For the love of god this is so logical, never thought of it . Excellent explanation period, I finally understand why splitting a (Standard impedance) humbucker is a wast of time.
Excellent video! From researching this what actually sounded better to my ear was doing a (series/Parallel) switch rather than turning one off. You are right, it doesn't sound great. Well done, good quality recording and honest comparison. Thanks!
Jeff Marple in Nashville took the tone pots in my Les Paul and used them as variable coil splits. I can gradually take either pup from full-on series humbuckers to single coil. Very cool mod....
Excellent video! Thanks! On a neck humbucker I routinely lower the screws as low as possible and lower the entire pickup a bit as well. Sometimes I wire the neck in parallel rather than series and get a nice single coil-ish sound but a tad thicker and capable of handling heavy gain more than most single coils. I've done this on Dimarzio Air Zone, Super Distortion (in the neck - yes that works!), Seymour Duncan 59, Pearly Gates, Duncan Designed HB103, GFS Crunchy Pat.
I split a Squier humbucker and it was weak as . . . there are dual volume controls, stacked pots . . . and 75:25 splits for the bridge humbucker. I got a Pearly Gate's HB which may split just fine . . . we'll see. Thanks for the great analysis.
When splitting the pickup ... your pots & caps will influence it too. I have an Epiphone Jr that I put a hot humbucker 14.5k in with a dpdt push/pull tone pot so that when dual coil the tone pot uses an 0.047uF cap and in the single coil mode it uses an 0.023uF cap. I also placed the screwheads (the sensing single split coil) on the neck side of the bridge pickup and adjusted their height vs the strings to improve the tone, possible to stagger them like many single coils are too. It's actually quite a fun little guitar now and I find I reach for it more often than I thought.
That is very true. Then when you throw in the cable you use, number of pedals and their types - everything is different than what you might have anticipated.
Mine sound pretty damn good. The problem is when people with little to no understanding of how the electronics work make videos & tutorials about splitting humbuckers using push-pull potentiometers. I've been down that rabbit hole. It's an absolute nightmare. You also need a decent set of Alnico pickups that aren't overwound. I understand your point though.
Really the way to do this if some enterprising young designer wants to do this, you'd have to wind the bobbin like a humbucker, tap it there and put a wire there, then keep winding until you get to the single coil number of winds. That's a lot of engineering but if they could manufacture them like that it sure would be cool. I think PRS did something like that a few years ago. If anyone knows of any pickups like that please let me know.
Don, According to ur split chart the SM Pearly Gates only dropped by .24k is this a typo? Was thinking about getting this pup, if it splits THAT well it def seals the deal for me!
good explanation and thx... but the angled single coil will always sound diff because it's angled... - maybe compare to the middle pickup which isn't - speaking of... why get a HSS when you can get angled humbuckers ? ? [ mini's - stacked - hot rails ]
Don, You can split a "two conductor" pickup but it takes more surgery. For those first trying it, buy a new inexpensive pickup off ebay (often a pair for $12 can be obtained). Unwrap the tape around the coil pack and find where the two coils are soldered in series. Run a shielded wire from that with your other wires after soldering. Be careful as the 42/44 gauge pickup wire is less thick than a hair. Retape the package.
Yeah - maybe I'm lazy (or cheap) but I've never gone that route. I've always felt that if I have to mod the HB to get 4-wires, the output is probably low to begin with and won't sound all that good when split. I've messed up pickups doing less so I''ll leave that operation to people with far steadier hands - and better eyesight. :)
i know this is an 8y videos but would it be posible to use a singlecoil size for 1 of the coils and use that directly as singlecoil but then TAP it at a lower output to mix with the other coil to use as humbucker?
Well - there are two possible reasons. The first is there has been an increase in Alien activity over here in Wisconsin. But the more plausible reason is that I was an idiot and didn't edit before I uploaded. Sorry about that - the approximate split of a Pearly Gates Bridge is around 4.2K. :) Don
This is why I have a 16k bridge and an 8k neck. Bridge is ceramic modern style, neck is vintage alnico. I ONLY ever split the bridge and blend it with the neck for the stones sound/tele tones. The neck is only 8k and split it would sound CACK. Literally no point wasting a $10 CTS push pull on this. Instead I use the neck PP for phase switching the neck for the Greeny tones. I really 100% agree with Breja here. Its not worth it!
I got a newbie question, after I did this mod I found out both north coils were split, which is not the middle position tone i was going for. I wanted both outer coils. How do i go about doing it? I did it on the volume put with alligator wires and I just connected the one I wanted to change, to the hot of the volume. I just don't understand how to do the same on the tone pot.
the split humbucker actually sounded pretty cool. i did a lot of experiments in the past. you can take one coil completely out of the circuit, instead of shortening it out, that will give you a even more authentic single coil sound with more high end. what are your thoughts on parallel wiring instead of a coil split? i think i prefer it.
@Leon thecat let me try to explain. the splitted pickup's coil is still in the circuit. the signal is sent to ground. if you take the coil completely out of the circuit there is no current flow anymore. here is why i think it makes a difference. the grounded coil is still working. the current flow will create a magnetic field which will affect the adjacent coil. this is not going to happen if the coil is taken out of the circuit electrically. what do you think? does this make sense? i can assure you, you can hear a difference.
@Leon thecat okay. nothing wrong with your explanation so far. both coils act like a transformer basically. there is inductivity happening and electrons do move in the grounded coil. and.......it's very obvious soundwise. it's sparklier and more single coil like if you take out the coil of the circuit. i know i'm right and you know you're right. it's a bit of a problem to be honest.
1:02 NOT True! I have been splitting two wire humbuckers for decades. It takes a little more work and you need to take the pickup apart and know what you are doing, but a two wire humbucker CAN be converted into a four wire humbucker, with a shield, and then split. A split humbucker will sound like a split humbucker. Similar to, but not exactly like a Fender single coil. If you want it to have that Strat quack you need to have two split humbuckers and one of them that can be switched out of phase. That is what positions two and four on a Strat do. You can't just split the humbuckers and expect your guitar to sound like a Strat if they are in phase. That is what most people who are disappointed miss. Out of phase switching on one pickup is imperative of you want your LP to quack like a Strat.
I believe if you put both pickups on one push pull switch it will reduce the over all resistance of the humbucker that's unsplit. which will make it less hot.....am I correct?
Soundwise ive found Paralleling the humbucker sounds better than split and still hum canceling. Does anybody know the electrical explaination of parallel wiring and why on a ohm meter it reads 1/4 the output of the orginal humbucker? A split humbucker reads about half but soundwise parallel seems to edge a split humbucker in output and not as thin to my ears. Kinda P90ish sound. I know resistance dosent always equate output. But I get crazy low resistance readings on some pickups with parallel and they sound alright yet split will have twice or more resistance and will sound thin.
I have 2 guitars with wire tap control that are 3 wire pick ups, but you say you need 4 wire pick ups. Even so , your 4 wire pick ups have 5 wires. Please explain
If I have this right when I don,t pull the switch I,ll have full power like whatever your pu is capable of like say 11000 but when I hit the switch and ground it I,ll have 50 or 60 percent so if I,m thinking right a person dosn,t lose anything because if you don,t hit the switch you get what you would of got if you put in a regular pot put if you split it you still have a new sound just not like a single coil am I thinking right John
hi don wouldn't you achieve the same results in a strat when u engage the middle pickup with your single coil pup in position 4? LET'S say your bridge pu is 6,5 and your middle is 5.9 combined 12.4 now at position 4 your running at 12.4 and position 5 running at 5.9
I'm assuming the posted value for the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Split was a typo. I can't imagine that split its output value goes from 8.3K to 8.1K. Did you mean that it will go to 4.1K?
Why not use a strat with a humbucker to get a more fair comparison ? And by the way, I think the split humbucker sounded better than the single coils, so I would be happy with the result.
Hey Lars... Unfortunately none of my Strats are setup for splitting only the Bridge HB so I couldn't do that. My intention wasn't to say which was better sounding or to compare sounds in any specific guitar - rather simply that a split HB won't sound exactly like a SC. Many people try to split the coils in a Les Paul style guitar thinking they'll achieve a pure Strat sound but that won't be the case. Don
You absolutely can split a 2 wire humbucker. Simply instal a 4 conductor wire into the humbucker. Not very difficult and plenty of instructional videos out there.
Priceless! Absolutely the best video on humbucker coil splitting out there, EVER!!!
For the love of god this is so logical, never thought of it .
Excellent explanation period, I finally understand why splitting a (Standard impedance) humbucker is a wast of time.
This is truly the very BEST channel for pick ups / wiring etc . So very well done ! The best . Another superb video .
The best explanation of this topic on RUclips. Great video man!
Excellent video! From researching this what actually sounded better to my ear was doing a (series/Parallel) switch rather than turning one off. You are right, it doesn't sound great. Well done, good quality recording and honest comparison. Thanks!
Based on the chart provided, I think my Super Distortion should still sound pretty good in split coil mode. Thanks for this great video!
Jeff Marple in Nashville took the tone pots in my Les Paul and used them as variable coil splits. I can gradually take either pup from full-on series humbuckers to single coil. Very cool mod....
Excellent video! Thanks! On a neck humbucker I routinely lower the screws as low as possible and lower the entire pickup a bit as well. Sometimes I wire the neck in parallel rather than series and get a nice single coil-ish sound but a tad thicker and capable of handling heavy gain more than most single coils. I've done this on Dimarzio Air Zone, Super Distortion (in the neck - yes that works!), Seymour Duncan 59, Pearly Gates, Duncan Designed HB103, GFS Crunchy Pat.
Tis the beauty of modding. :)
I split a Squier humbucker and it was weak as . . . there are dual volume controls, stacked pots . . . and 75:25 splits for the bridge humbucker.
I got a Pearly Gate's HB which may split just fine . . . we'll see.
Thanks for the great analysis.
When splitting the pickup ... your pots & caps will influence it too. I have an Epiphone Jr that I put a hot humbucker 14.5k in with a dpdt push/pull tone pot so that when dual coil the tone pot uses an 0.047uF cap and in the single coil mode it uses an 0.023uF cap. I also placed the screwheads (the sensing single split coil) on the neck side of the bridge pickup and adjusted their height vs the strings to improve the tone, possible to stagger them like many single coils are too. It's actually quite a fun little guitar now and I find I reach for it more often than I thought.
That is very true. Then when you throw in the cable you use, number of pedals and their types - everything is different than what you might have anticipated.
Your videos are invaluable, thank you.
You can boost that splitted humbucker though to get a bit more high-end.
Mine sound pretty damn good. The problem is when people with little to no understanding of how the electronics work make videos & tutorials about splitting humbuckers using push-pull potentiometers. I've been down that rabbit hole. It's an absolute nightmare.
You also need a decent set of Alnico pickups that aren't overwound.
I understand your point though.
Many thanks for this clear explanation!
Great video! That’s exactly what I needed to know about splitting!
Really the way to do this if some enterprising young designer wants to do this, you'd have to wind the bobbin like a humbucker, tap it there and put a wire there, then keep winding until you get to the single coil number of winds. That's a lot of engineering but if they could manufacture them like that it sure would be cool. I think PRS did something like that a few years ago. If anyone knows of any pickups like that please let me know.
This is a realy realy good informative video !
Don,
According to ur split chart the SM Pearly Gates only dropped by .24k is this a typo? Was thinking about getting this pup, if it splits THAT well it def seals the deal for me!
Yeah, is that a typo for Pearly Gates?
good explanation and thx... but the angled single coil will always sound diff because it's angled...
- maybe compare to the middle pickup which isn't - speaking of... why get a HSS when you can get angled humbuckers ? ? [ mini's - stacked - hot rails ]
Don, You can split a "two conductor" pickup but it takes more surgery. For those first trying it, buy a new inexpensive pickup off ebay (often a pair for $12 can be obtained). Unwrap the tape around the coil pack and find where the two coils are soldered in series. Run a shielded wire from that with your other wires after soldering. Be careful as the 42/44 gauge pickup wire is less thick than a hair. Retape the package.
Yeah - maybe I'm lazy (or cheap) but I've never gone that route. I've always felt that if I have to mod the HB to get 4-wires, the output is probably low to begin with and won't sound all that good when split. I've messed up pickups doing less so I''ll leave that operation to people with far steadier hands - and better eyesight. :)
Thanks for the video,
but what if I have quantum nick pick with 3 wires(rare) red -white -bare wire,
how can I split the pickup ?
So if you want a Strat-like sound out of humbuckers, find HB with equal values and replace the pots with a higher value to brighten the sound?
Should also say that the Vol pot resistance is generally 500k on HB guitars and 250k on SC guitars. So tone should be adapted.
So , if you wound vintage hb 80/20
Will it be suitable for splitting?
i know this is an 8y videos but would it be posible to use a singlecoil size for 1 of the coils and use that directly as singlecoil but then TAP it at a lower output to mix with the other coil to use as humbucker?
Great vid, just curious why in your table presented the Pearly Gates was 8.35 Humbucker and still 8.1 if split? Thanks.
Well - there are two possible reasons. The first is there has been an increase in Alien activity over here in Wisconsin. But the more plausible reason is that I was an idiot and didn't edit before I uploaded. Sorry about that - the approximate split of a Pearly Gates Bridge is around 4.2K. :)
Don
Breja ToneWorks
THX for info. P.S. all quiet down here in Tasmania on the Alien activity front...
This is why I have a 16k bridge and an 8k neck. Bridge is ceramic modern style, neck is vintage alnico. I ONLY ever split the bridge and blend it with the neck for the stones sound/tele tones. The neck is only 8k and split it would sound CACK. Literally no point wasting a $10 CTS push pull on this. Instead I use the neck PP for phase switching the neck for the Greeny tones. I really 100% agree with Breja here. Its not worth it!
I got a newbie question, after I did this mod I found out both north coils were split, which is not the middle position tone i was going for. I wanted both outer coils. How do i go about doing it? I did it on the volume put with alligator wires and I just connected the one I wanted to change, to the hot of the volume. I just don't understand how to do the same on the tone pot.
Fantastic video, very interesting.
Thanks...
the split humbucker actually sounded pretty cool.
i did a lot of experiments in the past. you can take one coil completely out of the circuit, instead of shortening it out, that will give you a even more authentic single coil sound with more high end.
what are your thoughts on parallel wiring instead of a coil split? i think i prefer it.
I personally haven't tried that method but I know what you're going for. Next time I'm playing around I'll give it a try and see how it sounds. Don
Interesting! How is the volume difference beetwen the shortened out VS. the completely isolated coil?
@Leon thecat long long time ago i did that experiment. there was a difference. but i don't care anymore.
i don't split my humbuckers anymore.
@Leon thecat let me try to explain.
the splitted pickup's coil is still in the circuit.
the signal is sent to ground. if you take the coil completely out of the circuit there is no current flow anymore.
here is why i think it makes a difference.
the grounded coil is still working. the current flow will create a magnetic field which will affect the adjacent coil.
this is not going to happen if the coil is taken out of the circuit electrically.
what do you think? does this make sense?
i can assure you, you can hear a difference.
@Leon thecat okay. nothing wrong with your explanation so far.
both coils act like a transformer basically. there is inductivity happening and electrons do move in the grounded coil.
and.......it's very obvious soundwise. it's sparklier and more single coil like if you take out the coil of the circuit.
i know i'm right and you know you're right. it's a bit of a problem to be honest.
1:02 NOT True!
I have been splitting two wire humbuckers for decades. It takes a little more work and you need to take the pickup apart and know what you are doing, but a two wire humbucker CAN be converted into a four wire humbucker, with a shield, and then split.
A split humbucker will sound like a split humbucker.
Similar to, but not exactly like a Fender single coil. If you want it to have that Strat quack you need to have two split humbuckers and one of them that can be switched out of phase. That is what positions two and four on a Strat do. You can't just split the humbuckers and expect your guitar to sound like a Strat if they are in phase. That is what most people who are disappointed miss. Out of phase switching on one pickup is imperative of you want your LP to quack like a Strat.
So it IS TRUE! You had to convert it to a 4 wire before you could split it. He said you couldn't split a 2 wire humbucker.
TBH I wouldn't be upset by that sound. It's useable for what I do for sure.
I believe if you put both pickups on one push pull switch it will reduce the over all resistance of the humbucker that's unsplit. which will make it less hot.....am I correct?
Soundwise ive found Paralleling the humbucker sounds better than split and still hum canceling. Does anybody know the electrical explaination of parallel wiring and why on a ohm meter it reads 1/4 the output of the orginal humbucker? A split humbucker reads about half but soundwise parallel seems to edge a split humbucker in output and not as thin to my ears. Kinda P90ish sound. I know resistance dosent always equate output. But I get crazy low resistance readings on some pickups with parallel and they sound alright yet split will have twice or more resistance and will sound thin.
Do you have to split your hb? If I go HSS on my Strat, can I use a 2 wire hb and just use it like I did the single coil with hb & single on POS 2?
I have a HSH setup and wondering if i could some how use one half of both humbuckers at once?
I have 2 guitars with wire tap control that are 3 wire pick ups, but you say you need 4 wire pick ups. Even so , your 4 wire pick ups have 5 wires. Please explain
Best bet for humbuckers is to wire the coils parallel. You'll get more output than just using a single coil, and it's noise cancelling!
what happens when I do this with a single coil sized humbucker? e.g. a seymour duncan jb jr? will it be even more weak?
Can I ask questions, it seems these videos are several years old?
If I have this right when I don,t pull the switch I,ll have full power like whatever your pu is capable of like say 11000 but when I hit the switch and ground it I,ll have 50 or 60 percent so if I,m thinking right a person dosn,t lose anything because if you don,t hit the switch you get what you would of got if you put in a regular pot put if you split it you still have a new sound just not like a single coil am I thinking right John
GREAT VIDEO, THANKS!
Go parallel rather than splitting. You get the single coil chop with more power and yet the 60 cycle hum is still canceled.
hi don wouldn't you achieve the same results in a strat when u engage the middle pickup with your single coil pup in position 4? LET'S say your bridge pu is 6,5 and your middle is 5.9 combined 12.4 now at position 4 your running at 12.4 and position 5 running at 5.9
+keithsa41 No - positions 2 & 4 are in parallel but to do what you describing the two pickups would need to be in series.
I'm assuming the posted value for the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Split was a typo. I can't imagine that split its output value goes from 8.3K to 8.1K. Did you mean that it will go to 4.1K?
The same question..... but when I made this pearly gates HB split coil , the single one is absolutely sounds charming??? I am confused...
Try the spin a split wiring!
Great video.
Thanks...
great info - thanks!!!!
I hate the wiring that cuts out both pickups in the middle position when you only turn one down
Why not use a strat with a humbucker to get a more fair comparison ? And by the way, I think the split humbucker sounded better than the single coils, so I would be happy with the result.
Hey Lars...
Unfortunately none of my Strats are setup for splitting only the Bridge HB so I couldn't do that. My intention wasn't to say which was better sounding or to compare sounds in any specific guitar - rather simply that a split HB won't sound exactly like a SC. Many people try to split the coils in a Les Paul style guitar thinking they'll achieve a pure Strat sound but that won't be the case.
Don
Thank you so much
Split coil sounded plenty Good to me !
great
I love you.
Someone needs to wire a hot humbucker that is tapped for hum bucker mode and full windings when split. Problem solved. Mostly.
GOLD HERE
shit I cant split my 3-wire ibanez HB u say?!?
nrksrs actually its two isnt it? hot, ground and copper wire
They are red, white and black.. black and red goes to ground and white is output, it is playing like normal humbucker, but i dont know how to split it
Spin a split rules!
Never tried it... you're not the first to bring it up. I might have to give it a whirl.
someone who plays pretty well should have played the demo sounds
You absolutely can split a 2 wire humbucker. Simply instal a 4 conductor wire into the humbucker. Not very difficult and plenty of instructional videos out there.