{"id":2972,"date":"2020-03-23T15:55:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T23:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lollarguitars.com\/blog\/?p=2972"},"modified":"2022-02-23T12:52:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T20:52:29","slug":"our-db-humbuckers-and-series-vs-parallel-wiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lollarguitars.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/our-db-humbuckers-and-series-vs-parallel-wiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Our dB humbuckers, and Series vs Parallel wiring."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Typically, when we start researching and designing a new humbucker, we wire the pickups in the simplest and most common way possible: in series, with no coil tapping, phase switching, or parallel options. We want to hear the purest tone possible from the pickup in its essential form. Sometimes this takes many hours; sometimes it takes years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Our dB humbucker<\/strong><\/a> was no exception. Years were spent in development. High gain pickups weren\u2019t something we were well-known for making, so it was a new experiment to push ourselves into new territory. Our objective was a high gain pickup that wasn\u2019t simply riding the coattails of active pickups or previous high output designs. Most importantly, it had to offer the same harmonically rich, three-dimensional tone, touch sensitivity, and dynamic response found in all our pickup designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound is very midrange forward with an output that pegs the inductance meter. The Super Reverb we have here at the shop to test new pickups is nearly impossible to break up due to the high headroom of the preamp, but the dB sent it into a roaring overdrive that was slightly scary the first time we heard it. It reminded us of Matt Pike\u2019s guitar tone from \u201cDragonaut\u201d from Sleep\u2019s album Sleep\u2019s Holy Mountain<\/em> — just crushingly heavy! And through a Silverface Super Reverb<\/em> no less — not typically the rig of choice for the heaviest of heavies. But it still sounded a bit too midrange-forward, with a slightly dampened top end that might have left some folks wanting for more clarity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201ceureka!<\/em>\u201d moment came when — at the suggestion of former Lollar employee and High On Fire guitar tech Jordan Wagner — we tried it with a 1meg pot in lieu of a 500k. There was an immediate difference. The top-end opened further, and the midrange dominance eased up. The low end was meaty and huge, while remaining tight and percussive. The added bandwidth of the 1meg pot changed not only the frequency response but also the dynamic response. We had always felt that 500k pots are the sweet spot of bright\/dark for typical humbuckers, but the dB is something different entirely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many things about the dB, using a 1meg pot with it was a pleasant surprise that helped us find the sound we were seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coil splitting and series\/parallel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Other than hum cancellation, another advantage of each pickup having two discrete coils is access to a variety of sounds like in\/out of phase or coil splitting. One of the most common mods we get asked about is coil-tapping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat does a coil-split sound like with this *insert model<\/em>* humbucker?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually the higher the output, the better the split-coil sounds. But coil split is usually a compromise when compared to the full humbucking sound. Split coils don’t sound like a Strat, Tele, or other familiar single-coil. It sounds like exactly what it is: half of a humbucker. Many times, that sound will be weak and overly bright — not very useful for most players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dB, however, sounds amazing when split. It\u2019s almost like our Staple P-90, but with a wider dynamic range — robust but clear, with a three-dimensional top end. And like most of our blade-pole designs, though 60-cycle hum is still present, it\u2019s less noticeable than with other single-coil pickups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But are those really where our options end? That question led me down another road: one that gave me the exact sound I wanted from a truly versatile pickup set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running\nthe coils on each humbucker in parallel rather than series: My personal\nexperience. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally, when I wired my Player Series Jazzmaster up with our dB humbuckers, I used 1 meg push\/pull pots and added a coil tap function for each pickup. The pickups in full humbucking mode sound huge, but sometimes I want the reaction and sound of a single coil. I couldn\u2019t believe how good our dB humbuckers sounded in single coil. The output remained, and there was an amazing frequency balance that sounded robust in the midrange but clear on the top end. I liked it so much that I ended up using it in single coil mode most of the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought about wiring only one side of the pickup and running a dummy coil in series with that coil. But that option would ultimately sound closer to the dB in full humbucking mode than the sound I was trying to achieve. Like many players, I wanted more of the single-coil character, but with less noise to save myself time when tracking, and to avoid using a noise gate when playing a venue with dirty power or other EMI\/RFI issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I thought, \u201cWhat if I run the coils in parallel, instead of series, like a humbucker is normally wired? Would it drop the output slightly and add a little bit more top end with a more percussive low end like the single-coil?\u201d It did exactly what I expected and hoped. It still sounded full and big-bodied, but the output dropped a bit and the midrange pulled back which opened the sound. There was also more top end available along with a tighter low end — closer to how the pickup reacts when splitting into single-coil form. More pick and tick to the sound than just a big roar. It exceeded my expectations so much that I\u2019ve wired the pickups this way permanently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Personal anecdote: The dB sounds incredible in its traditional (full humbucker) form, operating in series. I want to make it clear that this was a quest for trying to get closer to an ideal sound that I knew was within the pickup for my personal playing style. I\u2019ll touch more on this in my conclusion below.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t take full credit for my own discovery. We actually\ndid try this initially with our dB when 500k pots were installed, but it wasn\u2019t\na big enough difference at the time. I believe the added bandwidth of the 1 meg pot is what allowed such a\ndramatic change and shift in sound. Possibly because the dB\u2019s output is so hot,\nthe 500k pot couldn\u2019t match that bandwidth for enough of a change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo how do I wire this up to test?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our four-conductor color coding is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n