Guitar Gear Forum

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??

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.