Pickup Spacing

[jalbertochavez]

K, here's a noob question but I gotta ask it. I'm gonna build a guitar with a 1-11/16" nut width on the neck, a soloist body with a recessed tune-o-matic/string thru bridge rout, and a tone pros bridge. It'll just have neck & bridge humbuckers. My question is, am I going to need regular spaced humbuckers or F-spaced humbuckers?  :help:

 

[riverbluff]

Should be regular spaced.

 

[Funky Phil]

Go for the normal spa.cing...
F spaced (or trembucker in SD speak) is for Floyds or Fender spaced bridges.
The nut spacing makes very little difference (it's a long way from the pickups)

 

[JamesL]

Well, That's what I thought too... Come to find out, When I brought my warmoth tele to Seymour Duncan He took out my Reg. Humbeckers and gave me two new Trembuckers... He said "It will give you a truer representation of the string spacing". Assuming that Seymour Duncan knows more about pickups and guitars in general than I do (Considering he's been t it for like 45 years...) I listened. Of course the bridge I had chosen might have something to do with it.... I have a strat hardtail bridge from warmoth... Hope this helps! Good luck. ~James

 

[lp1958]

It's all to do with the spacing of the bridge.

The STP and TOM bridges (the Gotoh ones at least) on the warmoth site are 52mm string spacing so if your humbucker is near to the bridge the F Spacing pickups would be the closest match as they are 52mm spacing.  Where as with the neck pickup you could go for the standard spacing (48mm I think) as the strings naturally convene towards the bridge.

Gibson sized bridges are quite a bit smaller spacing and there for the standard spacing would be the one to go for.

I don't think that this is such a big issue though.  The majority of production guitars don't quite line up.  And the Fender Strat is nearly always a compromise as the neck pick misses the string completely.  In all cases without any problems.

On my last project I just strung up my guitar and measured the strings where the pickups would be.  But of course that is no help if you want to order your pickups ready for the start of your build.

I'm no expert, these are just my observations.

 

[ildar]

Not all TOM bridges are created equally. Some are wider F spaced and some are traditional. Check the specs on the bridge and proceed accordingly.