Pickup winders, why hasn't this been done yet? (Widerange humbucker based)

[thrashmetl]

So I started thinking the other night. Why can't a humbucker be designed with a coil split and a coil tap? So here's my thought.

Design it like a Wide Range Humbucker with magnetic pole pieces, but all on one side instead of split between both bobbins. Wind it like a normal Wide Range or however you like, but have the screw coil coil-tapped so that when you split the pickup into single coil mode, it activates the coil-tap so that the single coil is equal in output to humbucker mode or whatever output you want the single coil to be.

Can this be done? It's not like it was a tough concept to think up which leads me to believe that it's either difficult to execute or just not possible.

[thrashmetl]

???

[adjason]

I am not smart enough to answer your question but I do wonder why fender can't seem to make the reissue WRH sound better :)

[threadmaker]

Originally Posted by thrashmetl

So I started thinking the other night. Why can't a humbucker be designed with a coil split and a coil tap? So here's my thought.

Design it like a Wide Range Humbucker with magnetic pole pieces, but all on one side instead of split between both bobbins.
so it's a humbucker, but with no magnets on the base

Wind it like a normal Wide Range or however you like, but have the screw coil coil-tapped so that when you split the pickup into single coil mode, it activates the coil-tap so that the single coil is equal in output to humbucker mode
that's impossible you can't split or tap to get the same output as the full humbucker, though you could mimic another humbucker assuming the total output was high enough

or whatever output you want the single coil to be.
Can this be done? It's not like it was a tough concept to think up which leads me to believe that it's either difficult to execute or just not possible.

tap and split, yeah that's totally possible; but imo switching would be a nightmare for a 2 pickup guitar, kinda like the jimmy page set up but without phase/oop and taps instead

[thrashmetl]

I was wondering if it could just be done on 2 push pulls, one for each pickup, not a whole mess of switches or push pulls.

[Keyser Soze]

If you put all the magnetic pole pieces into one coil, the other coil (screw coil) would still need some form of magnetization - ie. it would need a bar magnet. Otherwise it would never be a humbucker, it would be a single coil pickup with a dummy coil in series.

A humbucker is two coils electrically and magnetically out of phase, so that external noise is cancelled while the two 'half' string movement induced signals sum. Remove one of those magnets and you lose half of the string induced signal.

[Telesavalis]

Didn't EMG do that about 25 yrs ago?

[AJBaker]

When you say humbucker output matching the split single coil output, do you mean that the humbucker runs on two tapped coils?
So the humbucker would be two tapped single coils, and when split, you use an untapped single coil?
Could be interesting!

[thrashmetl]

Originally Posted by AJBaker

When you say humbucker output matching the split single coil output, do you mean that the humbucker runs on two tapped coils?
So the humbucker would be two tapped single coils, and when split, you use an untapped single coil?
Could be interesting!

Almost, there's only really a need for one of the coils to be tapped though.

[garrett]

It doesn't work that way. First, a WRHB has 12 magnetic poles. Only half are exposed/adjustable. If there are no magnets for the second coil, you're basically making a single coil with a dummy coil for noise cancellation. Second, tapping or splitting a pickup reduces inductance and resistance. This will always result in a weaker, brighter tone.

[fezz parka]

It's easy to do with a modern WRHB.