A coil tap is a wiring feature found on some electrical

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

inductor An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a Passivity (engineering), passive two-terminal electronic component, electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field when an electric current flows through it. An inductor typic ...

s and coil pickups, all of which are sets of wire coils. The coil tap(s) are points in a wire coil where a

conductive In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of Electric charge, charge (electric current) in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are common electrical conductors. The flow ...

patch has been exposed (usually on a loop of wire that extends out of the main coil body). When the coil taps are disconnected, the coil operates as normal (see

). When a coil tap is connected to one end of the coil (or the end disconnected and reconnected to the tap), the section of coil between the tap and its connected end is bypassed - effectively reducing the number of turns in the coil.

Uses

In a

, coil taps are often used on both the input and output coils, to compensate for differing supply

potential Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple r ...

and to provide a range of output potentials respectively. Coil taps on inductors are quite rare, but are sometimes used for band switching in tuning circuits. Coil pickups used with measuring instruments often feature coil taps to compensate for band rejection or equipment input impedance. They can also be used as a rudimentary method for

telephone tapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

. Single coil magnetic pickups found in electric guitars can be coil tapped to reduce the number of windings around the magnet. A tapped single coil pickup typically contains three wires: a ground, an output, and a tapped output - with the two outputs generally wired to a switch on the guitar. The guitarist can then choose between the loud, punchy, midrange-heavy sound of the entire coil, or 'tap' into the inner coil for a quieter, yet bright vintage tone with a more clear and detailed high end. Many guitarists mistakenly refer to humbucker coil splits as coil taps, however, this is incorrect.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coil Tap Electromagnetic components