Coil tapping??

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RaceU4her
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Coil tapping??

Post by RaceU4her »

im playing my LTD that has coil taps and im really digging whats happening when i hit the tap i guess is the term, is this changing the humbucker into a single coil or what is the deal??

ElDirtySanchez
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by ElDirtySanchez »

A coil split will deactivate one of the coils, turning it into a single coil. A coil tap reduces the output of the pickup making it more vintage sounding but not necessarily like a single coil.
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I'MAPUNKROCKERDAMNIT
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by I'MAPUNKROCKERDAMNIT »

"Tapping a coil means taking the signal from somewhere within the coil of wire rather than from the end of it, thus reducing pickup output"
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RaceU4her
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by RaceU4her »

ElDirtySanchez wrote: Fri Jun 13, 2025 6:43 pm A coil split will deactivate one of the coils, turning it into a single coil. A coil tap reduces the output of the pickup making it more vintage sounding but not necessarily like a single coil.

the description says coil splitting reading it now, but it does sound kind of how you described, like kind of a single/humbucker mix.

ElDirtySanchez
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by ElDirtySanchez »

I think a lot of manufacturers also use those terms interchangeably.
With the coil tap, since it is still using both coils, it doesn't introduce noise like a coil split would do.
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JSutter
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by JSutter »

One of the pickup's coils is being grounded out killing its output.

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Guitarbilly
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by Guitarbilly »

I'd also recommend trying series/parallel wiring. You can use the same switch, just need to change the wiring. Series is standard humbucker. Parallel puts the 2 coils in parallel similar to position 2 and 4 in a strat. It's a great clean tone.

heath
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Re: Coil tapping??

Post by heath »

I love series/parallel but can it cause a "popping" sound when switching. My current favorite is the PRS "half tap", where they put a resistor between the ground and the two joined wires. You get less volume loss and not as much hum.

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