Humbuckers are used for their ability to "buck" hum and also for their fat tone. Many modern humbuckers come with extra lead wires so that they can be custom wired to switch between single coils and humbuckers via a push-pull pot. The only problem is that when you take a humbucker with an 8k output and switch to single coil mode you literally cut the output in half to about 4k because you are only using half of the pickup. A 4k single coil is a pretty weak single coil, and you will notice the tone will be quite thin and unexciting. One way of fighting this problem is to wind the coil on the adjustable side to a higher output. At Sklar we use special 43 gauge wire to wind the adjustable screw side of the pickup to 6k in the neck and 7k in the bridge, similar to what you would find in a strat. The slug side of the pickup is wound normal and when you switch back to humbucker mode you get nice fat tone with no hum. You can custom order a set of these pickups with your choice of covers for a special price of $200 for the month of April only! Email sklarguitars@gmail.com to place your order.
We teamed up with Aaron and James of Maret Guitars to install a set of these in their Custom Classic and we were very pleased with the results. This guitar has an alder body, a special wide maple neck, ebony fretboard, push-pull coil tap switch, string-thru-body bridge, pearl white finish, and a snappy two-piece tortoise pickguard. The guitar is on display at SF Guitarworks in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco and you can come by and see it yourself and even try it out. Make sure to talk to Aaron while you are there.
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