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Author Topic:  Humbucker dual coil wiring: Series versus Parallel
ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 8:27 am    
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Humbuckers versus single coil pups seems to be a frequent discussion on the forum.

If your humbucker has four wires, you can wire it up two different ways.

Series seems to be the standard way.
It gives a fuller sound, more growl, etc etc.

Parallel may give you a little less output but with more highs, possibly approaching more of that single coil area.

Has anyone ever experimented with and compared the two different wiring methods?

What are your experiences and thoughts?
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Darrell Birtcher

 

Post  Posted 8 May 2017 9:41 am    
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I actually built a box that switched the E9 neck's p'up between series and parallel, and also gave me some other single coil options. Your description of the differences between series and parallel are very accurate. Some of the single coil options sounded a bit more "lap steel-ish" and were very interesting.

I think it's worthwhile to do a test on any pickup/guitar combination to see what works best for your ears, amp, etc. You can easily jumper the pickup with alligator clips to see what you like before soldering it in place, assuming you have a four wire humbucker that will accomodate the various options.

Most steelers have one tone that they use consistently, unlike guitar players that are constantly changing their pickup selector, amp channels, pedal settings, etc, for a variety of tones. Nothing wrong with either approach but I personally enjoy the chance to tailor the sound to the song. The box gave me everything from Hughey tones, to thinner old ShoBud tones, to twangy lap steel tones.

Stephen Abruzzo

 

From:
Philly, PA
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 9:45 am    
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IIRC, the series-parallel issue is when you are combining single coil pups and essentially turning the single coils into a humbucker. The "standard" way was parallel and then at some point, the "series" combo was developed and that was "full-bodied" in terms of sound. Tom Pettingill did this type of parallel-series wiring on 2 of my steels that I had single coils in.

As to humbuckers, IIRC, when connected to each other, you can connect one of 3 ways...outer coils to each other...inner coils to each other...or total connection. Again, Tom Pettingill did that for me on a steel where I had 2 humbuckers.

Hope this helps.
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Mike Scaggs


From:
Nashville, TN
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 12:08 pm    
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Maybe this will be useful


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ajm

 

From:
Los Angeles
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 1:55 pm    
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Mike Scaggs: Thanks for the diagram.
I seem to recall seeing it in another topic the past few days.

I have a couple of questions, though.

1) I might be missing something, but I think that your diagram is a coil tap.
One mode is single coil, and in that mode is not noise cancelling.
What I was talking about is connecting the coils in either parallel or series, and having noise cancelling in either.
Did I miss something in yours?

2) Your DPDT switch is labeled on-on-on.
In the center position there will be no connection, so you'll get no sound out of the guitar.
Correct?
Or should that switch be a on-none-on (two positions)?
That would always give you sound from one neck, depending on its position.

Thanks in advance.
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Mike Scaggs


From:
Nashville, TN
Post  Posted 8 May 2017 4:23 pm     .
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My little diagram is simply the way I wire a coil tap 710 from either single coil or humbucking. The single coil sounds kinda like a lap steel where the double is the sound we are know in modern steels.

The switch should say DPST

Cheers
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I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you

Zum double Hybrid 8x9, 64 Twin (JBLs), p2pAmps Bad-Dawg, p2pAmps Tremendous Reverb, Visit my website www.p2pamps.com
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Bruce Derr

 

From:
Lee, New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 9 May 2017 12:33 pm    
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I have 4-wire L-705 reissue pickups in my Carter S-10 and my GFI Ultra S-10. I have each one wired with a series/parallel switch and a single-coil switch.

On both guitars the parallel connection sounds virtually identical to the single-coil connection, but the parallel connection doesn't hum because it's still a humbucking connection.

I use the series/parallel switch a lot and find it very useful. On the other hand I never use the single coil switch and I wouldn't bother installing one should I ever put an L-705 in another guitar.

I made a wiring diagram when I wired my Carter. Here's a link to a thread in which I posted it. Scroll down; it's near the bottom.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=275792&sid=c7454ddef37a02cd3287f4e965ea2dec
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