10. Dual Sound

To summarize, you can wire the coils of a humbucker in two ways: Serially for the full power sound and parallel for the more transparent, cleaner one. And to reiterate, wiring them in parallel does not cause them to become out of phase. The humbuckers will work as previously stated, cancelling out interference, but will sound like two single coils.

By using a mini-switch (2-pole switch, DPDT for example DiMarzio EP1106) or a push-pull potentiometer (for example DiMarzio EP1200PP or EP2001PP) both wiring principles can be used and the tonal flexibility of the guitar is greatly increased.

The wiring looks like this:

For the circuit to work, be sure to wire the jumper connection (bridge) between the poles. The hot output is soldered to the point where the pickup's hot cable was originally connected. The earth outlet is connected to a ground.

To rotate the phase you need to swap the hot output and the ground connection. The ground cable of the pickup remains grounded in both variants.

Dual-Sound with a single-coil switch

To create this circuit you just need to replace one switch with a 2-pin on-on-on switch (DPDT on/on/on, for example DiMarzio EP1108). The wiring is the same as in the diagram above. But now the two outer switch positions provide the parallel or serial circuit. In the middle position you'll get a single coil sound!

Phase-switch

A phase switch can only be done on guitars with at least two pickups. The 'out-of-phase' effect only works if both pickups are active at the same time and if the volume of both sound generators is at around the same level. To make 'out-of-phase' switchable all you need to do is connect one of the two pickups to a 2-pole switch (DPDT, the same as with dual-sound, ex: EP1106 or Push-Pull Poti EP1200PP or EP1201PP). Which of the two pickups you use makes no difference for the sound. So decide for yourself!

If you want to connect the pickup to a dual switch and a phase switch at the same time, start wiring the dual switch as described and then connect it to the phase switch as shown in the following diagram:

The output marked 'hot' is connected to the point where the original pickup was connected. The ground labeled pole is connected to ground (usually the back of a pot). The same applies to the grounding cable of the pickup (4-core version).

Single Coil Switch (Coil-Splitting, Coil-Tapping)

Single coils go with guitar music like butter on toast (or something like that). And as mentioned, you don't need to forgo the crisp and open sound of a single coil on a 'humbucker guitar' if you don't want to.

To set up the coil splitting function on its own mini-switch you'll need a 2-pole switch (DPDT, on/off/on) or a simple single pole switch (double throw, SPDT). The schematic below shows the wiring of a 2-pole DPDT switch.

The ground cable of the pickup must be connected to ground on the switch. Since only one side of the switch is used it is possible to use the other side to turn make your second humbucker sound like a single could. The wiring for that looks like this:

If you want to combine a phase switcher with a coil split switch then use the following wiring set-up:

What's interesting with this wiring is that the phase switch takes over two functions at once. When both pickups are active it does its normal job of phase switching. However, if only one connected pickup powered and at the same time the coil split function is active, then the phase switch determines which of the two coils of the humbucker is switched off. The change in the sound is very subtle but hey! It's another option.

Some guitars are listed as having active pickups. Aren't all pickups active?

No they aren't. Most of them are actually passive. With an active pickup there is a built-in preamplifier installed in the guitar that ensures noise-free operation and a low-impedance signal which won't diminish regardless of the length of the signal path / cable length.

The pickups on my vintage guitar say ''airbucker'' - is that a good thing?

Depends on what you want really, these will be DiMarzio pickups with a weaker magnetic field, resulting in lower output but a more sustained and dynamic sound.

What do I need an F-spaced pickup for?

F-spaced pickups were created specifically for use with guitars that have Floyd Rose tremolo systems installed. The distance between the two poles is a bit more ample and, as with standard pickups with standard systems, this guarantees the best detection of the individual strings. Depending on the manufacturer, this design is also called a trembucker.

What is special about a MIDI-pickup?

A MIDI-pickup is needed in order to transfer analog data, such as that received from strumming a guitar, to an interface which then converts the information to MIDI data. With MIDI data a synthesizer can play any imaginable sound, this means that there is the possibility to reproduce guitar sounds on a keyboard, for example.

What are RWRP pickups used for?

Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity pickups are single coil pickups designed specifically for use in the middle position of guitars with a typical 3 single-coil set-up. The coils of RWRP pickups are, as you may imagine, wrapped in reverse and the magnet's poles are reversed in comparison to the standard pickups. This is so that they can be connected with both the bridge and neck pickups to give that typical humbucker effect.

I'm looking for a humbucker that has the same look as a standard single coil pickup - is that possible?

Yes! They even have a special name, ''stacked'' pickups. With stacked humbuckers the coils are placed one over the other, rather than side by side. This way they still have the same look as a single coil pickup.

I cannot get my tube amp to distort correctly - am I using the wrong pickups?

To give amps more power and produce better distortion you can install high distortion pickups which have an especially high output power, helping the amp along so to speak.

How can I know for sure if the pickup is switched out of phase?

Two pickups which are in phase will sound normal - full and clean. Out of phase humbuckers sound thin and nasally. The reason for this is that all the bass and mids get swallowed up in this mode.

To explain the effect better we can use an example with speakers: when a sound is simultaneously transmitted through two loudspeakers that are working "in phase", it is bold and loud. If the speakers are out of phase the membrane of one speaker moves forward while the other moves backwards. Resulting in a thin and quiet sound.

What does out of phase mean?

To create the out of phase sound two connected pickups work, in simplest terms, against one another. This causes the frequencies to cancel out, giving a thin and piercing sound.

Your Contacts