Leave YOUR thoughts on single coils and coil splitting/tapping below!

You know, when referring to a performance, I don't ever recall anyone commenting on someone's guitar lacking in tone, but rather I hear a lot of commenting about someone's playing if it is good. I personally think that it only makes a significant difference in the studio when recording. People notice skilled playing far more than small tone differences (in general).

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

This is a great point Daniel! Totally agree with you.

@Tiger1016.

Жыл бұрын

Agree for the most part but there are limitations. Musicians are interactive with their instrument and you can give the same musician many different guitars and they'll still sound very much like themselves. However, there are certain options that will be more natural and free flowing, which impacts the performance. Yeah, you can still play funk on a Les Paul, but it will leave you trying a lot harder and not focusing as much on naturally vibing like you might if you had a strat or tele. Or playing metal on a tele is possible, but I bet you would be more into the performance if you had a more properly equipped humbucker guitar. And the fit of the amp can be a big factor between genres. But beyond these bigger picture, different tools for different jobs, you really do get to the law of diminishing returns and it reaply comes down to the performance, from the listeners perspective.

@Tsudkyk

8 ай бұрын

I agree, if the player needs tonal diversity live a split coil is a great way to get it without bringing another instrument. Adding a boost pedal and shaping the tone a little can help make a convincing single coil sound live… but then again, who’s going to even notice?

@jr4233

4 ай бұрын

Wrong

@DavidGarcia-wn6ie

4 ай бұрын

La forma de tocar influye , pero en concepto de banda estás muy confundido , lo más importante es el sonido , que tu equipo , guitarra, efectos, amplificadores suenen y digas wow… da igual que lo que toques sea fácil o difícil lo importante es la canción , y que todos los miembros suenen compactos y con buen sonido . Y hacerlo bien , pero no necesariamente tocar maravillosamente bien para un tema que no requiere eso . Amigo . Después de mil conciertos lo que se suele decir es que bien suena ,,. Por supuesto que hay que tocar bien , pero ya te digo yo que la obsesión de cualquier músico es conseguir su sonido

THIS is the video ❤comparison i have been looking for!!

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

You're very welcome! Glad to have helped.

Great video. Thorough and articulate. Thank You.

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

Many thanks for your kind words.

Thanks for the video, this confirmed to me that there's really no substitute for a true single coil if the bright chime is desired, at least for the player. That has to be weighed against the versatility offered by splits/taps. Every pickup type has its place it seems

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

I definitely agree that every pickup and combination has its place. Thanks for watching!!

@michael_caz_nyc

Жыл бұрын

Nothing like a true single-coil neck pickup = hypnotizing tone's.

I love your explanation, Zack. I've always wondered if there was a difference between split vs tap vs true single coil. And I, too, have a PRS 24-08 (mine is an SE version) which, as you say, is very convincing. And when you're playing live or even in the studio, nobody is really going to know or even care. Thank you again, Zack.

@ZackSeifMusic

3 ай бұрын

You're very welcome!! Thanks for checking out the channel.

The Tele is a "special case" as the bridge is a lap steel pickup. 75 years of redesign has peeled a bit of that nature off. The original Broadcaster bridge was around a 9.2-9.4K winding, way hot compared to most aftermarket "vintage" winds. PRS splits can have resistors between the grounded coil (almost always the inner coils) at ground, typically 1.1K at the neck and 2.2K at the bridge. A higher resistance results in a stronger signal.

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

This is great information! Thanks for sharing with all of us.

@CloudfeatherRusticWorks

6 ай бұрын

Doing this on a custom build. But with a 1K and 2K resistor, as the pickups are a bit hotter. We'll see how it goes

@dave7922

6 күн бұрын

@@CloudfeatherRusticWorkswhat were the results?

Wow, what a great job you did here. From a cogent explanation, to picking a single riff to make comparison easy, and picking a riff that really highlighted the differences.

@ZackSeifMusic

9 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!!

I only HH guitar with coil tap switch. Thanks for your comparing. And I knew I need a new one Telecaster now 🤣

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

Hard to beat a telecaster!!

I have that exact same prs. Love the tones I can get out of it

Full disclosure: I'm a PRS fanboy. The PRS sounded almost identical to the real single-coil. I have a Core SinglCut 594 and it has taps in the knob pull switches (to my knowledge). It's hard to get a straight answer because even professional reviewers, stores and even manufacturer demos use "Split" and "Tap" interchangeably. I actually had a guy at Guitar Center argue with me when I asked which a particular guitar had. He said there was no difference and . . . no sale, have a nice day! Rule#1 of Sales, never correct the customer unless it's something that could come back to disappoint them. I probably should call PRS and get a build sheet from my guitar. Either way, I'm keeping it, it has a very usable neck single tone. Not 100% Stratocaster like I'd want, but I have a Stratocaster if I really want authentic.

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

It sounds really great in single coil mode especially live.

@Case_

7 ай бұрын

The Core SingleCut 594 uses the standard PRS coil split wiring, which is what is usually referred to as partial coil split. It is close to the standard humbucker coil split, except when you activate the coil split, one of the coils is not shorted out (sent to ground) completely as it would be with regular coil split, but instead there is a resistor so that part of the signal from that coil is still "mixed in". This makes the coil split sound a bit "fuller" compared to a traditional coil split (which can often sound a bit thin compared even to real single coil), and also (to an extent) solves the issue of the volume drop in split coil mode, while also preserving some of the humbucking capability of the pickup. PRS use a 1.1k resistor for the neck pickup, while the bridge pickup uses a 2.2k one. (The resistor values in partial split can be experimented with for different results and a capacitor might be included to further tweak the sound, but this is what PRS use.) And as for "coil split" vs "coil tap", it's almost always meant as "coil split". Actual coil taps are very rare (due to the fact the pickup has to be designed specifically with a coil tap in mind, and almost none of the pickups are).

I love my Suhr Strat with Lollar Dirty Blonde's ( got the extra Bite in the Bridge ) = less ice-picky too.

Nice video and good comparisons. What is the foamy thing around your headstocks for? Im trying out coil tapping (I mean splitting) on Epiphone Les Paul - and dropping the volume pot resistance to 250K with the same switch which Im hoping will do the trick with volume when in split coil mode.

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Sam! Those are GruvGear fret wraps. I used to use them for killing extraneous noise past the nut that is audible while recording.

Amazing content !

@ZackSeifMusic

9 ай бұрын

Thank you so much!!!

I think the ultimate pickup combo is probably HSH with coil splitting for the Humbuckers. Also, i think it would be cool to have the 5 way switch, along with an option to have the neck and bridge pickups on together, full humbucker and split. Im pretty sure that would give you every single tone you'd need. Personally, i play a strat with a hot rail in the bridge position and two single coils for neck and middle and its awesome. My strat also has a pull up option on my bridge pickup tone knob, that way i can have all 3 pickups on, or just the neck and bridge pickup together. So that's like 7 pickup options/combos. Im considering splitting my hot rail eventually, which would essentially give me 10 pickup options/combos.

Very good review

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks for watching!

I love the true single coil and the PRS coil splitting ! Not a huge fan of regular coil splitting though

@ZackSeifMusic

3 ай бұрын

Every company handles splits and taps differently for sure!!

I’d say neither after recently discovering the hassle yet beauty of humbuckers with adjustable poles for each coil because you can get closer to equal volume per string that way without eq, compression, or overall pickup height

@ZackSeifMusic

10 ай бұрын

Never thought about this!

I’ve been searching for a side by side comparison of out of phase (jimmy page style vs Peter green style). One is electrically out of phase, one is magnetically out of phase. You should try it out, it would be interesting/ cool

@ZackSeifMusic

5 ай бұрын

That's a great idea!

Love the Tele

@ZackSeifMusic

3 жыл бұрын

Great guitar for sure!!

Great review - there is a difference but the real difference is how you play the guitar and make music with it :)

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

Definitely agree!!

Great info! Are there any other guitar/brand that has the same feature like the prs? Where theres switch from humbucker to full single coil?

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

Yes there are a few. It comes down to the pickup manufacturer making a 4 wire pickup vs 2 so that the coils can be properly split. Musicman and LsL do this on most guitars, just have to look into the guitar you want and make sure it says Coil Split and not Coil Tap. They are different!

@Leone2399

Жыл бұрын

Try to search for humbucker in series and parelle, thats the connection that prs use

Thank you for the education, SMH 😎👍🏽 . I'm looking for my first guitar . I'm trying to get the best of both worlds . That PRS was sweet . I can't afford that yet, so I was thinking about the Epiphone muse or maybe Epiphone es 335 . Please I value your opinion . 😎👍🏽

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

It really depends on what sound you're going for. A 335 is a great guitar. I don't know much about the Muse model so I can't comment on that.

@harbonip

Жыл бұрын

@@ZackSeifMusic thanks

Awesome guitars!

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!!

the PRS is amazing. i want one

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

It's a great guitar. Very versatile. Just be aware the 2019-today models are Nitro finished and not poly.

@darkestfugue

Жыл бұрын

@@ZackSeifMusic im eyeing one up on thomann, it has the same switching as yours, which i need, but i may buy a ce instead which is a hell of a lot cheaper and still has the coil splits, is there much of a difference in sound, cant be too much since they have the same pickups, the nitro finish i can deal with

What I got from this is if you want to sound like a telecaster, buy a telecaster. Lol. But a live workhorse with tons a variations, the prs seems to get close and do a bit of everything well :)

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

My Musicman Valentine gets SUPER close as well! Definitely a case of: if you want a tele, buy a tele, but if you only need it sometimes, you can get by with other stuff. Or buy 2 guitars 😁

@LottimusMaximus

Жыл бұрын

@@ZackSeifMusic Those are sweet. I found a used one in Seattle for a crazy deal and I regret not getting it. Chasing the sound is so addictive, but oh so satisfying when you hit a chord and it rings out with beautiful goodness :)

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

@@LottimusMaximus it’s currently the loudest guitar I own in terms of acoustic volume. It’s very light and resonant. Great guitars for sure!

@fabieneldridge3414

8 ай бұрын

That’s right !

I really want a majesty now!!!!

@ZackSeifMusic

2 жыл бұрын

I’ve had a Majesty in my arsenal since 2017 and will always have one with me!

Nothing sounds like the tele but the PRS is a winner . It’s close enough. PRS did a Great job ! 👍🇺🇸

@ZackSeifMusic

8 ай бұрын

Agreed!!

Nice

@ZackSeifMusic

10 ай бұрын

Thanks!!

Tried the PRS for a covers band twice and the coil tap is significantly quieter.

@ZackSeifMusic

Жыл бұрын

Adding a compressor helps for sure! I don't notice a difference as I always split for cleans so my clean tone is louder to compensate.

I think you should have used guitar with same scale length, as long scale makes the guitar brighter than the short...

@ZackSeifMusic

4 ай бұрын

Unfortunately these guitars aren't all made with the same scale, woods, pickups etc. but this is a Real World demo where all factors can be considered.

I really wanted to hear the comparison from humbucker to split, not just split

@ZackSeifMusic

5 ай бұрын

I have a full separate review for each guitar in this video on my channel for you to hear those differences!

Most single coils have six magnets (well, six string guitars singles, anyway), and most humbuckers have one ;) It's best to not overthink this and/or try to describe it in other words, because single coils are exactly what it says on the tin - they have a single *coil* wound around multiple magnetic pole pieces. Humbuckers, on the other hand, have *two* coils, wrapped around multiple non-magnetic (as in on their own). The humbucker pole pieces are then made magnetic by a single large bar magnet inserted underneath. This difference also means that when it comes to magnetic polarity, single coil pickups have (for example) north magnetic pole on the top (string side) and south magnetic pole on the bottom (inside the guitar), whereas with humbuckers, one row of pole pieces (for one of the coils) has north magnetic polarity, while the other row has south magnetic polarity. This all affects the difference in tone both in full humbucker mode or when coil split. (You probably know all this, I'm just posting it for accuracy's sake, because the unfortunate mention of the number of "magnets" triggers me ;) )

An EQ pedal can bring things closer to the desired sound.

@ZackSeifMusic

8 ай бұрын

EQ is a very underrated tool for sure.

I thought the PRS dominated. Just the most alive sounding out of the bunch.

@ZackSeifMusic

4 ай бұрын

It's a killer guitar!

Number of frets is very important, you showed singles with 22 and split coil with 24 fret guitars. This changes the pickup placement, and alters the tone drastically, not to say that there isn't a difference between split and true single coil pickups, I personally like both equally but hate humbuckers (and I play metal!)

@Joshua-by4dc

Жыл бұрын

Just for curiosity, why do you hate humbuckers?

@nickelcreed4421

Жыл бұрын

@@Joshua-by4dc Lack of clarity and pick response compared to single or split. Even when I play Van Halen songs I will use single coil.

@precobaixoaz3119

Жыл бұрын

Interesting. How do you deal with the "hum" of the single coils when you play metal?

@nickelcreed4421

Жыл бұрын

@@precobaixoaz3119 It's funny how opinions can change in such a short amount of time, I learnt to like humbuckers after messing around with my tone (Kemper). When playing gigs the feeback is a lot, even with humbuckers I have to control it by using my hands and good muting technique, as noise gates set too strong kill the sound of a good lead guitar imo.

@Tiger1016.

Жыл бұрын

​@Nickel Creed You might want to check out the Fishman Fluence Greg Koch P90s. They are noiseless yet still have all of the attack and clarity that makes single coils so great. Also, the hotter voice 2 goes toe to toe with the girth and push of humbuckers (talking medium output though). And then the other voices, vintage output P90 and true single coil, are awesome for the added versatility. The Reverend Jetstream and Charger are some worthy options for loading these into and so is the older PRS soapbar options.

The PRS was impressive and I am not a fan of PRS, I need their Humbucker now. Cutlass was a dud.

4:03 5:11

I would argue best of both worlds is a series/parallel Humbucker not a humbucker/ split.

Imma steal the Charmander. K, thx.

@ZackSeifMusic

3 жыл бұрын

But he protects the tone😬

Moral of the story, buy a Tele and just play the damned thing. 😄

@ZackSeifMusic

23 күн бұрын

A good Tele is all ya need unless it's downtuned metal. Super versatile and sound amazing.