What is the difference between coil splitting and coil tapping

Interesting - haven't heard that take before. It sounds like they're very nearly the same thing in both desired effect and methodology. The only significant difference between them is the physical characteristics of the two types of pickups, and the adjustments required to accomplish the same thing across both platforms.

Am I missing something? So, Is coil tapping still humbucking? While coil splitting is not? Tapping a single coil would be a real magic trick.

Just exactly how would you stop the winding of a single coil pickup at the halfway point, scrape the coating off the transformer wire, solder the tap wire to it and then resume winding without having any negative issues? I'm not believing it until I see it. Does anyone make a special bobbin that has a solder plateau or some other solder point located at the halfway point?

Using lacquer on a small brush with a small patch of thin paper or plastic works fine to insulate around the tap point - yes - it is micro surgery - if the wire breaks at the junction during surgery you can re-solder them and make a junction point at the tap wire end - insulate and protect your pickup in process on the winder as you work - don't let the short 'tap' lead that you added touch anything on the winder as you complete the coil winding- that is the "magic".

I don't know - not much - comes with the territory? You have in essence created a tapped transformer winding google: 'Center Tapped Transformers'. In theory all inductors adhere to Farady's Law and if you are interested in the theory study up on basic inductance and transformers.

One Note: "Be careful what you wish for". Adding these features adds more switches that do come with more choices and an experimenter might revel in these extra features but not every player needs these and this also adds to more possible future problems as far as extra switches and wires,etc.

I have done it for artists - still sweating thinking about it. Even on the bench it can be challenging figuring this stuff out when someone else designed and wired something non standard like this stuff. Thankfully most techs adhere to sanity and there are several basic 'Super-Strat" configurations that most techs adhere to and can be more easily recognized. I also like to 'pot' my completed pickups in wax so I know my windings and taps are not going to vibrate and move in any way and I also properly retain the pickup wires so there is no stress on the tap wire, etc..

And yes, in combination with a 'coil-split' switch on a standard 'humbucker dual coil' this techniques can also work since in the 'split' mode it is just a single coil.

The more windings a pickup has, the more output it produces. This is great for recreating an old school tone with a full range frequency and less onus on the midrange. Coil tap is generally more of a niche feature and not quite as versatile as coil split.

Gibson tend to use coil tap the most out of the big guitar manufacturers. Coil splitting circuits are usually found on guitars with two humbuckers. Check out Charvel and Schecter to get a good idea. If you enjoyed this read, check out our other Labs articles!

You must be logged in to post a comment. View Cian's Profile. Depending on the desired output of the pickup being developed, the wire can be wrapped anywhere from to times. Coil-tapping involves routing a wire about half-way through this series of windings in addition to the wire at the end of the windings. For example, if a pickup was being wrapped times, then this coil tap wire might be added at spins. This essentially creates a pickup with two different outputs when wired to switches.

Furthermore, you can achieve more tonal variations with a pickup wired like this. When it comes to coil-splitting, a similar process is involved. However, instead of routing a wire halfway through the windings, a wire is routed from each single coil, allowing you to deactivate one of the coils at your leisure.

How do you do it?