Fender Blacktops

[marnold***]

The only thing I didn't care for were the pickups in single coil mode. They didn't sound much different to my ears, just less volume. None of that single coil bite and edge I expected.......just not as loud.

When I've tried coil tapping/shunting that's also been my observation. I've found that running the coils in parallel instead of series does a better (although still not perfect) single coil impersonation AND it remains hum-canceling.

[Eric***]

When I've tried coil tapping/shunting that's also been my observation. I've found that running the coils in parallel instead of series does a better (although still not perfect) single coil impersonation AND it remains hum-canceling.

Same here. I enjoy the fact that my Godin has coil splitting in positions 2 and 4, but the split of the neck pickup is just a lower-output version of the neck with some buzz added in. The split bridge pup does sound remarkably tele-ish, however.

I've never tried ones in parallel. It runs both HBs in parallel?

[marnold***]

I've never tried ones in parallel. It runs both HBs in parallel?

AFAIK on the Blacktops it uses coil tapping/shunting. I only did it on a guitar I had. I haven't done that with my guitar. Not sure if I will but it sounds like an interesting experiment. The problem is that with coil shunting you can use one switch to do both pickups. Series/parallel is a bit more complicated so you will need a DPDT switch for each pickup.