• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

MM humbuckers coil tap questions

cheechi

cheechi

Mar 10, 2015
1,373
1,006
sometimes I am also being serious
#1
I haven't ever seen or touched a lefty MM bass so some of my questions might sound pretty basic. Apologies.

Are the MM style pups basically the same as humbucking guitar pups, in terms of wiring and coil tapping? I have wired a Les Paul for HH with taps before.
if so..
Can the coil tapped sound coming out of one sound like a jazz pickup? I'm not looking for exact.
if so..
Can a MM style pup be used in the bridge to give the sounds of both the 60s and 70s positions, soloing each row of single coils? Either using a 3 way selector or on/on/on?

I was in the middle of planning for an upcoming PJ and hadn't decided which location for the J bridge pup. This might give me an answer. I am actually planning an EB-0/P/J with V/V/V, one being stacked for tone. I was going to put a 50's style P single coil at the neck like a Tele but have decided against it. If this coil tap turns out to be an option to get similar sounds to what I want, a 3 way toggle shouldn't be too hard to add in there as well.

Thanks in advance.
 
#2
GENERALLY most MM pickups cannot be coil tapped, but they can be coil split where you can use either coil, or both together. So yes, you can have a 3 way with front/rear/both such as on a Lakland 44-02/44-94.

OR you can have a 3 way with either coil single/series/parallel such as on most Warwick basses with MM pickups.

Just make sure your pickup has 4 conductor wiring. Most do, but many do not. Aguilar's are hard wired for parallel operation, as well as some Nordstrands (but some Nordstrand models have 4 conductor).
 
  • Like
Reactions: cheechi
#3
Thanks. Can you school me on coil tap vs coil split? I thought they both meant the same thing in practice, getting output from only one rail or row of a HB. The 'tap' in coil tap, as I understood it, came from a push/push switch when the guitarists first started (Jimmy Page mod, or that era) for speedier changes than push/pull would allow.

I haven't got the ear to pick out if series/parallel will do anything for me so that's not an adventure I will probably get into, at least not at this point. It would only be on one pup so I could mod that later on I guess.

Finally, I was originally going to go DiMarzio Model One/Model P/Model J but now with this MM idea, do you have some suggestions for the MM style one that might sound good in a J body with a Model P?
 
#4
As I understand it, 'coil tap' means you're connecting to the pickup coil somewhere in the middle of the wind...kinda 'tapping into' the actual windings. 'Coil split' means you're just using one of the coils of a humbucker.

It would be good to try both series and parallel to see what you like better. Series is thicker and louder with more midrange, parallel is quieter and brighter with some mid scoop. As a reference, the classic Stingray sound is parallel.

There are a lot of MM pickups available so I'm not sure what would work best. Seymour Duncan has one that's pretty low priced (you can get them used for about $50) that is a great all around pickup.
Invalid Link Removed
 
  • Like
Reactions: cheechi
#5
If it has 4 wires, you should be able to split it

Coil-tapping is indeed 'tapping' into a different part of the coil winding inside the pickup. I don't really know too much about this, but I think it involves a wire being connected mid-wind, and then the rest of the coil being wrapped. So when 'tapped', the pickup is only using part of the coil. I guess it would create a sound difference similar to having an underwound pickup? I would like some more information on this too actually.
But I digress. You are talking about split-coil. IME, and from what I've heard from others, split-coil humbuckers won't give you the exact sound of, say, a jazz pickup. My T-40 has two splittable humbuckers, and when split sounds nothing like my friend's Fender Jazz. There are also a lot of other factors, such as spacing and strings, that affect the sound so I could be wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cheechi
#7
BassWaffle said:
IME, and from what I've heard from others, split-coil humbuckers won't give you the exact sound of, say, a jazz pickup. My T-40 has two splittable humbuckers, and when split sounds nothing like my friend's Fender Jazz. There are also a lot of other factors, such as spacing and strings, that affect the sound so I could be wrong.
Click to expand...
This is what i was looking for. I'm sure you're familiar with the video of the guy playing his T-40 and its meant to sound like every other bass out there. It's not exact but it's an interesting experiment.

So yeah I wouldn't be looking for exact. More or less a PJ setup favoring the P, if I get the added low without the growl, I could deal with that. I had thought maybe a 5 pole on the 4 strings, like the recently announced Stingray might get me closer than the 4 pole, two poles listening to a string just like a J pup would.

All of this was a dumb idea I had over coffee this morning. I'm still reading up on what I can do to get where I want to be.
 
#8
Are you thinking of putting the 'bucker at the neck or bridge? I think if you are planning on blending it with other pickups anyway, it might not be as big a difference as would be apparent when being run solo.

Ah yes, very familiar. I must've seen every vintage Peavey bass video on the internet already haha
The T-40 has a lot of options, but I havent really delved into its subtleties as much as that guy has. I mostly just play with the bridge pickup, and much prefer its tone when in full bucker mode. Actually been considering rewiring it so I can get a fully open tone humbucker.
I don't really buy into the "it can do any tone" mindset, I think if you really want a certain tone you should get something directly suited toward getting that tone. The T-40 makes some varied and awesome sounds, not sure if i myself would claim anything beyond that
 
  • Like
Reactions: cheechi
#16
I Have a MTD with dual Bartolini MM 4cbc pickups. I have them coil tapped and get a monster tone out of them. Like a jazz on steroids. Hands down my favorite pickup combination. I usually run the bridge p/u tapped south coil (closest to bridge) and the neck tapped north coil (closest to neck). While the barts & MTD are not a Music Man- I see no reason to think that it would not sound any less awesome. If you have 4 wires..tap away.
Invalid Link Removed

***EDIT*** change the word Tap to split, in case anyone didn't know what was meant*
 
Last edited:
#17
cheechi said:
I haven't ever seen or touched a lefty MM bass so some of my questions might sound pretty basic. Apologies.

Are the MM style pups basically the same as humbucking guitar pups, in terms of wiring and coil tapping? I have wired a Les Paul for HH with taps before.
if so..
Can the coil tapped sound coming out of one sound like a jazz pickup? I'm not looking for exact.
if so..
Can a MM style pup be used in the bridge to give the sounds of both the 60s and 70s positions, soloing each row of single coils? Either using a 3 way selector or on/on/on?

I was in the middle of planning for an upcoming PJ and hadn't decided which location for the J bridge pup. This might give me an answer. I am actually planning an EB-0/P/J with V/V/V, one being stacked for tone. I was going to put a 50's style P single coil at the neck like a Tele but have decided against it. If this coil tap turns out to be an option to get similar sounds to what I want, a 3 way toggle shouldn't be too hard to add in there as well.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Use a balance pot. Turn it one way for one single coil and the other way for another single coil. In the middle will be a series humbucker. I have 2 basses wired this way and I have 2 others wired single, series, parallel. All four basses are awesome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wagner Trindade
#18
wmhill said:
I Have a MTD with dual Bartolini MM 4cbc pickups. I have them coil tapped and get a monster tone out of them. Like a jazz on steroids. Hands down my favorite pickup combination. I usually run the bridge p/u tapped south coil (closest to bridge) and the neck tapped north coil (closest to neck). While the barts & MTD are not a Music Man- I see no reason to think that it would not sound any less awesome. If you have 4 wires..tap away.
Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

As mentioned, tapping and splitting refer to different things, and the terms are not interchangeable. What you have described is coil splitting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: David Jayne
#19
fwiw, if you are using a triple-coil mm pickup, I'd recommend having the dummy coil wired for series mode in the single coil setting instead of the usual parallel wiring. I've done this on many mm 5ers over the years and it sounds great. much warmer, rounder and closer to a jazz bridge pickup.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ex-tension
#20
line6man said:
As mentioned, tapping and splitting refer to different things, and the terms are not interchangeable. What you have described is coil splitting.
Click to expand...
excuse me for using a term that has been universally used for some time, and that left no doubt what I was talking about. ...... I stand humbled for trying to help.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back