🥇Best Humbuckers for Coil Splitting (Reviews-2024)

Are you looking for the best humbuckers for coil splitting? Look no further – you are in the right place!

Splittable humbucker pickup models enable you to reproduce P-90, humbucker, and single-coil tones using just a single pickup. Technically speaking, you can coil-split any humbucker, but those that come with four-conductor wires are ideal for use as split-coil pickups.

You’ll also need to have some unique features on your instrument (such as a two-way/three-way toggle or DPDT switch) for taking advantage of a split-coil humbucker.

In this review, we walk you through six of the top humbuckers for coil-splitting. Of course, any list of the best coil-split humbuckers will perpetually feature a few Seymour Duncan models, and this listing is no exception.

The 6 Best Humbuckers for Coil Splitting – Comparison Table

Image	Model	Price
	Seymour Duncan SHPR-1n P-Rails (Top Pick)	Check Price
	Seymour Duncan S/D TB-4 JB Trembucker (Close Runner-Up)	Check Price
	DiMarzio DP218 Super Distortion S	Check Price
	Seymour Duncan SH13 Dimebucker	Check Price
	Seymour Duncan SHPR-1b P-Rails	Check Price
	Seymour Duncan SH-16 59 Custom Hybrid	Check Price

1. Seymour Duncan SHPR-1n (Editor’s Choice)

Install the Seymour Duncan SHPR-1n in your classic Stratocaster or American vintage Telecaster and save yourself the trouble of carrying three basses to the show. Yes, the immensely versatile SHPR-1n offers you the option of reproducing the entire repertoire of single-coil, humbucker, and P-90 sounds. In addition, using just a single pickup set and any 3-way mini-switch (on-off-on) provides you with a sweeping range of tonal notes.

The resourceful SHPR-1 P-Rail humbucker reproduces the Stratocaster tone, P90 tone, and humbucker pickup tone. Working as a perfect replacement for any standardized humbucker niche, this extraordinary hybrid humbucker is effortlessly scissile for voicing Strat-style tone as well as an ultra-flat 60’s vintage P90. In addition, you get a great-sounding humbucker that packs quite a punch when you activate both the coils.

For making the most of both Rails in unison for having a buzz-canceling effect, you wound the neck adaptation in RWRP (reverse-wound, reverse-polarity) mode. Taking advantage of the RWRP technique for installing a pickup goes a long way in canceling the hum or buzz effect. The Seymour Duncan SHPR-1n has been handcrafted with every P-Rail integrating an Alnico 5 bar magnet pair and includes 4-conductor lead wires for enabling customized wiring options.

Features

• Three-in-one pickup; single-coil, humbucker, and P90 tones from a single pickup
• Suitable for a range of musical styles and genres, including heavy rock, classic rock, blues, jazz, pop, country, and surf
• Passive pickup
• Magnet material: Alnico
• Neck pickup
• Four conductors

Check Current Prices

2. Seymour Duncan S/D TB-4JB Trembucker (Close Runner-Up)

Seymour Duncan claims that the S/D TB-4JB Trembucker continues to be one of their most sought-after pickups, and for good reasons. The S/D TB-4JB Trembucker is the F-spaced variant of Seymour Duncan’s JB Model humbucker. The JB Model humbucker pickup conceptualized in the vintage 70s reinforces the bridge position’s versatility in any standard humbucker compatible instrument.

Reinforced with Alnico 5 magnets and hot coils, the TB-4JB Trembucker impeccably reproduces a taut and expressive low-end, distinctive upper midrange, and rich choral highs. As a result, the Trembucker is your go-to pickup for practicing and excelling in thrash, grunge, hard rock, punk, fusion, country, and blues. The bottom-end is dominant and full; the upper midrange has a chunkiness and crispiness, with the highs being crusty and meticulous.

In the meantime, the hot output thrusts your guitar amp a bit harder, providing you with extra harmonics and sustain. For best results, pair the Trembucker with Seymour Duncan’s jazz neck pickup model, and you have a definitive Hot Rod humbucker set. In addition, this Seymour Duncan Trembucker features broader pole pieces with perfect spacing, helping in balanced positioning underneath the guitar strings with a wide-spaced hardtail bridge or tremolo.

Features

• Trembucker version of the iconic JB model
• Nickel-silver bottom plate
• Alnico 5 bar magnet
• 4-conductor lead wire for numerous wiring options
• Wax potted for minimizing microphonics and boosting durability

Check Current Prices

3. DiMarzio DP218 Super Distortion S

DiMarzio has overhauled the legendary Super Distortion® and made the already versatile pickup even more multifaceted in the form of DP218. The Super Distortion DP218 S Strat Humbucker Pickup serves as a perfect drop-in replacement for the Fender Stratocaster’s bridge position. The revamped Super Distortion S matches the original Super’s tonal range and power, resembling the vintage model.

Additionally, DiMarzio has kept in mind that you’ll slot in the DP218 Super Distortion S in the typical inclined bridge position. And the manufacturer has accordingly fine-tuned the sound reproduction quality and capability of the Super Distortion S humbucker pickup. The all-new DiMarzio DP218 Super Distortion humbucker pickup comes with 4-conductor lead wires enabling you to install it in split-coil or parallel humbucking modes.

On the other hand, this humbucker pickup from DiMarzio is compatible as an ideal bridge position combo with Fast Track 1™, The Chopper™, and Pro Track™. The fine-tuned Super Distortion S not only retains the punch of the traditional Super Distortion but excels in delivering a tauter bass and flatter treble. And unlike the insufficient splitting capacity of the dual-blade Strat® replacement pickups, the Super Distortion S voices excellent single-coil sound in split mode.

Features

• Passive humbucker
• 4-conductor lead wires
• Humbucker pickup for the bridge
• Magnet material: ceramic
• Number of strings: 6
• Tighter bass response and smoother treble

Check Current Prices

4. Seymour Duncan SH13 Dimebucker

Darrell Lance Abbott ‘aka’ Dimebag Darrell of ‘Damageplan’ and ‘Pantera’ fame revolutionized groove metal (a subgenre of heavy metal) with his sweltering crackling idiosyncratic style. Seymour Duncan has created the SH13 Dimebucker Dimebag Darrell Humbucker Pickup as a tribute to the renowned musician and songwriter. With the SH13 Dimebag Dimebucker embedded in your Strat, you can recreate nearly the whole tonal repertoire that Darrell did.

Sitting under the hood of the Dimebucker is a heavy-duty ceramic magnet and premium stainless steel blades for that butt-kicking low-end. The SH13 Dimebucker also lets you replicate that classic yesteryear warm tone with well-balanced distortion coupled with sharp, biting top-end. This Seymour Duncan humbucker pickup helps articulate scooped mids and crusty attack laced with the precise saturation level.

Blend those fat crispy notes with a packed taut bottom-end response, and you get the original Darrell Dimebag signature soundstage. Darrell went on record by articulating that the Dimebucker had a tone that was “very saturated not to the point of where it’s overly fuzzy, but it has a smooth and crunchy distortion tone.” He added that “it’ll give you some extra gain, but it won’t go so far as that your sound breaks up and is going crazy.”

For the best effects, you can go for Seymour Duncan’s Dimebag set for neck and bridge or pair with a Little’59 Bridge pickup.

Features

• Dual-blade humbucker
• Passive pickup
• Ceramic magnet
• 4-conductor lead wire for multiple wiring options
• Wax potted for reduced microphony
• Hard-hitting crisp sound thanks to the concentrated metal mass in the pickup’s core

Check Current Prices

5. Seymour Duncan SHPR-1b P-Rails

Hitherto, you were required to heave at least three electric basses or guitars to a performance or show for reproducing the entire gamut of vintage Strat, P-90, and humbucker tones. And then the Seymour Duncan SHPR-1b P-Rails came along and brought about a paradigm shift in the way guitar pickups were used. The P-Rails featuring a revolutionary PAF (patent applied for) design comes in perfectly handy for effectively splitting a full-scale humbucker into a single-coil or a P90.

The SHPR-1b P-Rails Humbucker pickup for the bridge by Seymour Duncan enables your instrument to reflect extensive, crunchy, and hard-hitting sounds, thanks to the asymmetrical coil configuration. The P-90 sounds are ultra-fat, and the Rail coils, when used in unison, sound very much like the in-between (between 2^nd and 4^th string positions) positions of the famous Stratocaster. Thus, the SHPR-1bP-Rails are suitable for use as an archetypal Trembucker or humbucker in any standard bass that adds to your instrument’s soundstage.

Nevertheless, if you want to make the most of this pickup’s extraordinary splitting capabilities for accomplishing the heavenly single-coil tunes, install a bridge and neck set. Using a DPDT (double pole double throw) three-way switch lets you capitalize on the P-Rails’ unique element and reproduce P-90 and humbucker tones. You can also achieve both humbucker tones and P-90 tones by using a push-pull two-way toggle.

Features

• Full-size humbucker pickup for the bridge
• Helps your instrument in voicing single-coil, P-90, and humbucker tones
• Alnico magnet
• Four conductors
• Six strings
• Needs mini-toggle or push-pull switch (2-way/3-way) for accessing all tones

Check Current Prices

6. Seymour Duncan SH-16 59 Custom Hybrid

The SH-16 59 Custom Hybrid Humbucker Bridge Pickup by Seymour Duncan comes across as a medium-output humbucker reproducing gravelly notes glittering with striking upper midrange chorals. The seasoned forum members of Seymour Duncan joined forces to create this humbucker after careful experimentation with coil-swapping for pushing the boundaries of tonality. As a result, you get grinding mids ideal for heavy metal and hard rock with the low-end pleasant and taut thanks to the Alnico 5 bar magnet and mismatched coils.

The SH-16 Custom Hybrid simulates a more distinct single-coil sound in split mode, somewhat resembling the little’59’s tone. And when paired with a Jazz neck or ‘59 neck pickup, you have a well-balanced setup with highlighted gritty sound.

Features

• Humbucker pickup for the bridge
• Hum canceling
• Medium-output
• Alnico 5 magnet
• Six strings
• Four conductor wires

Check Current Prices

Can All Humbuckers Be Coil Split?

Many guitarists mistake coil-splitting for coil-tapping though both the terms often used interchangeably are not the same. While coil-tapping has to do with single-coils switching on/off for modifying tone and output, coil-splitting refers to shutting down one of the dual coils in a humbucker to get a single-coil tonality. So now on to the main question-can, all humbuckers be coil-split.

Whether a humbucker will be splittable or not depends invariably on its wiring system-the pickup should come with four-conductor lead wires. Take a closer look at any split-coil humbucker pickup model, and you’ll find four wires colored black, white, red, and green. Apart from these wires, you’ll see a fifth wire (usually grey), the ground or earth wire.

Only humbucker models that come with four-conductor wires can be used as split-coil pickups. Bass pickups with shielded vintage- or coaxial-style single conductor wire cannot be used as splittable versions. So whether a particular humbucker can be used as a coil-split pickup or not ultimately boils down to its wiring mechanism.

Do Coil-Split Humbuckers Sound Good?

Speaking, a humbucker is a pair of single-coils of opposite polarity wired together for bucking hum, hence the name. A humbucker pickup delivers a louder, fuller, fatter sound at a higher output without the hum of a single coil. On the other hand, a single-coil reproduces singular tones characterized by more treble at less output but with noticeable microphonics.

So if you want your instrument to belt out both single-coil and humbucker tunes, why not simply install a humbucker in your guitar and switch off one of the coils. But, of course, it is easier said than done. On the contrary, what you’ll get to hear is flimsy, weak, and tinny sounds. To be specific, a split-coil humbucker will probably never be able to match the tonal quality of a premium P-90 or single-coil in split-mode.

Are there any other possibilities? Yes! You can buy an excellent single-coil-sized humbucker.

Can You Coil Split a Mini-Humbucker?

Yes, you can. You’ll need to follow some simple techniques, coil-splitting a mini-humbucker, but it needs to have four-conductor cables. You’ll also find many mini-humbucker models with four-conductor lead wires, including DiMarzio Firebird style splittable mini buckers in higher and lower gain variants.

Conclusion: Best Humbucker for Coil Splitting

It does not need to be emphasized that your preference and discernment influence your choice when selecting a split-coil humbucker. Before you make up your mind, reflect upon the need to use a split-coil humbucker pickup. At the same time, whether you’re planning to utilize the pickup in the neck or bridge position will also influence your decision.

Carefully consider the pros and cons of using a split-coil humbucker before you decide once and for all.

We think that the Seymour Duncan SHPR-1n is the best humbucker for coil splitting available on the market.