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Post subject: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:37 pm
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If you had a single coil pickup with 1000 wounds of wire, alnico 5 magnets, etc.

And you had a humbucker with 500 wounds of wire in each "pickup" (so 1000 wounds altogether), alnico 5 magnets, and all the same specs as the single coil pickup. Theoretically wouldn't the humbucker sound the same as the single coil pickup except there wouldn't be a hum?


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Post subject: Re: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:36 pm
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The two coils are wound in opposite directions in humbucking pickups. This also adds different characteristics.

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Post subject: Re: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:15 am
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I completely forgot about that! Duh! Haha. So the coil with the slugs in it besides for being the one that helps cancel the hum and not the one that picks up the string vibrations essentially does nothing?


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Post subject: Re: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:22 am
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There are WAY more factors which come into play than what has been stated so far. I'll only list a mere few:

- The slugs vs. the screw poles will affect the magnetic 'window' of the coil pair.
- The proximity of one coil to the other vs. a 'stand alone' coil in terms of eddy currents, etc. will factor tonality, output, etc.
- Due to the RW/RP of the coil pair, highs are attenuated vs a 'stand alone' coil.
- Even if you sidestep the RW/RP factor, two coils with 500 winds linked in series are not going to sound like one coil with 1K winds for at the very least, there is a capacitance effect, not to mention the affected difference in magnetic pull of itself which (over simplified) all affect resonant frequency, output.

The list could go on and on and on. I think you can see per my above few and basic factors, that there is so much more electronic and magnetic interplay than meets the eye.

Going off on a slight tangent here but still reinforcing the above, take for example, a full sized humbucker distortion pickup vs. a Strat sized one, both claimed by a manufacturer to be the same model pickup. Guaranteed, not only are they NOT made the same yet even after all these compensations to achieve the identical end, the bottom line is, they still do not respond identically in terms of output, frequency response, sustain, etc, etc. Sure, tonally they may be "in the ballpark" of each other but in the final analysis it is abundantly clear that different configurations, one vs. the other, yield different pickups.

I do compliment you on your logic and truth be told, when I started getting into all this stuff (most of my life ago :shock: ), I would be (in part) entertaining the exact same types of stuff.

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Post subject: Re: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:55 am
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Thanks for the input Rock Star. You make a very good point, since I am just getting into this I completely forgot about output and all that jazz. So thanks for clarifying and thank you for the compliment.


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Post subject: Re: Single Coils and Humbuckers
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:42 am
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beowolverine93 wrote:
Thanks for the input Rock Star. You make a very good point, since I am just getting into this I completely forgot about output and all that jazz. So thanks for clarifying and thank you for the compliment.


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