Turser Hawk 12: Coil tap switch?

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

If anyone else on this Forum owns a Jay Turser Hawk 12, then I can probably get the answer to this: What's with the three positions on the coil tap switch?

The guitar has a pair of humbuckers, so the pickup selector is Neck/Both/Bridge. I would kind of expect a coil tap switch to have two positions, "like a single-coil" or "not like a single coil" for what ever pickup(s) the other switch was set for.

As one reviewer on Harmony Central noted, "The coil tap switch is a mystery to me. Left in the middle it does nothing, up it is faint and "tinkley", down it is muddy?" Personally, I think the guitar has major tone[/i][/u] in all settings, as do most of the reviewers, but there are times when the switch seems to cut the output completely. (Which may be dependent on the volume pot or pots setting.)

I did get a reply to an email I sent to jayturser.com, but it was only to say that the guitars don't ship with manuals. (I got mine via an eBay deal.) The lady from musicindustries.com suggested a call to the company on Tuesday (07/05) should turn up someone who would know. Other forums I've tried have produced some good guesses, but no definitive answers.
I figured if there was any place where people would be hip to switch functions, this was it.

Thanks.

--
Doug C.

[Happyguy]

Ok heres what i think. If your coil tap has three positions it is probably both coils in paralel(the faint and tinkly)/coil cut/Humbucker----> both coils in series ( the muddy sound). The only way to get these three sound is with a 3way on/on/on switch so im pretty sure thats whats going on here.

happyguy is done talking (finally!!!)

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

happyguy said:

Ok heres what i think. If your coil tap has three positions it is probably both coils in paralel(the faint and tinkly)/coil cut/Humbucker----> both coils in series ( the muddy sound). The only way to get these three sound is with a 3way on/on/on switch so im pretty sure thats whats going on here.

Okay, thanks.
The descriptions for the sound came from one review on Harmony Central. In the short time I've had my Hawk 12, I wouldn't describe any of its sounds as "faint and tinkly" or "muddy," but maybe I don't have a proper appreciation for what's really happening, either.
Sometimes, though, the output does seem to drop right out, maybe as though that "when both pickups are selected, volume goes to level of whichever volume knob was last used" thing was going on. (Yeah, I'm trying to Google for the reference for that. I know I read it on the 'Net.)

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

UPDATE: My email to jayturser.com resulted in a reply from someone at Music Industries Corp. (Jay Turser, J.J. Heart, Rok Sak/Gizmo Bags, Prime Amps, etc.) She said the guitars don't ship with manuals, and suggested a call to the company.

The Tech guy I spoke to was very nice, but his answers weren't all that helpful. He said at some point there had been a change in the wiring, and remembered that the middle position on the coil tap switch seemed to be the loudest.
He thought the possibilities were series, parallel, and out-of-phase. He also suggested tapping on the pickups with a screwdriver, to see what was active.

I'd open 'er up and take a look at the switch wiring, but I think that might just confuse me more.
Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but isn't any phase reversal going to be "moot" if only one pup is selected? And even with only one or the other pup selected, all three positions of that switch seem to have an effect on the tone.

It's going to be a real hoot memorizing what every setting does, which is probably what I really need to know when playing it.

[Happyguy]

Humm... you said that sometimes the volume drops right out. That might meen that your pickups become out of phase. If this happens everywhere on the selector switch (even with one pickup alone) That might meen that the humbucker it out of phase with itself. The only prob with this theory is that the posiblilities the tech guy gave you don't include a coil cut... maybe its not realy a coil cut switch?

anyways i hope you find out what your looking for good luck

[Mini-Strat_Maine]

happyguy said:

Humm... you said that sometimes the volume drops right out. That might meen that your pickups become out of phase. If this happens everywhere on the selector switch (even with one pickup alone) That might meen that the humbucker it out of phase with itself.

Okay, I hadn't thought of that. I was so fixed on Neck-and-Bridge being the only thing that could be opposing phases that it didn't dawn on me that, well, "They're humbuckers, doofus!" {Lightbulb smilie should appear here}
I experimented with it some more last night, to see if it might be that "standard Les Paul controls thing" where the volume will default to the level of the last V pot that was moved. (Still can't find where it was that I read that.) It's hard to reproduce the effect sometimes.

The only prob with this theory is that the posiblilities the tech guy gave you don't include a coil cut... maybe its not realy a coil cut switch?

Most of "the literature" (just user reviews and sale offers) says it's a coil tap. www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Jay_Turser/Hawk_12-01.html Turser doesn't mention it in the description on their Web site, but it can ("almost") be seen in the larger JPG there. www.jayturser.com/jt_electric4.htm#

I think it's a slightly sorry state when a company's "tech people" don't know what a switch on one of their products should do, and apparently can't look it up someplace. Since I don't speak any Chinese dialect, there's no chance for me to talk to anyone who actually builds 'em. {sigh}
The upside of all this is that playing around with the switches to try and memorize what combinations do what is both "practice time" and great fun.
I had a great time last night, noodling around with the switches and an MXR Dyna Comp compressor that is probably eventually going to be always on the other end of the Hawk's output cable. (Most likely after I get the pedal back from aNaLoG MaN.)

anyways i hope you find out what your looking for good luck

Thanks, and thanks for the input. The possibilities mentioned in your first reply seem to be the most logical ones I've gotten so far. {"Thumbs up" smilie goes here}

-- Doug is done babbling now --