Does a tapped/split humbucker sound like a traditional single coil?

[SNick]

I guess if it really sounded good every humbucker equipped guitar would have it. Not even the Marketing guys can sway a company to do it as a gimmick to sell more. That says it all. JMO

[gadjet]

Generally I think higher output pickups work better just because one coil is closer in specs to a single coil. That's not real good if your a vintage output PAF type player, Your stuck with a hot humbucker sound.. I tend to like running a humbucker in parallel instead of splitting... still it's not quite the same. close enough for some things.

[Chicago Slim]

Originally Posted by gadjet

Generally I think higher output pickups work better just because one coil is closer in specs to a single coil. That's not real good if your a vintage output PAF type player, Your stuck with a hot humbucker sound.. I tend to like running a humbucker in parallel instead of splitting... still it's not quite the same. close enough for some things.

I haven't liked the hot, 12k - 15k PRS humbuckers split. They still sound very thin. However, I've had good luck with the 5k Starla pickups. These are the first pickups that I'll actually use, in the split mode. The 5-way switch (parallel/series coils), does sound much better. But, I'm more of a Tele/Strat type, than a humbucker guy.

[Pietro]

Anderson h2+ sounds very convincing split.

[epluribus]

Going Out On A Limb Dept.: Tapped 'buckers don't sound like SC's? Kinda odd...that's what they are.

Trouble is, they don't sound like those SC's...Strat, Tele, P-90, whatever...because they're not. Nor will the guitar body suddenly morph and become a Tele or a Goldtop. A tapped humbucker will simply sound like the same guitar with whatever that single coil produces...which is likely to be a far different beast than switching to another guitar entirely.

The other issue has to do with output. Once you split, you just altered the gain structure of your entire rig, and rather drastically so. To get a valid comparison, stick a really transparent clean boost in front of the amp and set it so the output of the SC matches that of the HB. The usefulness of the tone changes dramatically in my book...cut the signal in a well-balanced rig, you get tone suck. Reset the gain structure, you get...different tone.

I think the better question is whether the change owing to the tapping is musically significant, to you or anyone else. Seems to me that, with most pups, the difference is interesting and fun to experiment with, but isn't especially dramatic or particularly useful. Just too small a change to the instrument as a whole to have much impact, IMHO natch. Except...

P-Rails. Haven't tried any of the fancier purpose-built splitters mentioned here, so I can't compare, but P-Rails are IMHO the only HB worth splitting from a usability/versatility standpoint. And no, they don't sound like a Strat or a Tele or a P-90, but the things they can do are very different one from the other, quite attractive in terms of sound and dynamic response, and audible to the listener. The eerie part is when you run 'em with the inner coils on, the way they're purported to sound like Strat 2 or 4. In my book, they don't. They just sound like a heck of a lot like a Strat.

Beyond that, however, I've not discovered much practical use for split coils, other than that they're immensely fun for us modders and tone-tweakers. Opinions to the contrary from successful splitters welcome as always.

--Ray

BTW, the Cort Curbow comes stock with coil-split. You can twist the active EQ and get the same tones. Can't figure out what the split is good for other than turning the noise up.

[Outlier]

I love the split coil sounds from my PRS CU 24 with 57/08's split. It doesn't sound the same as my strat but that isn't what I want from it. I'm seeing a pattern here where most of the people defending split coil are using PRS instruments. Maybe they are doing something right? There is a slight volume drop which is why the volume knob is your friend. If you just play with your volume cranked all the time and then split then you don't know what you are missing.

[Bikedude]

I never thougt so until in the last 2 weeks I've been fortunate to come into 2 guitars that have HB's that sound very, very close to single coils when split. My DGT does it well, and my Hot Rodded RW Tele with the Fralin Un-Bucker sounds very close to a nice s/c when split. With the 5 way and Tonestyler Circuit it does sound nice.

[AD_]

I really like the split coil sound from mine. It doesn't sound like a strat, but it isn't supposed to. It sounds like a quieter, less-muddy version of the same guitar.

[stratplexi]

They don't sound like strat or a tele but they are useful sounds none the less. If you need single coil tones and don't want to swap out guitars, they work and nobody in the audience will really know the difference anyway. We are all tone geeks and analyze everything to death...its part of the fun. I personally love being able to split humbuckers. My Gibson Traditional Plus Les Paul came with coil taps and it does a convincing neck single coil tone. It does not chime like a Strat but it sounds fantastic. When going to single coil mode you drop some of the mids and add lower frequencies and higher frequencies. Everything is a little cleaner, more chime, more clarity, more lows, etc. I dig it...

[Windup 43]

Originally Posted by BlueHeaven

Split coil buckers CAN sound good...given the right application. However, they will not sound "just like" a Strat, Tele, Junior, or whatever so don't expect that.

Exactly. I get some great sounds out of my Gibby SG Standard and Squier '51 w/ the coils split, very useful for cleans.

[tjmicsak]

A HB split into a single coil is going to sound like a single coil.
But that single coil is in a specific place on a Strat or on a Tele, so unless you get close to those mounting angles and locations with any split HB single bobbin it is not going to sound exactly like either one of those guitars, any more than asking if those two guitars will sound the same with a single coil.

[vortexxxx]

In my opinion most humbuckers don't sound like a good single coil when split but you can get some interesting sounds when splitting them.

[FuzzGazer]

No, but split, tap, and parallel are equally valid tones. In fact I prefer a parallel'ed bucker to a single coil.

[stilesg57]

I've got a set of Zhangbuckers on order that I intend to split. David has an option on his winds where he taps into a percentage of the opposing coil to bump up output to more conventional single coil levels. I've ordered mine with that option, I'll let y'all know how it sounds when I get them.

[benxiwf]

To me, a split bucker is more like a lipstick single coil since it has a much lower output than the regular pickup. Great woody tone to be had on these settings. I have it on my Reverend Rocco and Fender Mustang Special. If you take some time to play and tweak your amp to these settings, some great sounds are to be had.