gibsonsumner Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 I have recently purchased a gibson SG special and wondered if a coil tap could be fitted? Also could anyone recommend some pick up covers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb76 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 I've seen a ton of SG's (and other guitars) butchered over the years with several extra switches and knobs for "endless possibilities", but I think the coolest mods are the ones you don't know are there. As-is, your Special would be a little tricky to add a coil-tap as far as the stock pickups are concerned (involves dissecting the pickup and doing some rewiring of it), HOWEVER, if you're looking also for covered pickups you may just want to buy some aftermarket humbuckers that come stock with them and that are also wired for coil-tap/phasing/etc. Then you can simply replace your volume pots with push-pull pots, hook up the new pickups and save all the stock equipment just in case you ever wanna' go back to original specs. I've never had good experience adding covers to pickups which were factory-stock without them---always ended up in strange overtones, microphonic squeal and other quirks. I put some GFS "Crunchy Pat" pickups in our other guitarist's Les Paul along with a neck-pickup coil-tap, and I tell ya', that guitar is a pretty versatile beast! I like GFS' stuff because it's inexpensive (where else are you gonna' get a decent quality matched set of pickups for $60 or less?), has tons of tone and my experience with their stuff is that they are some of the best-sounding-when-'tapped' humbuckers out there. A lot of really awesome humbuckers, when tapped, sound pretty lame as single-coils. But the GFS pickups have a great tapped sound that's not wimpy, and especially on the neck position just oozes with plunky goodness. Depending on the kind of music you play though, you may want another model (I highly recommend their "Fat Pat" overwound Alnico model, or their '59 style one if you don't mind nickel covers instead of chrome), they make everything from classic-update type pickups to high-output metal pickups, and aside from not liking one of their high-output designs everything else of theirs I've heard has been great. I've actually just ordered a set of the Fat Pat's for one of my Epi SG's, and am going to sink a set of the '59 models into my '61 Reissue (they're like Burstbucker Pros in almost every way, plus they're tappable). The push-pull knobs are cool 'cause there are no mods to the wood, and it's really clear if you're on full HB mode or tapped with the raised knob. I never thought I'd like the sound of a tapped-HB/single-coil (other than a P-90, of course) in a Gibson-style guitar, but it's cool having the option. Let us know whatcha' end up doing! H-Bomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TattooedCarrot Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 $10 for a push/pull pot with take care of the tap. As for covers, I would sell your pickups and buy a factory installed cover if you either play very loud, or with gain as throwing on covers that are not properly wax potted will be prone to microphnic feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Seems to be some confusion about the SG special pickups. Here : http://www.gibson.com/en-us/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/sg/sgspecial/ Click on highlights, then click on the bridge PU, they are saying it has 4 conductor wiring for different options. I then saw a site selling them where they said they were 2 conductor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar slinger Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Seems to be some confusion about the SG special pickups. Here : http://www.gibson.com/en-us/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/sg/sgspecial/Click on highlights' date=' then click on the bridge PU, they are saying it has 4 conductor wiring for different options. I then saw a site selling them where they said they were 2 conductor.[/quote'] As far as I know, GIbson factory instaled pickups are all 2 wire conductor, but if you buy the same pickups at guitar center they should be 4 wires. Someone correct me if I am wrong, please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb76 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Seems to be some confusion about the SG special pickups. Here : http://www.gibson.com/en-us/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/sg/sgspecial/Click on highlights' date=' then click on the bridge PU, they are saying it has 4 conductor wiring for different options. I then saw a site selling them where they said they were 2 conductor.[/quote'] I know that if you buy aftermarket Gibson pickups they often have the 4-conductor wiring, but the stock OEM ones that come in the guitar are just 2-conductor braided wiring, unless they've changed this very recently. H-Bomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TattooedCarrot Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I know that if you buy aftermarket Gibson pickups they often have the 4-conductor wiring' date=' but the stock OEM ones that come in the guitar are just 2-conductor braided wiring, unless they've changed this very recently. H-Bomb[/quote'] Correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.