Coil split for Paf Pro and Fred

[eg]

guys,

Is there any difference between the two coils in the Paf Pro and Fred?
I'm coil splitting them with the middle Ibanez S1 single-coil.

Is there also a right direction to mount them?

[rty13ibz98]

the coils are slightly different, but not too significant. you will just have to experiment to see which sound better to your ear. whenever i combine/split coils in h/s/h, i do the neck side of each. this is a little different from the split 5 only for the neck pickup. i do this for a more true strat tone from the neck when split. i usually wire in a push/pull pot just for the neck as well. in the old rt650, the coil tap affected both pickups. this can be done as well. for me i don't usually run singles for the bridge...i have strats for that(hot rails with taps), but to each their own.

rich

[frankfalbo]

On the PAF Pro it shouldn't really matter. But on the Fred, one of the coils IS a PAF Pro coil IIRC. My recommendation for the Fred would be to find the coil with the larger wind. If you feel the coils or peel back the first layer of tape, you'll see one coil is more bloated than the other. Place that thicker coil toward the neck, and then wire your splits so that you get that coil when splitting. That would be a better sound than the skinny coil. It's been awhile since I was inside a Fred, so I can't remember if the fatter coil is the PAF Pro coil or the Fred coil. Anyway it doesn't matter. The fatter coil has more copper, that's the key.

The "Jem" clean tone comes from that neck pickup inside coil and the middle single. Those coils are so close together that it makes a real chimey, clicky rhythm tone. I like that because if the guitar is 24 frets, the neck side coil still isn't as far up as it would be on a Strat. So I know I'm not getting a full on bluesy strat tone on that guitar. In that case, I opt for the inside coil. Then I'll just pick up a Strat if I want that neck pickup tone. On 22 fret guitars with H/S/H I will usually split to the neck coil because then I'm in the right position for a more Stratty tone.

In your case you should be wiring it so that the split cancels hum with the middle pickup. Once you've done that, you can flip the pickup around and see which way you like it.

Now that I think about it, you have the same problem with the Fred. You have to split to the coil that is reverse polarity to the S1. Then you can flip it around and listen to it.

[eg]

Thanks for the detailed replies.

I actually didn't mount the pickups myself, being not technically proficient with the soldering iron :P. I had a tech work on it to get the config that I wanted.

For positions 2/4 on the five-way switch I actually have the S1 combined with either split neck-side coil from the PafPro, or the Fred bridge-side coil. I also have a tone push-pull to have only the neck-side coil of the PafPro and
the bridge-side Fred on positions 1/5 (something like what Rich is doing).

I have a number of questions here, hopefully you can bear with me

Since both humbuckers have two coils each, how to I make sure that any of them are reversed polarity when combined with the S1? Having done that connection, would that mean that the two coils are out-of-phase or hum-cancelling? Can either one be reversed polarity? Is there any case that one coil from the humbucker coil and single coil combination will not be able ot hum-cancel?

Something out of hte topic, how different is a series connected humbucker compared to a parallel connected humbucker (in terms of wire connection and hum-cancelling? Are parallel connected humbucker technically the same as combining one coil in reverse polarity with a single coil?

Just trying to clear up my doubts here. Thanks

[Shockme.au]

Originally Posted by eg

Something out of hte topic, how different is a series connected humbucker compared to a parallel connected humbucker (in terms of wire connection and hum-cancelling? Are parallel connected humbucker technically the same as combining one coil in reverse polarity with a single coil?

Just trying to clear up my doubts here. Thanks

(I don't know if this example is relevant to your question but it may help someone else...)

The easiest way to describe the difference between series and parallel is that with a series connected PUP the dc voltage goes through one coil then the other, where as parallel connection the dc goes through the coils at the same time, giving you a slightly weaker output. Both methods are hum cancelling.

For a different example, so you can picture the difference, series is like a set of Christmas lights, all the electricity goes through each light before going onto the next (thats why one out -all out, as the cicuit is opened), where as your house lights are wired in parallel, looped at the switch or the light, (also like your power circuits) so if you blow a globe every light doesn't go out.