Coil splittable humbuckers

phlebas

I've been interested in the idea of coil splitting humbuckers for a while but i've never really been sure wether it was anything beyond a gimmick. I'm under the assumption that the type of humbucker you split is going to greatly effect the single coil tone you get, the problem being that the output of most split humbuckers seems to be below that of your average single coil, resulting in a weak and far from brilliant single coil imitation.

I obviously realise you're hardly going to get singing strat tones from say the big tree-like lump of mahogany that is your average Les Paul, but I can't help thinking it'd be an interesting change of sound. Does anyone have any idea what particular humbuckers suit coil tapping over others (beyond the obvious need for the 4 wired variety), I haven't found much on the topic and it's not really the kind of thing you can try in a store, (unless the staff are particularily inept and you're stealthy with a soldering iron).

About the only pickup i've found specificly aimed at the purpose are Rio Grande "tallboys" (http://www.riograndepickups.com), but you only seem to be able to get them from the UK distributor, and the markup on them from the US price is ridiculous, which is unfortunate, because I must say any pickup called the "fat bastard" is beyond tempting .

DamienH

Warmoth sell those rio-grande pickups and from the sound bites i've heard they sound brilliant. The prices aren't too bad either

feylya

A lot of Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio pickups are splittable. What sort of hummer sound are you looking for?

phlebas

Wow thanks DamienH, you're right the prices do look good on there, and I can't imagine the shipping on a pickup sized parcel being to horrific.

As to what sort of hummer sound, it's not really the hummer sound i'm thinking of, as they're easier to find and have a go with, and I realise any SD/DiMarzio with the neccesary 4 wires are coil splittable, it's just i'm fairly sure the quality of the pickup when it's split into effectively a single coil varies greatly since they aren't designed with this in purpose tone wise. A lot of people seem to find many humbuckers anaemic when split, as the output of half the humbucker is less than your average single coil. Those Rio Grandes had the only humbucker i've seen specificly designed to create a genuine single coil tone when split.

feylya

You should look into EMG's. The 89 is designed to sound like an active single coil while split.

phlebas

Thanks for that, you're right, the EMG 89 is exactly the idea I was looking for, it's just a pity there's no Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio type passive to compare it to as i'm most familiar with passives. It struck me as odd that they don't even reccomend a particular pickup from their selection as well balanced for splitting, let alone produce one for that purpose.

Doctor J

The Seymour Duncan JB is also well worth checking out.