Question on the SSH coil split sounds

[Jo-]

Hello everyone, well I have been enjoying my new baby the Special Semi Hollow which I just got a week ago. I love the tone of this beast and also how it resonates. As I don't normally play very loud the sound that comes from the body is quite loud and gives an extra dimension to it's tone and feel. Somehow it's very different to my full hollowbody experience. The neck also feels a wee bit chunkier.

Normally on guitars I spend most my time playing on the neck pickup, but I have decided that at the moment my favourite tone comes from the neck and narrowfield sound. When switching to this option the sound is just so sweet and smooth ... I love it.

However, when coming to the coil split sounds I have to admit that I really can't hear a noticeable difference between the split and unsplit sounds. Are they really that close in sound? Granted as I don't have a proper amp here in the UK (I'm using a Yahama THR 10ii W which sounds very nice for what it is) but I mostly play through the Line 6 Pod Go with headphones. I've tried various different patch configurations but I still can't hear a difference in tones. It may be a slight ooomph quieter, but just a slight bit. I also hear slight changes if I toggle the switch back and forth while letting a chord ring out, but it's not much of anything.

I've tried searching youtube but all the videos I looked at - they demo'd all the unsplit sounds first, then moved to the split sounds. I couldn't find a direct comparison with a pickup split/un-split.

Have I just got old cloth ears now? Or should I really be hearing a very noticeable difference with the switching?

Also one thing I noticed where the mini toggles are is that the recess for them isn't smoothly sanded out. There's a little ridge on one side of the 2 mini toggles. Are they all like this? Not that it bothers me any, it just seemed weird it wasn't a nice smooth area. (see pic).

 

[Rider1260]

It is a subtle change , a bit extra treble / shimmer.
Since there is little or no volume drop it becomes more of a tone and attack change becomes more apparent the more aggressively you play ( IMHO )
the splits paired with the Narrow Field in the center ( 2+4 position ) is really fun.

 

[Mozzi]

They are not splits but tapped - the MT in 58/15 MT stands for multi-tap so you are getting a tapped Humbucker as opposed to a Split which tends to drop the output a bit so they are not as hot or quite as thick sounding. It can be quite subtle with the neck - depending on the amp and how you are playing. If you have it set up on the verge of break-up, the difference will be a bit more noticeable - not break up as much.

 

[docteurseb]

Exactly I find that on my CU24-08 with MT pickups the 'single coil' sound can be hard to distinguish when using my Line 6 Helix LT, but with the real Mesa Boogie it's more obvious (still subtle though).

As for the recess area, how visible it is varies greatly from guitar to guitar. Some are perfectly smooth, others aren't.
On my CU24-08s (only have one left) it's also noticeable, yours might be a bit more obvious looking up-close but I wouldn't worry about it:

 

[garrett]

I haven't played the MT pickups, but they work the same as the 408 style pickups, so I think my experience transfers.

If you're playing isolated, especially low volume and/or with gain, the difference is slight. When I put the Brent Mason treble in my One, at first I called it a slight mid cut/hum generator switch. It's more noticeable in a mix, for example when playing along with songs through something like the THR.

Where it really shines is on stage. When you're pushing some decent air and in a live mix, the difference is huge.