Metropoulos Forum

Just wondering what is everyones preference?

Has anyone tried both, whats your opinion?

And last, does anyone know if putting the coils in parallel does that change the resonance peak of the pickup?

Parallel coils. Simply because I dont like excessive hum when using gain, and I never really thought coil tapping a humbucker really sounded like an actual single coil pickup.
Parallel coils dont sound too much like a single coil either, but its a pretty cool tone, and it doesnt hum.

I would think putting the coils in parallel raises the resonant peak, but I dont have any research to support that... its just my "ear-dyno".

I have 2 coil taps in my Les Paul and (to my ears after dialing it in) it does a a pretty good Tele impression on the neck and the bridge doesn't really sound like anything else. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty nice sound, but it's not something similar you'd find in something else. It's thicker than any Fender guitar I've heard I think because a Les Paul is built so differently. I'm using Bare Knuckle Black Dogs.

fillmore nyc wrote:Parallel coils. Simply because I dont like excessive hum when using gain, and I never really thought coil tapping a humbucker really sounded like an actual single coil pickup.
Parallel coils dont sound too much like a single coil either, but its a pretty cool tone, and it doesnt hum.

I would think putting the coils in parallel raises the resonant peak, but I dont have any research to support that... its just my "ear-dyno".

Hmm, I vary a little on this. Depends on the pickup, and pots quite a lot. I found a lot of guitars/pickups sounded a bit naff tapped, but my thin bodied all mahogany LP clone with the neck tapped, sounds more like a strat than my strat does. Just without the trem squashiness to the notes.
I've never been much keen on parallel tones though, I have to say.

The hum never bothered me, as I always tended to use coil tapping to clean up. Mine for instance had the bridge humbucked and flat out, neck vol was tapped and set to approx 3 or 4, and I switch between both for crunch, and neck for funky cleans.

At the end of the day, it's not difficult to try both (unless you're wiring certain hollow bodies!!!!! )

demonufo wrote:I've never been much keen on parallel tones though, I have to say.

Me either, or coil tapping a humbucker, for that matter. Its just for the sake of this discussion. I mean, either tone is pretty cool, but its not really my cup of tea. I used to build guitars with more switches than an F-16 cockpit .

For the last number of years, I've gotten my set-ups as simple as possible... one volume, one tone and a switch, thats it. If the guitar has humbuckers, then thats what I want it to sound like, and same goes for actual single coils.
To my ear, trying to get the best of all worlds by altering a humbucker in some way never really makes it 100%.

demonufo wrote:At the end of the day, it's not difficult to try both (unless you're wiring certain hollow bodies!!!!! )

You aint kidding!!!

There is a lot more to getting a Strat type tone then splitting the humbuckers. But I still think a parallel humbucker is a usable option. I think a split humbucker is mostly useless. Even if the split didn't have the hum problem I think it is useless just too thin, bright and weak. A parallel is brighter than series, and just slightly less powerful.

fillmore nyc wrote: I used to build guitars with more switches than an F-16 cockpit .

Heh, sounds like the disastrous build I tried with a Kent Armstrong (well, Rainbow actually) Motherbucker.
Waste of money that thing was. I guess the metallic plum finish and mirrored scratchplate only added to the bad taste effect.

I guess I should also add that the pickups I did have success with coil tapping in my all-mahogany beast were pearly gates.
FWIW, I never ever use the bridge tapped, only the neck.