Need help with a Harley Benton's wiring

[Tyrannocaster]

I have a HB SC450+, which is basically a Les Paul with coil splitting humbuckers. This is actually a guitar that punches well above its price point, but it has one problem. They wired the pickups wrong (well, I think it's wrong, lol) and when you put it in coil split mode the middle position is not hum cancelling. I'd like to change that, but thinking this through is tying my little mind into knots. I just can't figure out the theory of what to do here; coil splitting is done via grounding one half of each humbucker, but in this case, although the result hums, it sounds right. So it's not as simple as being out of phase mechanically.

Maybe I'm overthinking this...can someone with a better grasp on this than I have please chime in?

[Tyrannocaster]

Probably shouldn't have used the words "Harley Benton", lol.

[andy_tchp]

Maybe I'm overthinking this...can someone with a better grasp on this than I have please chime in?

Probably.

If it's a true 'coil split' you have completely removed one of the coils - so along with not being part of the signal chain it is also not there to cancel the hum, so I would expect a resultant increase in noise.

'Middle' position doesn't matter like it does with a pair of reverse-wound reverse-polarity single coils. You're still missing the opposing 'split' coil out of the four.

Are Coil-tapped Humbuckers Still Noise Cancelling?

[Tyrannocaster]

Sorry, I didn't see your reply until now. Let's look at my stock Mexican Player JM with two split humbuckers; when you split them and put the switch in the middle position the resulting composite pickup is totally hum cancelling so it's possible to do. Fender got it right here and HB did not. But thinking about the possibilities for rewiring the HB puts my mind in a Mobius loop and I just can't figure it out, lol. It's actually quite a nice guitar and that's my only gripe about it, which is a nice compliment for something as cheap as it was.

[JSett]

Fender got it right here and HB did not.

And herein lies one of the major drawbacks of instruments like Harley Bentons

[Tyrannocaster]

Fender got it right here and HB did not.

And herein lies one of the major drawbacks of instruments like Harley Bentons

I don't understand all the HB hate on this site. They are cheap guitars, but (most of the time, from my experience) often much better than their price would suggest. I have three and they can stand up to their name brand equivalents just fine. Each one had a minor issue, big deal. My LP Jr had loose polepieces but I was going to swap the pickup out anyway; my 50s P Bass had a cheap output jack which I replaced; my LP clone has non-hum cancelling split pickups in the middle position.

The Fender MIM Player JM I referred to originally cost more than all three of my HBs together, so let's factor that in.

Every Gibson and Fender I've ever owned (and I've been playing since 1964) has had some sort of issue; there simply AREN'T any literally perfect guitars. I have two Squier CVs, a 60s JM and a 50s Strat; the JM is a fantastic instrument while the Strat is...let's be kind and just say it's not. But both of these guitars, even bought on sale, cost considerably more than any of my 3 HBs so my point is that everybody has inconsistent products. And don't get me started on the issues I've had with much more expensive guitars.

[JSett]

Fender got it right here and HB did not.

And herein lies one of the major drawbacks of instruments like Harley Bentons

I don't understand all the HB hate on this site. They are cheap guitars, but (most of the time, from my experience) often much better than their price would suggest. I have three and they can stand up to their name brand equivalents just fine. Each one had a minor issue, big deal. My LP Jr had loose polepieces but I was going to swap the pickup out anyway; my 50s P Bass had a cheap output jack which I replaced; my LP clone has non-hum cancelling split pickups in the middle position.

My comment was not hatred or dislike of HB guitars but just an observation of how the price-point they live in is indicative of issues you should expect. I played one once and it felt every penny of what it was priced at. To produce a guitar at the money they're asking, ship it across the world, and then to you, AND make profit something has to be compromised and it's either quality of materials or workers standards/pay. Or both.

I'm no snob, I have vintage US instruments alongside cheap Asian instruments and love them all. HBs are the Behringer pedals of guitars and that's fine.