Seymour Duncan single-coil sized 'buckers

Such as the lil' 59, the SB Jr., the lil' Screamin' Demon, and the Duckbucker.

1. Is the installation process any different than for a regular single coil? Is there any more fancy wiring or anything involved? In other words, more $$$ for a tech to do it, and more labor/parts/skill if you do it yourself?

2. Can they be split like a regular humbucker?

3. How to they compare (output, tone, etc.) to the humbuckers that they would emulate, and how to they compare (surpass?) to their normal single coil counterparts?

1) Most Seymour Duncans come as a 4 wire conductor which means, yes, they are more work than a single coil, but by very little. Really there are only 2 extra wire that you need to worry about and SD provides a schematic, very easy.

2) Yes, if they are 4 wire conductor then they can be split.

3) They have the same output as an actual "double coil" pickup would have. The only difference between these sized humbuckers and a "regular" size humbucker is in fact the size.

My guitar is of the HSS configuration (hum sing sing) and I want to upgrade all three pickups.

Would I have to get another switch or two installed if I wanted to split the single-sized 'buckers (i.e. in the middle of a song, or for the next song, you know how it goes)? I understand that splitting means making it go from two to one... but that requires switching? Hope that ain't a dumb question... I'm a bit unclear as to how that works.

My main concern is adding significantly to the price quote the guitar tech gave me for doing a simple swap-out for an HSS guitar. The cost of the new 'buckers plus 70-something bones to do the job (I have no idea how to do it myself, though if I went back to L.A. to visit the homeland I could probably have a buddy help me) is already a heady price to pay, as I'm floating below the poverty line and living on a research assistant's meager pay. :D Ahhhh... but in three to five years from now (knock on wood) there will be a "Dr." in front of my name, and after going through all this madness that will take all of my twenties to get through... I'll be making... uhhhh... forty thousand dollars a year! WooHooo!!!

Out of curiosity, does any other pickup maker make such interesting doohickeys? Or is that purely an SD thing?

There are all kinds of options available to you. You could add push/pull pots under your volume/tone knobs, you could add toggle switches seperate from everything and install them in a convienient part of the guitar. For simpleness sake you will need a switch per pickup ( if you are splitting all three ). So if you have a Strat style guitar with 3 volume/tone knobs, than its simple. Your top knob could be your neck pickup and so on. Each knob would be push/pull for either full or "half" humbucker. I would recommend this route. Switches are not expensive.

SD I'm sure is not the only company to have 4 wire conductor pickups, however since they are the only company I have dealt with and have done exactly what your doing, this is who I used for my example.

Don't be afraid to ask more questions. Cheers.

Tanx! :) My guitar is a Fender Strat; alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. I'm hoping I could keep the cool Strat plastic knobs because... ohhhhhh... shiny new chrome barrel thingies just wouldn't look the same. I'll get another quote from the tech guy. I'm thinking an SB Jr. in the neck, a Custom Custom humbucker in the bridge... aaaaaaaand... for the middle, maybe a regular single coil that could do jazz/surf/-billy sounding type stuff.

You can stick with your stock plastic knobs, its just the pot that gets changed.