Grateful Dead Music Forum

hello all, i think i may have a problem. there is a noticable drop in volume when i switch from coil tap to humbucker on both middle and bridge. I'm not very educated in this whatsoever but common sense tells me somethings off. any and all input welcome

You should have a slight drop in output when you switch into single coil mode.

Mine do the same. You're losing half the pickup when you flip that switch! I find it easier to make the Mutron "work" if I go to full humbucker mode- it sends a stronger signal to the effect to help it open up.

You end up exercising your volume pot more in order to maintain the same volume if you switch between coil tapped and full humbucker a lot. But in most cases that's not something you would do mid-song.

i here what your saying and and i would expect the volume loss going to single coil, but I'm losing volume going to humbucker. the sound and tone is outstanding but the volume drop in humbucker doesn't make sense. the obvious next question would be am i confusing which is which, but judging from my ears and more importantly the tech who installed it when running through everything with me; toggle switch down=coil tap. toggle up=humbucker. when toggles up loss in volume.

Check it by tapping lightly with a something metal (allen wrench, screwdriver tip) on the pole pieces in both toggle switch positions to confirm.

thank you teejay. that solves that. misunderstood when he was explaing everything to me. apparently on mine down=hum. up=single coil. but I just discovered that when middle pickup is tapped it is the bridge side that is active. pretty sure its been covered here a few times that you want the neck side active. will have to have it flipped.

Depends on the axe scale and the pup placement. Please measure for us from the nut to the middle pup neck and bridge coils.

from nut to mid pup neck side: 20 1/2 inches bridge side: 21 1/4 inches.

nuthatchwinters wrote:from nut to mid pup neck side: 20 1/2 inches bridge side: 21 1/4 inches.

So Jerry dimensions for the neck middle coil is 22 inches. On my PRS 25" scale guitar (which I'm selling actually), my coil tap switch gives me neck side coil (21 1/2 inches) or bridge side coil (22 inches). You may find it hard to believe, but there's a fairly substantial difference in tone. I normally use the bridge coil, but sometimes I'll use the neck side coil for a tad bit more warmth. So for you, keep it on the bridge side coil to get a bit more Jerry tone.

thanks mattman. very informative. also, great band. great playing, keep it up.