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thebird55
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« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2012, 04:34:03 PM » |
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Ahem....(breaking out my trusty nit-picker).....
I want to make sure you are clear on the definition of coil tap. It is very commonly mistaken for coil split (or the other way around), even among "experts".
From Wikipedia:
Coil splits are often wrongly referred to as a "coil tap". Coil taps are more commonly found on single coil pickups, and involve an extra hook-up wire being included during the manufacture of the pickup so the guitarist can choose to have all the windings of the pickup included in the circuit, for a fatter, higher output sound; or some of the windings in use and some "tapped off" for a brighter, lower output, cleaner sound.
More from Wikipedia:
A coil tap is a wiring feature found on some electrical transformers, inductors and coil pickups, all of which are sets of wire coils. The coil tap(s) are points in a wire coil where a conductive patch has been exposed (usually on a loop of wire that extends out of the main coil body).
When the coil taps are disconnected, the coil operates as normal (see transformer). When a coil tap is connected to one end of the coil (or the end disconnected and reconnected to the tap), the section of coil between the tap and its connected end is bypassed - effectively reducing the number of turns in the coil.
This wiring technique is said to have been pioneered by Schecter.
Musical Instruments
Single coil magnetic pickups found in electric guitars can be coil tapped to reduce the number of windings around the magnet. A tapped single coil pickup typically contains three wires: a ground, an output, and a tapped output - with the two outputs generally wired to a switch on the guitar. The guitarist can then choose between the loud, punchy, midrange-heavy sound of the entire coil, or 'tap' into the inner coil for a quieter, yet bright vintage tone with a more clear and detailed high end.
Many guitarists mistakenly refer to humbucker coil splits as a coil taps, however, this is incorrect: a coil split is a humbucker with one coil removed from the wiring, leaving a single coil. Because of the ubiquity of this error, and the rareness of coil taps in general, it is difficult to find tappable single coil pickups. However, pickup manufacturer Seymour Duncan offers tapped versions of many of their Telecaster and Stratocaster pickups on their website for a little extra money.
A Few Tapped Coil Pickup Manufacturers:
Seymour Duncan - Coil tapped models denoted by T following name, for example, the SSL-7 "Quarter Pound" pickup with a coil tap option would be listed as SSL-7T "Quarter Pound" pickup.
Häussel Pickups - Häussel makes a pickup based on Schecter's F500T pickup, sold at MK-Guitar.com's shop.
Zhangbucker Pickups - Offers tapped versions of their pickups for an additional 15 dollars.
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