Can anyone comment on the coiltap option on status s2 soap bar pickups?

[Musicman666]

Is it a useful upgrade worth having?

[LeftyJ]

Haven't tried it on my S2 Classics, but I'll follow this thread with keen interest 

[Lfalex v1.1]

Does the S2 share electrics with the Streamline?

I ordered mine with series/ parallel switches on both pickups.

Waste of time. 

They sound too thin in series, and the level boost is quite considerable.

 

The best bass I've had for series/parallel/single coil switching was a Stingray5. Musicman implemented it properly; 

 

The series and parallel options are reduced down to match the single coil output, so no volume jumps. Other filtering may also be employed. 

 

The pickup has a dummy coil for the single coil setting, so no hum (not relevant to this question)

 

Unless you can find someone to add some sort of compensation to the switching, it's not worth it. I couldn't even EQ out the shortcomings. 

 

Different pickups might yield different results, but it didn't work at all well with the soapbars in my Streamline. It was a  huge disappointment, and not worth the extra I spent to have it included.

 

 

 

[Musicman666]

2 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Does the S2 share electrics with the Streamline?

I ordered mine with series/ parallel switches on both pickups.

Waste of time. 

They sound too thin in series, and the level boost is quite considerable.

 

The best bass I've had for series/parallel/single coil switching was a Stingray5. Musicman implemented it properly; 

 

The series and parallel options are reduced down to match the single coil output, so no volume jumps. Other filtering may also be employed. 

 

The pickup has a dummy coil for the single coil setting, so no hum (not relevant to this question)

 

Unless you can find someone to add some sort of compensation to the switching, it's not worth it. I couldn't even EQ out the shortcomings. 

 

Different pickups might yield different results, but it didn't work at all well with the soapbars in my Streamline. It was a  huge disappointment, and not worth the extra I spent to have it included.

 

 

 

Ok …thanks for the feedback…appreciated. I suspect the s2 and slimline do share a lot of the same tech when it comes to the electronics. I think the upgrade you had is different since the coil tap as far as I understand just turns the humbuckers into single coils.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Musicman666

[Lfalex v1.1]

As long as the pickups have enough (3?) output wires, coil switching for series, parallel and single coil are all possible.

The issue you'd face is knowing which single coil in each pickup you'd want to select.

By definition, one coil of each will be Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity. You'd ideally want it to be selectable with its opposite number in the other pick-up (Normal wound/Normal Polarity) in order to give some degree of hum-cancelling (life a Fender Jazz)

 

I'd guess that you'd  end up with either inner or outer coils running as pairs to achieve this. 

You could always have that as a switching option- front coil/parallel HB/rear coil for both pickups on two switches.

 

Don't know whether that'd yield worthwhile results. 

Last time I had a "good idea", it was having series / parallel switching on my Streamline...

Edited September 11, 2021 by Lfalex v1.1

[Musicman666]

3 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

As long as the pickups have enough (3?) output wires, coil switching for series, parallel and single coil are all possible.

The issue you'd face is knowing which single coil in each pickup you'd want to select.

By definition, one coil of each will be Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity. You'd ideally want it to be selectable with its opposite number in the other pick-up (Normal wound/Normal Polarity) in order to give some degree of hum-cancelling (life a Fender Jazz)

 

I'd guess that you'd  end up with either inner or outer coils running as pairs to achieve this. 

You could always have that as a switching option- front coil/parallel HB/rear coil for both pickups on two switches.

 

Don't know whether that'd yield worthwhile results. 

Last time I had a "good idea", it was having series / parallel switching on my Streamline...

This is a new build so it’s whatever status would normally do.

[Lfalex v1.1]

3 hours ago, Musicman666 said:

This is a new build so it’s whatever status would normally do.

Leaving aside my experiences with my Status, and on a more general note-

 

If you have specific requirements from a build or alterations from the norm to be made in any bass, be very specific, otherwise you'll get the builder's interpretation of what you asked for. Don't just tick a box on an options sheet, discuss how it'll affect the performance of the instrument.

 

In this case, I'd find out from Status how they implement single-coil taps, which coils they use and why, and what effect that has on output and tone. 

If the manufacturer can't answer that sort of question.. Well, decide for yourself how well tried and tested the modification is.

 

I ended up paying extra for something that was useless based on the assumption that it would work like my previous positive experiences of series/parallel/single coil switching.

It worked really well in the aforementioned Stingray5, a Warwick Corvette $$ and (subsequently) an Ibanez ATK derivative (SC with hf roll off and slight mid-scoop, SC, and parallel)

 

* I think I'm going to drop out of this discussion now as I'm concerned that my personal experiences are biasing my views.

 

I hope that your S2 turns out to be awesome, and stays that way.

[Musicman666]

7 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Leaving aside my experiences with my Status, and on a more general note-

 

If you have specific requirements from a build or alterations from the norm to be made in any bass, be very specific, otherwise you'll get the builder's interpretation of what you asked for. Don't just tick a box on an options sheet, discuss how it'll affect the performance of the instrument.

 

In this case, I'd find out from Status how they implement single-coil taps, which coils they use and why, and what effect that has on output and tone. 

If the manufacturer can't answer that sort of question.. Well, decide for yourself how well tried and tested the modification is.

 

I ended up paying extra for something that was useless based on the assumption that it would work like my previous positive experiences of series/parallel/single coil switching.

It worked really well in the aforementioned Stingray5, a Warwick Corvette $$ and (subsequently) an Ibanez ATK derivative (SC with hf roll off and slight mid-scoop, SC, and parallel)

 

* I think I'm going to drop out of this discussion now as I'm concerned that my personal experiences are biasing my views.

 

I hope that your S2 turns out to be awesome, and stays that way.

this will be my second s2 status build so there wont be too many surprises hopefully, but yes literally its a yes or no type deal, anything custom that deviates from the norm is going to cost a lot with these guys. I'm sure they will think its a good mod but forums like this will hopefully give me the real down to earth no bs user point of view... I already think their prices are way too high so I don't want to add to it unnecessarily but on the other hand i don't want to be kicking myself for not getting something that later on I wish I had. I do appreciate the single coils on my jazz with that tight response... 

 

ps...this is a forum, we are here to hear your honest personal experiences!!!!!!!!!!!!..

Edited September 12, 2021 by Musicman666

[Musicman666]

Ok …I’m not getting that mod, I was getting coil tapping mixed up with coil splitting, I was after coil splitting which it isn’t.

[Lfalex v1.1]

I was referring to coil splitting/switching as I figured that was what you were after.

I can't see musch use in coil taps on any bass, let alone a modern one with an 18v active EQ.

[Musicman666]

3 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

I was referring to coil splitting/switching as I figured that was what you were after.

I can't see musch use in coil taps on any bass, let alone a modern one with an 18v active EQ.

Ah …my bad, I misread the spec, yes it is both switching and tapping. I’m going to have to chat to status about this like you mentioned earlier and see what they say. Thanks. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Musicman666