Wiring of the dummy coil in the '61 Masterbuilt
For all those of you who are wondering how Thomas has hooked up the dummy coil in his 61 Strat (and in the 61 Masterbuilt, of course), here's the wiring diagram:
The tone potentiometer next to the output socket of the guitar (neck tone) is designed as a push-push switch, which activates and deactivates the dummy coil.
By the way
Of course you can experiment with different coils. Half a humbucker (just one coil of a humbucker) for example can sound really good, too.
The hum reduction depends a lot on where the coil is mounted. Thomas squeezes it in between the pots and the 5 way switch - or he mounts it directly onto the body underneath the pots.