Coil cut your Pit Bull pickups.

[GlennGP]

Quote from dingobass on January 9, 2013, 18:31

Quote from GlennGP on January 9, 2013, 18:09
Newb question/observation: does this process, then, enable you to deactivate one of the coils at the flick of a switch, essentially switching between a humbucker and a single-coil pickup?

You got it in one!

So, a week or six later, my grey matter is ticking over and I'm thinking how versatile an instrument you'd get if you coil cut both humbuckers on a Tele deluxe (TL-1HA). If one were to do that, would you recommend fitting mini switches up near the three-way toggle switch, mini switches down near the volume and tone pots, or going with push-pull pots (and would you replace the tone or the volume pots)? I recognise that push-pull pots would eliminate doing any extra routing or putting extra holes in the pickguard, but I just wonder how complex the wiring would get. But mostly, would doing this create something smashing or be a nightmare?

[dingobass]

Quote from GlennGP on February 12, 2013, 07:26

Quote from dingobass on January 9, 2013, 18:31

Quote from GlennGP on January 9, 2013, 18:09
Newb question/observation: does this process, then, enable you to deactivate one of the coils at the flick of a switch, essentially switching between a humbucker and a single-coil pickup?

You got it in one!

So, a week or six later, my grey matter is ticking over and I'm thinking how versatile an instrument you'd get if you coil cut both humbuckers on a Tele deluxe (TL-1HA). If one were to do that, would you recommend fitting mini switches up near the three-way toggle switch, mini switches down near the volume and tone pots, or going with push-pull pots (and would you replace the tone or the volume pots)? I recognise that push-pull pots would eliminate doing any extra routing or putting extra holes in the pickguard, but I just wonder how complex the wiring would get. But mostly, would doing this create something smashing or be a nightmare?

I would go for push pull pots, it looks neater and is just as easy ( or difficult) to wire.
Having said that, I will post a diagram later on wiring push pull pots as coil cut.

[GlennGP]

Quote from dingobass on February 12, 2013, 08:40
I would go for push pull pots, it looks neater and is just as easy ( or difficult) to wire.
Having said that, I will post a diagram later on wiring push pull pots as coil cut.

Yeah, the more I think about that the more it makes sense. I read elsewhere that the go is to replace the tone pots for this kind of mod. I also read (and this ought to have been obvious) that you get a volume drop when you switch to single coil. Is the volume drop a serious concern, or easily compensated for?

[keloooe]

Quote from GlennGP on February 12, 2013, 09:07

Quote from dingobass on February 12, 2013, 08:40
I would go for push pull pots, it looks neater and is just as easy ( or difficult) to wire.
Having said that, I will post a diagram later on wiring push pull pots as coil cut.

Yeah, the more I think about that the more it makes sense. I read elsewhere that the go is to replace the tone pots for this kind of mod. I also read (and this ought to have been obvious) that you get a volume drop when you switch to single coil. Is the volume drop a serious concern, or easily compensated for?

I never knew there was some volume drop (if any!), because I'm yet to try it! But I would think that the drop could be very small...

[dingobass]

Quote from GlennGP on February 12, 2013, 09:07

Quote from dingobass on February 12, 2013, 08:40
I would go for push pull pots, it looks neater and is just as easy ( or difficult) to wire.
Having said that, I will post a diagram later on wiring push pull pots as coil cut.

Yeah, the more I think about that the more it makes sense. I read elsewhere that the go is to replace the tone pots for this kind of mod. I also read (and this ought to have been obvious) that you get a volume drop when you switch to single coil. Is the volume drop a serious concern, or easily compensated for?

The volume drop is easily dealt with by adding a cap/ resistor gizmo.

This way you can back your volume off with both 'buckers on and not loose any fidelity.
When you hit the coil cut you can tweak the volume up a tad to compensate.

[GlennGP]

Quote from dingobass on February 12, 2013, 17:53

Quote from GlennGP on February 12, 2013, 09:07
... Is the volume drop a serious concern, or easily compensated for?

The volume drop is easily dealt with by adding a cap/ resistor gizmo.

This way you can back your volume off with both 'buckers on and not loose any fidelity.
When you hit the coil cut you can tweak the volume up a tad to compensate.

Bingo. I've been intending to include the fidelity circuit as standard anyway, so that makes a whole lot of sense to me. Since the humbuckers on a TL-1HA get a volume and tone pot each, the wiring shouldn't be any more complicated than doing the same thing twice. I've been looking at some hellish diagrams for putting two or even three pickups through circuitry with a single volume and tone pot ... blerg!

So, if my friend decides she wants the HH Tele instead of the SS, I should be able to deliver something very versatile. Better start practicing soldering!

[GlennGP]

Thinking about it a little bit more, it would make more sense to replace the volume pots with the push-pull pots to activate the coil splitting, rather than replacing the tone pots. Since you've gotta tweak the volume up a bit to compensate for the drop in signal when you split the coils, it would be more practical to only have to deal with a single knob for the change - pull it up and give it a little twist, instead of pulling up the tone knob and then moving your hand to the volume knob to effect the volume compensation. Is there a reason for not doing it this way that I'm missing?

[dingobass]

Quote from GlennGP on February 13, 2013, 07:33
Thinking about it a little bit more, it would make more sense to replace the volume pots with the push-pull pots to activate the coil splitting, rather than replacing the tone pots. Since you've gotta tweak the volume up a bit to compensate for the drop in signal when you split the coils, it would be more practical to only have to deal with a single knob for the change - pull it up and give it a little twist, instead of pulling up the tone knob and then moving your hand to the volume knob to effect the volume compensation. Is there a reason for not doing it this way that I'm missing?

No reason at all, that would make perfect sense

[gubins]

I have a Maton JB-6 and it has this built in on the Bridge humbucker. Its a great guitar with extra frets that give you two full octaves along the neck and all within easy reach. Not made anymore. Mine is an early one and they had poor pickups at that time. Way too sharp and thin. I'm trying to find some decent pickups that will give a fatter sound.

If anyone knows of a suitable pair of pickups I'd love to know about it.

[Nickosaurus]

nice tutorial DB. Done this on a few of my guitars. It's a great thing when you get a pup that sounds amazing but you wish it could be tapped.