Slash Is God Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Hi guys, I've got a Gibson SG Standard (1999) with stock Gibson pickups installed. I was wondering if it was possible to do a coil tap? Unfortunately, due to them being the stock pickups, they have a 2 conductor braided cable. I understand you ideally need a 4 conductor cable to do this, but was wondering if there was a way? Or do I need to just get new pickups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Unfortunately, you would have to dissect the pickups and connect additional coil wires to them. I once did that successfully to a black DiMarzio Super Distortion since the Dual Sound models using same coils and magnet came in double cream only, but it has definitely been a hassle. One has to be very careful with the coil wires when attaching the leads and making the cable runs before reassembly. My recommendation would be buying pickups featuring four-conductor plus shield cables stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
665 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 It's easily doable, you just have to know what to take apart, where to cut, and have at least basic soldering skills Here's a good chart: http://i52.tinypic.com/ri9el1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
665 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Oh and obviously do not do this if you are not confident with a soldering iron. If you are confident with your soldering skills this is a pretty easy mod and can be reversed if you choose to. Also - Don't forget it is very hard to fit a push/pull pot in a SG because of the body thickness. You may have to either drill a hole for a mini toggle or use Seymour Duncan triple shot mounting rings to engage a coil split. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 While I would never call pickup surgery "easy", adding a coil tap to a 2 wire humbucker is not the most difacult job to do. I've been meaning to do a video on this mod for a while. All you need to do is add a 3rd wire to the pickup at the point where the windings from the two bobbins are connected. Once that 3rd wire it conected to ground (through push pull pot or switch) it will short out one of the windings and leave you with a thin sounding, low power single coil. I should do a video on this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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