Ummm... the stupid man's version?

[The Ace]

I think I could use some lessons in how to "talk tech." You see I've become increasingly interested with the technical aspects of the instrument and amp, electric and mechanical.

One thin I'd really like to do is figure out how to coil tap a humbucker, to get the single coil type sound.

I've done some searching on the forums (Yes I did my research....) and I just can't understand a word you guys say (Which is making me kind of sad, I'm a straight "A" student a.k.a. dork) . I mean I could talk music theory for hours, or technique issues, but none of the actual mechanical and electric issues.

So could use guys give me kind of a definition list of key terms and words you use hear on this forum, cuz as of now, you might as well be speaking German (which some of you do).

Thanx a lot!

[pstring]

Nep- gork yit sqx fin mattz
Yongo- nif klattu jic sooto fon diinler
Twinser- voc fin yit nep orfical deng rotso
Forgal- yada smac dab doodle whinsey le fodto
Yocko- zwin toddle sig fon stucker kon nep mattz

That should get you up to speed, any other questions, or does that about cover everything?............BTW, coil tap, no problem, what brand/manufacturer pick-up?................

[Lordathestrings]

This post (http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=50962&postcount=5) covered some of what you're looking for.

Now, about coil tapping:

If you connect a wire to one of the windings in a coil, that new connection is called a tap. If this tap is connected to one end of the coil, the windings between the tap and that end terminal are shorted out, effectively reducing the number of turns in the coil. If this was done to a single-coil pickup, the result would likely be a much thinner sound.

In a tapped humbucker, the tap connection is made between the two coils. Then, if the tap is connected to one of the other coil terminals, that entire coil is shorted out, leaving only one coil working. So a humbucker can be turned into a single-coil pickup at the flick of a switch.

A variation on this technique is to make both ends of both coils available. This is what is meant by a four-wire pickup. With all of the wires out where you can decide how to connect them, you can set up a simple coil-tap system, or you can use a switch to select either series or parallel connection of the coils.

A series connection means that the current flows through one coil, and then the other one (like a series of events). In a parallel circuit, part of the current flows through each coil at the same time (parallel paths).

I use this system on my guitars because the series connection gives the full humbucker sound and the parallel connection gives a (almost) single-coil sound. I prefer using a parallel-connected humbucker instead of coil-tapping because both coils are still in the circuit, so I still get the noise cancelling effect that humbuckers were invented for. DiMarzio (http://www.dimarzio.com/) has some wiring diagrams you can study to see how all this goes together.

[The Ace]

Nep- gork yit sqx fin mattz
Yongo- nif klattu jic sooto fon diinler
Twinser- voc fin yit nep orfical deng rotso
Forgal- yada smac dab doodle whinsey le fodto
Yocko- zwin toddle sig fon stucker kon nep mattz

That should get you up to speed, any other questions, or does that about cover everything?............BTW, coil tap, no problem, what brand/manufacturer pick-up?................

Maybe I should've made myself clearer, I don't actually speak German.(where's the sarcasm button when you need it?) It does look pretty cool though, like something I'd write on an essay when I don't got nething left.

I'm thinking of getting this (http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-SA160QM-i25461.music) guitar, but I may change the pickup to an evolution if I do, I just wanna know before hand that I'm going to be able to coil tap it, when/if I get it.

BTW thanks LATS, that's a real help.

[Lordathestrings]

.... I'm thinking of getting this (http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-SA160QM-i25461.music) guitar, but I may change the pickup to an evolution if I do, I just wanna know before hand that I'm going to be able to coil tap it, when/if I get it...Nice axe! :)

According to the specs on the DiMarzio website, the Evolution DP159 is 4-wire, so you're good to go for either coil-tap or Series/Parallel wiring.

[Lordathestrings]

...(where's the sarcasm button when you need it?) ... It's called ;rolleyes; :rolleyes:

[The Ace]

I actually like iamthe_eggman's better:

[/sarcasm]

roll eyes seems to me like he's looking at something on the ceiling,
"Hmmm... I wonder if I could eat that..."

[pstring]

Norg foogu cha zakloox :rolleyes:

Dimarzio used to, and I hope they still do, include a nice instruction sheet with their pu's titled, Dimarzio 4-Conductor Pickup Instructions, that has all the nifty mods, you could go either way, parallel or coil tap like LATS said, and their are ways to go with a coil tap that are less noisy, not that the regular coil tap is excessively noisy, barely noticeable under normal conditions, which ever you decide, you will probably want to get a push/pull pot to replace your tone or volume pot with, because you will need some type of switch to change mode with, unless the thought of drilling a hole and installing an ugly switch on that pretty new axe appeals to you, Well as we say down here in tech talk land, Klatuu niktoe, veratu, ( Thats an old joke all the techies love ).................... :rolleyes:

[Lordathestrings]

Hahahaha! Dass machin kontrol ist nicht fur gerfingerpoken rubbernekkin sightseeners, mit der hamfissted inkompetensse. Mein preferrt soluzion ist treaten das dumkopfen lik das fenceposten und smakken der top pardt briskly mit der larch mallett!

Verrry satissfyink, yess?

:D

[pstring]

Ah, German with a Minnesota accent!

[The Ace]

Hahahaha! Dass machin kontrol ist nicht fur gerfingerpoken rubbernekkin sightseeners, mit der hamfissted inkompetensse. Mein preferrt soluzion ist treaten das dumkopfen lik das fenceposten und smakken der top pardt briskly mit der larch mallett!

Verrry satissfyink, yess?

:D

You Canadians are crafty.