What does it sound likeĬoil-tapped humbuckers can sometimes sound like single-coils when in the tapped position (halfway). One at the half-way mark of the number of coils, and one at the original number of coils. The result is that you can produce two different tones. For example, you could route the pickup at 500 coils and at a 1000 coils, if the pickup is intended to have 1000 coils in total. The more coils, the higher the output of the pickup.Ĭoil-tapping involves routing a wire around half way through the number of winds and at the end of all the winds of wire. So you’ll remember that pickups consist of a core material wrapped in coils of wire. In fact, coil tapping is not the same as coil-splitting.Ĭoil-splitting refers to the action of decativating one coil of a humbucking pickup. Now you know what coil-splitting is, you might be wondering what coil tapping is, and if it’s the same?
Hence, this coil-splitting feature is really important to me. But other times I like to crank the gain up, and I don’t want the humming that you get with single coil pickups. Sometimes I play songs which require a brighter sound, and the humbuckers can be a bit too much. One of the reasons I purchased a PRS SE Custom 24,, is because it gave me this ability to switch between the two tones. Generally I would say, if you want the single coil sound more and only require the thicker humbucker tone quite rarely, then go with single coil pickups as they sound a bit better than coil-split humbuckers.īut if you want the option for both kinds of tone, go for coil split pickups. If you only like the sound of single coil pickups, and use relatively clean tones and the humming doesn’t bother you, then you’ll be fine with just getting single coils.īut if you want the option to have the beefier tone produced by humbuckers, and be able to switch to a twangier and brighter single-coil sound, then go for a guitar with a coil split feature. The best option for you will really depend on what kind of tone you’re after. It’s the push-pull action of the tone knob which connects and disconnects the circuit when in the down or up position to allow one coil to be active, or both coils. How Does It WorkĬoil splitting works by taking one of the humbuckers two coils, and shutting it off. In the “down” position, you’ll get the humbucker sound. In the “up” position, you’ll get the coil-split effect which will only activate one coil to sound like you’re using single coils. On a lot of guitars you just pull the tone control up and it will lift into a new position. You can “split” the humbuckers to create the single coil sound, usually really simply. This means that you can effectively get the sound of both humbuckers and single coil pickups on the same guitar. Instead, they are actually humbuckers (which have two coils), that can be “split” to produce a single coil sound. Unlike single coils, coil split pickups aren’t an entirely separate type of pickup. Okay so now you know what single coil pickups are, let’s move onto coil splitting. They are versatile and can suit jazz and blues, but they’re also good for heavier genres like rock and metal. These types of pickups are famously found on Gibson Les Pauls and ES-335 guitars.
They produce a thicker and beefier sound than single coil pickups. Each coil has the magnets going in opposite directions.
Humbuckers have two coils, rather than one. Single coil pickups are most famously found on Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters. They have a slight buzzing sound, which some players like, but others don’t. They’re known for their bright and sharp sounds. These consist of a wire wrapped around six individual magnets. No type is better than the other, but some people usually think one sounds better. Most people tend to have a preference between the two.
There are two popular types of pickups: humbuckers and single-coils. The materials used, and also the number of coils wrapped around the core impact the tone produced by an electric guitar. They consist of a core material, wrapped around coils of wire. Pickups are a really important determination of how electric guitars sound.
If you’re already pretty clued up on pickups, then feel free to skip ahead to the next section! Then it’s easiest to understand the difference between single coil pickups and coil splitting. First, I think it’s a good idea to quickly go over what pickups actually are and what the main types are.