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hey guys..
i am the proud owner of a completely stock 04 or 05 american deluxe strat. i love everything about it but the pickups. they dont accurately reproduce what im playing and dont quite sound like a humbucker or a single coil. the s-1 switch is a cool concept but only muddies up the pickups more. im a big fan of ZZ Top and SRV which would be my first two tones to go for but i would mostly be playing those type tunes on my neck pickup.i also dabble in gnr and early metallica type stuff so i would need something that can do old school chug in the bridge. im interested in a HSS setup and so far ive decided im going to go with a tapped quarter pounder in the neck but other than that im a little clueless. maybe another QP middle? im thinking of installing an emg variable mid control to replace the bridge tone control (which i never use) to be able to sweep the frequencies..almost a modern/vintage control. anyone know of a nice low to medium output humbucker which could fit my needs?

I like the Custom Custom for your application but, thats my opinion. BTW, I have used an EMG EXG with passives before and I didnt like it with buckers. I made everything way too fat. If you are going to use one I would go with a brighter than a Custom Custom bridge pickup like a Pearly Gates or maybe a 59. It may work good with them. I would say the Pearly Gates would be your best bet. BTW, I may put the EXG on the trading post here soon if you are interested.

The quarter pounder cannot be tapped since its already a standard single coil, it will probably sound really good if you can live with the hum/buzz. the first thing that comes to my mind as to a vintage humbucker is a 59 since its modeled on a 1959 PAF off a gibson les paul.

For ZZ Top and maybe even Metallica a Pearly Gates might suit you.. I have no idea how Master of Puppets would sound through a Pearly Gates lol

We are talking HSS, right? The Texas Specials are good for clean to lightly distorted blues (SRV), but too much gain and they sound like a$$. A Pearly Gates would get you ZZ Top, a '59 should get you close to Metallica depnding on the amp.

with the right amp a PG will get all the tones you are looing for from a bucker.


Originally Posted by BigBazzThe quarter pounder cannot be tapped since its already a standard single coil . . .

You mean, they can't be quot;splitquot;, since they're single coils. They can most certainly be tapped.
I have a tapped pair in my Genny.

I highly recommend a pair of tapped QP's or the tapped Customs. (More or less, the same pup, but with different pole pieces.) I just set my Genny down, to come check out the forum when I saw this thread. The tapped QP's, mated with a C5 in the bridge gives an amazing tonal variation.

I just can't get over how good this sounds. Especially, to go back and forth with the QP and the C5, tapped and untapped. Its two completely different, yet outstanding tones.

btw - I have mine wired so that I can do neck and bridge, which to me, is important. There's several different ways you can achieve that, however.

i was always under the impression that a coil tap, is when you split a humbucker to use it as a single coil, can you shed any light on to the differences?


Originally Posted by BigBazzi was always under the impression that a coil tap, is when you split a humbucker to use it as a single coil, can you shed any light on to the differences?

Single coil pickups can have taps part way through the windings. For the quarterpounder, it looks like the coil is wound to ~7.0k, the wire is brought out to a copper rivet, and then the windings are continued until the total resistance reaches ~14.8k (for the staggered version).

With such a tapped pickup you can select the 14.8k tap for a distorted overdriven sound, or the 7.0k tap for a cleaner sound, so it's like getting two pickups for the price of one.

from : localhost//website...rt.shtml#strat


Originally Posted by BigBazzi was always under the impression that a coil tap, is when you split a humbucker to use it as a single coil, can you shed any light on to the differences?

It can definitely be confusing. A split can be a quot;tapquot;, but a quot;tapquot; can't be a split. Generically, a quot;tapquot; refers to a wire connected somewhere in the middle of a circuit. Think quot;wire tapquot; as in a phone connection between your phone and a friend.

A coil quot;splitquot; can be done in either of two ways. Duncan just brings all four coil wires to the outside of the pup. You connect two together, (red and white), and let that connection double as the quot;tapquot;. Peavey pups leave the coil connection internal, and just bring one wire out. So you can split a Peavey, but its a bit more difficult to run a parrallel connection.

A quot;tapquot; as it applies to the Quarter Pounds, is when they stop winding the pickup halfway through the process, attach a wire, let it hang out the side, and then continue winding the rest of the coil. So, you have the normal two coil ends, plus an additional quot;tapquot; in the middle. In the case of the QP's, this lets you use only half the windings. Which is, a great sound. Very Strat-ish, jangly, chimey, like you'ld expect a single coil to sound. Switch to the full-on mode, and it takes on a more powerful, almost 'bucker-like tone.

I love mine. So, a split is achieved by quot;tappingquot; the connection between the two coils. A single-coil quot;tapquot; is achieved, by doing just that.

Hope that helps.

This sounds like a good time for a pic:
Top is a humbucker quot;splitquot;. Bottom is a single-coil quot;tappedquot;.

thanks a lot, very helpful info and what an awesome idea, maybe il get one for the middle of my strat, and my jem and try it tapped.

artie...when you talk about the C5 are you talking about the humbucker or maybe some single coil im unaware of? rightnow im leaning toward a trembucker spaced pearly gates for the bridge but have heard that the bass gets muddy with the pg so im still open to suggestions. when buying the QP, should i get the staggered or flat poles? im leaning more toward the flat as the am deluxes have a modern radius. i am also interested in being able to combine the bridge and neck pickups and just thought of something that i wouldnt mind bouncing off ya...would it be possible to wire the guitar with an emg mid booster/cutter strictly for the bridge, have the normal neck tone control, and normal volume, but be able to combine the bridge and neck in position 3? i never use the middle pickup except for positions 2 and 4 so i wouldnt miss it. to that end, would it be possible to have the volume pot act as a blend in the #3 position with this particular setup or would i need a separate pot strictly for blending the bridge and neck? maybe have it center detented in order to choose whether i want to have more bridge or more neck? is this wiring scheme possible? finally, does anyone know where i can get custom strat knobs made? nothing says sleek better than knobs which match theyre pots function. oh and one more question for you artie...i have a vintage stagger SD alnico 2 strat pickup laying around..would i be able to use that pickup with my modern radiused guitar? i just dont feel like buying more pickups if i can avoid it.


Originally Posted by itbepopples... when you talk about the C5 are you talking about the humbucker or maybe some single coil im unaware of?

Yup . . . the good ole, full-size Custom 5. My Genny is an HSS config. Its my favorite combo. The C5 blends perfectly with the QP's . . . quot;tappedquot; or not.Originally Posted by itbepopplesWhen buying the QP, should i get the staggered or flat poles? im leaning more toward the flat as the am deluxes have a modern radius.

I can't really answer this. Mine are flat. I've never used staggered's except for my Stag Mag's, and even those aren't in anything right now. I'm not sure what the difference in sound is.Originally Posted by itbepopplesI am also interested in being able to combine the bridge and neck pickups and just thought of something that i wouldnt mind bouncing off ya...would it be possible to wire the guitar with an emg mid booster/cutter strictly for the bridge, have the normal neck tone control, and normal volume, but be able to combine the bridge and neck in position 3? i never use the middle pickup except for positions 2 and 4 so i wouldnt miss it. to that end, would it be possible to have the volume pot act as a blend in the #3 position with this particular setup or would i need a separate pot strictly for blending the bridge and neck? maybe have it center detented in order to choose whether i want to have more bridge or more neck? is this wiring scheme possible?

Yes, maybe, maybe, uh . . . I'll have to chew on this a bit. Originally Posted by itbepopplesartie...i have a vintage stagger SD alnico 2 strat pickup laying around..would i be able to use that pickup with my modern radiused guitar? i just dont feel like buying more pickups if i can avoid it.

I think so, but again, I'm not sure about the staggered thang.

I'll get back to you on that wiring question.

thanks artie. this configuration is what i want but that of course doesnt mean its feasible. taking out the emg thing and just sticking to normal wiring is whats most likely but hey..its worth a try i guess.

Let me just give you a quickie answer, and then I'll work on the rest of it as I get time.

I have my HSS Genny wired like this: I simply reversed the neck and middle hot wires to the 5-way. That way I get this: (I count #1 as being the switch position closest to the neck.)

1. middle
2. neck amp; middle (as normal)
3. neck
4. neck amp; bridge
5. bridge

I use a push/pull pot to tap the QP's. So, with the switch straight up, you have the neck. Moving backwards is like a 3-way with the neck and bridge. Moving forward is like a 3-way with the neck and middle. It works great. I especially like the sound of the neck and bridge together tapped, and untapped.

When the QP is full-on, its a bit stronger than the C5. So the C5 just augments the tone of the QP. When the QP is tapped, its just the opposite. The QP then augments the tone of the C5. Its a great selection of tones. My current favorite.

I have an even better wiring diagram in the works, but I'm still quot;tweakingquot; it. Stay tuna-ed.

wow...thanks a lot artie! when you talk about the C5 tapped is it really tapped or coil split?

Its the QP's that are tapped. I'm running the C5 stock. However, I use one push/pull to run the QP's in series. That turned out to not be a useful sound, so I'm going to convert that PP over to doing either a parallel or quot;splitquot; of the C5. Haven't decided which yet, though.

And, as a touch of irony, or coincidence: that other wiring scheme that I want to do . . . I didn't want to mod my present Tele plate, so I've needed another one. Which, apparently, I'm getting from you.