Last Updated on December 7, 2023 by Justin Thomas
Warm & thick tones of humbucker or spanky & bright tones of a single-coil…it’s hard to decide (been there). But what if you could get the best of both worlds?
Basically, you can. Coil-split enables you to split your beloved humbucker and use only 1 coil of it. Pretty cool right? But I have to be 100% honest here, split humbucker doesn’t necessarily sound exactly like a single-coil pickup (more about this later), but it does get close and adds a ton of versatility into your arsenal.
And what do I think of the coil-split feature? It’s not a must for me, but it for sure is awesome. That’s why I had a blast putting together this article listing the top-notch guitars with coil split. I also reveal my 3 favorites. So I basically picked the best guitars with coil split from hundreds of different guitars…just for you! If you have any questions, just check the FAQ section or leave a comment.
Let’s get started!
Author: Teemu Suomala
29 Guitars With A Coil Split
Nowadays you can get guitars with a coil split cheaply. One such example is Donner DST-152 which also comes with accessories. I got a chance to review it and it was surprisingly smooth to play and offered solid all-around tones. You can check the full review of the DST-152 here. It’s a solid option for beginners and budget players.
Price Range Icon Meanings:
$= $185-299
$$= $300-599
$$$= $600-999
$$$$= $1000-1599
$$$$$= $1600
*Consider all links in this post to be affiliate links. If you purchase, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission. It helps us to keep the lights on, thanks! 🙂
| Model | Pickups | Body Style | Price Range | Check Current Price (affiliate links) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harley Benton ST-70 Black Paisley – Cheapest Guitar With A Coil-Split | 2 x Roswell STA Alnico-5 vintage ST-Style single coils & 1 x Roswell HAF Alnico-5 humbucker | Stratocaster | $ | Thomann* |
| Harley Benton SC-450Plus VB Vintage Series – Cheapest Single-Cut (Les Paul) With A Coil Split | 2 x Roswell LAF Alnico-5 Vintage-Style humbuckers | Single-Cut | $ | Thomann |
| Donner DST-152 – Guitar Pack – Read The Full Review | 2 x Single-coils/Ceramic & 1 x Humbucker/Ceramic | Modern Stratocaster | $ | Donner – Amazon |
| Harley Benton HB-35Plus – Cheapest Semi-Hollowbody With A Coil Split | 2 x Roswell LAF AlNiCo 5 humbuckers with caps | Semi-Hollowbody | $ | Thomann |
| Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted – Cheap Telecaster With A Coil Split | Roswell HAF-B AlNiCo-5 & HAF-N AlNiCo-5 humbuckers | Telecaster | $ | Thomann |
| Yamaha Pacifica 112V – Best Budget – Read The Full Review | 2 x Yamaha Alnico V Single-coil & 1 x Yamaha Alnico V Humbucker | Modern Stratocaster | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Epiphone SG Muse | 2 x AlNiCo Classic Pro humbuckers | SG | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Squier Contemp Jaguar HH | 2 x Squier Atomic humbuckers | Jaguar | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Epiphone Les Paul Classic Worn | 2 x AlNiCo Classic Pro humbuckers | Single-Cut | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Guild Starfire I DC | 2 x Guild HB-2 humbuckers | Semi-Hollowbody | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| ESP LTD EC-256 | ESP Designed LH-150N & ESP Designed LH-150B Humbucker | Single-Cut | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Danelectro 59X Aqua | 1 x P90 single-coil & 1 x splittable dual lipstick humbucker | Double Cut | $$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Epiphone Les Paul Modern Figured | 1 x ProBucker & 1 xProBucker 3 humbuckers | Single-Cut | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Fender Player Series Jaguar | New Player AlNiCo II Jaguar single coil & New Player AlNiCo III humbucker | Jaguar | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy | 2 x Fishman Fluence humbuckers | Single-Cut | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Yamaha Pacifica 612V II – Best Overall | 2 x Seymour Duncan SSL-1 single coils & 1 x Seymour Duncan Custom5 humbucker | Modern Stratocaster | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Fender Player Series Tele HH – Read The Review | 2 x New Player AlNiCo II humbuckers | Telecaster | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Schecter C-1 Exotic Spalted Maple – Schecter With A Coil Split | 1 x Schecter Diamond ’78 Special & 1 x Schecter Diamond ’78 | Modern Stratocaster | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| PRS SE Custom 24/08 – Coil Split for Both Humbuckers | 2x PRS TCI “S” humbuckers | PRS Double Cut | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Ibanez High Performance RGA42HPTQM | 2 x DiMarzio Fusion Edge humbuckers | Modern Stratocaster | $$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Charvel Pro Mod San Dimas SD1 HH FR | Custom Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro APH-1N Humbucker & Custom Seymour Duncan Full Shred SH-10B Humbucker | Modern Stratocaster | $$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Fender Player Plus Strat HSS | 2 Player Plus Noiseless Strat Single Coils & 1 Player Plus Humbucker | Stratocaster | $$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| ESP LTD EC-1000 Piezo – Best Premium | 1 x Seymour Duncan ’59 & 1 x Seymour Duncan JB humbuckers & Fishman piezo system | Single-Cut | $$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| Schecter Ultra-III IVYP – Coil Split for 3 Humbuckers | 3 x Schecter Diamond Alnico Plus Gold Foil Humbuckers | Single-Cut Offset | $$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| ESP LTD H3-1000FR | EMG F-57 Brushed Gold & EMG 66TW Brushed Gold humbuckers | Modern Stratocaster | $$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| D’Angelico Excel Mini DC | 2 x Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker with gold cover | Semi-Hollowbody | $$$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| PRS Satin S2 Vela Semi-Hollow | 1 x PRS S2 Type-D Singlecoil & 1 x PRS S2 Starla Humbucker | Semi-Hollowbody | $$$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| D’Angelico Deluxe Bedford | 2 x Seymour Duncan STR52-1 single coils & 1 x Seymour Duncan SM-1b mini humbucker | Semi-Hollowbody | $$$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
| PRS CE 24 | 2 x PRS 85/15 humbuckers | PRS Double Cut | $$$$$ | Sweetwater – Thomann |
3 Best Guitars With A Coil-Split – My Favorites
Best Budget – Yamaha Pacifica 112V
What I like
- Stays in tune well
- Good hardware
- Versatile tones and coil-split
- Comfortable and effortless to play
- Feels like a more expensive guitar
- The contour for picking hand is really comfortable
- Narrow neck
- The synchronized Vintage Tremolo bridge works great
- Coil-split on a budget guitar is always awesome
What I don’t like
- Middle single-coil and split humbucker are nothing amazing
- The neck feels slightly thicker than with many other Strats and Modern Strats
Who is it for?
With HSS pickups + humbucker coil-split setup, this guitar can handle pretty much any music out there from soul and folk to hard rock and heavy metal (not the best guitar for really heavy metal though). Playing is comfortable and the hardware is great. What more you can ask from a cheap guitar? Pretty much nothing. Pacifica 112V is my favorite budget guitar with a coil split.
You can read my full in-depth review of this guitar here: Yamaha Pacifica 112V Review.
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Best Overall – Yamaha Pacifica 612V
What I like
- Beautiful flamed maple looks
- Coil-split adds versatility
- Really comfortable playability
- Amazing bang for the buck (Graph Tech TUSQ nut, Wilkinson Tremolo bridge, Seymor Duncan pups, etc.)
- Great all-around quality
- Stay in tune extremely well (Grover Locking tuners)
- Narrow neck
What I don’t like
- Sometimes finish issues out of the box
Who is it for?
One of my favorite mid-range electric guitars. Offers better hardware and pickups than many hundreds of dollars more expensive guitars, and oh boy, these Seymor Duncan’s (SSL-1 & SSL-1 RWRP & TB-14) sound awesome. I’m not exaggerating. This guitar sounds good. One of the most value-packed guitars out there and the best overall of this article with flying grades.
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Best Overall – ESP LTD EC-1000 Piezo QM
What I like
- Great metal tones
- Stunning looks
- Spot on the action and smooth neck make this axe comfortable to play
- Works well with small hands too
- Versatile
- High quality
- Tons of different color options are available
- Piezo adds a ton of versatility
What I don’t like
- Upper fret access is not great
- The use of plastic nut feels a bit cheap for this price
Who is it for?
I’ve been lovin’ this guitar since I first tried it out a couple of years ago. With this axe, you get excellent value for money. It’s built for metal but can handle different music too. And this model with a piezo just brings that extra notch of versatility to the table.
For people who mostly play metal, but want to explore other genres too, this guitar is definitely worth the money.
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FAQ
What is A Coil Split on Guitar?
Coil split allows players to split a humbucker pickup (humbucker pickup has 2 coils) and only use another coil of it. This allows us to get single-coil-like tones out of a guitar with humbucker(s).
Coil Split vs Coil Tap? Same Thing?
Coil split and coil tap are not the same thing. Players, music stores, and manufacturers sometimes confuse these terms. But now, let’s get things straight!
Coil Split
Coil split splits a humbucker and allows players to use only 1 coil of a humbucker. This unlocks single-coil-like tones.
Coil Tap
The coil tap allows players to change between taking the signal from the end of the coil wire and taking the signal somewhere from the middle of the wire. This enables you to get tons of different tones out of only 1 single coil pickup.
Is Coil Split Worth it?
If you want more versatility out of your guitar with humbucker(s) and the idea of getting single-coil-like tones out of it sounds good, then coil-split is most likely worth it.
It should be noted that coil-split tones don’t necessarily sound exactly the same as single-coil tones, but they for sure sound similar.
If you don’t care about single-coil tones at all, coil-split is probably not a must-feature for you.
What Pickups Can Be Coil Split?
Humbuckers can be split since they have 2 coils. Single coils (lipstick pickups, P90s, etc.) can’t be split.
Do Split Humbuckers Sound Like Single Coils?
Most players do say that split humbuckers do not sound like single coils. But personally, I think that difference is not huge, and if I were blind tested it would be hard to spot which one is which.
Check this video and try to spot the difference:
Can You Split A Single Coil Pickup?
Splitting single-coil pickup in a way that humbuckers are split is not possible, since single-coils have only 1 coil. A coil tap (not the same thing as a coil split), which allows us to take the signal from the end and somewhere from the middle of a coil wire can be used with single coil pickups.
What is A Push-Pull Coil Split?
Push-pull coil split refers to a way that’s used to turn coil split on and off. Push-pull means that you pull one knob of the guitar (usually a tone knob) to split the coil, and you push the knob back in its place to un-split the coil.
Conclusion
That was some pure coil-split magic…and by this, I mean that there were some truly awesome guitars featured, and definitely guitar for almost everyone. From blues machines to metal shredders.
I hope this article helped you out, and maybe you even decided to get one of the guitars featured. If you have any questions, leave a comment, I and the GND team are here for you.
Now go, my son, and Rock!
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5 Best Electric Guitars Under $200 in 2023 – Budget Guitars In-Depth Tested
5 Best Metal Guitars for Beginners in 2023 – Kickstart Your Shred Journey
Yamaha Pacifica 112V Review – In-Depth Tested
5 Best Electric Guitars for Small Hands in 2023 – The Only Guide You Need
