To split or not to split stacked single-coils?

[Xochitl]

Hello,

I have a hella lot of questions as I'm going to swap pups on my HSS strat. So I'm breaking my questions in little threads as another big thread I'm trying to get started may be a little confusing. ;D

I'm getting a pair of DM Virtual 2 sc, but I fear loosing the classic sound specificity of position 2 (neck & middle parallel).
I believe that if I split those V2 to just have both north coils in parallel when in positions 2 & 4, I will keep the classic strat sound.
- Am I right or wrong?
- Will those positions be humcancelling?

I've been talking to my luthier yesterday and, he told me splitting those pups was useless. Even if he's far more experienced than I'll ever be, I believe he's a little dogmatic about this!

He advised me to go the straight way for wiring:
5 - Full Bridge (DM Paf pro)
4 - Full Bridge + Full Middle
3 - Full Middle
2 - Full Middle + Full Neck
1 - Full Neck

Wheras I'd like to have my strat wired:
5 - Full Bridge (DM Paf pro)
4 - Split Bridge + Split Middle
3 - Full Middle
2 - Split Middle + Split Neck
1 - Full Neck

What do you guys (girls) think about this? Someone could share his (her) experience about this?
Thanks for your input.

EDIT: Here's an interresting thread, but I feel like it doesn't really cover my questions (above all for sound on positions 2 & 4).

[UnklMickey]

hi Xonchitl,

welcome to GuitarNuts2.


to achieve hum-canceling (when the pickups are in-phase), you need to combine one north coil with one south coil. combining 2 north coils won't hum-cancel, unless they are Out-of-Phase (OoP).

if the Virtual 2s are 4-wire (i think they are) you can have your choice of which coil is active when they are split.


cheers,

unk

[Xochitl]

Thanks for your confirmation.

Virtual 2 are 4 wires, but the south coil is a dummy one, therefore I believe I don't want them in the circuit when the pup is split.

So now the choice may be between
- split neck + split middle => classic sound, but noisy
or
- full neck + full middle => humcancelling, but "modern" sound



Anyone with experience with those pups unsplit in parallel (neck parallel with middle)?

[UnklMickey]

i'll have to leave the matter of what those pickups sound like when split to someone who has used them.


but let me leave you with another thought:

you could split the Virtual 2s to north and the Paf Pro to south.

then make the 4 position Bridge and Middle.

and the 2 position Bridge and Neck (like a Tele).

that will get you hum-cancelling.

cheers,

unk

[Xochitl]

BTW, thanks for the welcome, too!

Nice idea, but pos. 2 may be the one I prefer on strats! I don't want to sacrifice it. Actually, I'd like to have at least a "standard" HSS combo with a tap bridge in pos. 4.

I was dreaming of the Tele middle sound and other "extras", but, for the moment, it looks out of reach for me.