieter and clearer in tone).
Click to expand...

You and I are saying the same thing (I think). A humbucker uses two identical coils that are wired/arranged such that they cancel out external noise. By tapping the point where the two coils meet (the middle) you essentially remove one of the coils from the circuit leaving...voila...a single coil.

I'm not 'splaining this very well.

Where's Light?
 
cellardweller said:
I've read about the how it is done, but what is the resulting change of sound? Increase in gain... what???
Click to expand...
I would like to retract this statement totally at this point :D
 
Gonny said:
I could be wrong on that definition of coil tapping. It's something I remember from waaaayyyyy back, and my memory's hazy. I always heard of single/double coil operation as just that...single/double coil switching. hmmm.....
Click to expand...



I think you're right, the correct terminology for the application we're referring to is coil splitting. Coil tapping is the more generic practice of trying to pick out differing amounts of signal from coil.
 
Phyl - perhaps I'm not explaining it very well. What you're talking about (single/double coil switching) is basically shorting out one coil of a humbucker to give you a single coil pickup. What I'm talking about could be done with a single coil pickup.

You have the start to your coil as one lead from the pickup. You wind it some, send a lead out from there (the coil "tap"), and the wind it to the end. You can set up a switch to pick which output you want to use - the one from the middle of the coil or the one from the fully wound coil. You're effectively picking between two different numbers of windings on the same coil.

Again, maybe my memory is failing me here.
 
Gonny said:
Phyl - perhaps I'm not explaining it very well. What you're talking about (single/double coil switching) is basically shorting out one coil of a humbucker to give you a single coil pickup. What I'm talking about could be done with a single coil pickup.

You have the start to your coil as one lead from the pickup. You wind it some, send a lead out from there (the coil "tap"), and the wind it to the end. You can set up a switch to pick which output you want to use - the one from the middle of the coil or the one from the fully wound coil. You're effectively picking between two different numbers of windings on the same coil.

Again, maybe my memory is failing me here.
Click to expand...


I think I see what you're getting at.
 
Phyl said:
I think you're right, the correct terminology for the application we're referring to is coil splitting. Coil tapping is the more generic practice of trying to pick out differing amounts of signal from coil.
Click to expand...

Kind of like tremolo and vibrato bars on guitars? I never understood how someone could call something that changed the pitch a tremolo bar. :)
 
vibrato- a slightly tremulous effect imparted to vocal or instrumental tone for added warmth and expressiveness by slight and rapid variations in pitch.

I've always just liked "vibrato".... :)
is that wrong of me to be prejudiced against "tremolo" without having looked it up previously?
 
I have an Ibanez Jetking that has the coil taps on it. I like the variety in tones I can get - as to your volume question, you will usually lose some volume switching to single coils unless your guitar is wired to compensate for the lower signal.
 
I thought I would make the point that most production guitars that I see with a coil split switch call it a coil "tap" switch, but splitting is really what they are doing. Basically using only one coil of a humbucker to get a more "strat" type of sound. Expect more noise, less output, and more articulate sound (strat) when tapped/split.
 
metalhead28 said:
I thought I would make the point that most production guitars that I see with a coil split switch call it a coil "tap" switch, but splitting is really what they are doing. Basically using only one coil of a humbucker to get a more "strat" type of sound. Expect more noise, less output, and more articulate sound (strat) when tapped/split.
Click to expand...

It's also tapping the coil....since a humbucker is essentially 2 single-coil p/u's wire in series (with the 2nd one out of phase with the first)

If you think of a humbucker as one unit, then tapping the circuit at the end of one of the single coils is tapping the humbucker circuit right in the middle.

Make sense?
 
I have a great 80s Westone Prestige 150 which is coil-tapped. You can tell it's not a Strat, but I'm not a session player - I want variety, not specific tones. Very worthwhile upgrade to increase the versatility of an LP, SG or Superstrat or whatever-type guitar.
 
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