Possibly a question for the more technically inclined.
A quick way to split/tap a humbucker would be to short-out one of the pairs of windings (to bypass it) and effectively deliver a single-coil output.
However, i wonder if there is any side-effects, or possible damage, as a result?
Usually shorting out devices that produce a voltage (batteries, dynamos, etc) is not a good idea but as the voltage output from a single-winding of a pickup is very low i wouldn't expect any adverse effects as a result.
I cant imagine the coils overheating but maybe it will create some other load or tonal change?
The other way is to switch the 'feed' from either mid-way (split) or after both coils in series (full humbuck) but this leaves the "unused" coil open (and not shorted out) which can produce some output from the unused coil as a result. Whether this is a good thing or not is subjective to the player.
Be interested to hear some opinions here.
thanks all