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Wooden Pickup Spacers?

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  • Wooden Pickup Spacers?

    I've done some searches and nothing useful has turned up.
    I've noticed that some vintage type humbuckers have wooden spacers (I assume most pickups use plastic.
    Does the wood make any difference or is it strictly a snob factor?

  • #2
    Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

    wood was traditionally used back in the 50's. does it make a tonal difference? not that anyone will hear on stage. not that i can hear in the studio ymmv

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    • #3
      Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

      What about non-potted pickups, would the spacer material have an amount of influence?
      My mum says I'm speshal...

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      • #4
        Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

        I can't see that making any difference at all, potted or not.

        The wood ones are nice and easy to make yourself, with some basic tools. Then again, so are plastic ones.
        Originally posted by LesStrat
        Yogi Berra was correct.
        Originally posted by JOLLY
        I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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        • #5
          Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

          I really can't imagine how wood can make a difference in the sound.
          Administrator of the SDUGF

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          • #6
            Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

            The only spacer that could make a difference is a magnetic one.

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            • #7
              Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

              The only way a spacer could influence tone (assuming an inert material) is if it was so mis shapen or so soft that the bobbin could move even once tightened down.

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              • #8
                Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                Listen, if y'all can't hear that maple spacers lend a woodier, more organic tone, I don't know what to tell you.









                Fine, it probably makes no difference. But maple is prettier, so if I ever disassemble the pickup, mine will look nicer.









                Full disclosure, I have no idea what kind of spacers are in any of my pickups.

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                • #9
                  Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                  Originally posted by Mincer View Post
                  I really can't imagine how wood can make a difference in the sound.
                  I'm putting this on the record. Next time we spark a tonewood debate I'm quoting this with zero context.
                  You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
                  Whilst you can only wonder why

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                  • #10
                    Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                    Originally posted by David Garner View Post
                    Listen, if y'all can't hear that maple spacers lend a woodier, more organic tone, I don't know what to tell you.









                    Fine, it probably makes no difference. But maple is prettier, so if I ever disassemble the pickup, mine will look nicer.









                    Full disclosure, I have no idea what kind of spacers are in any of my pickups.
                    Eric Johnson prefers balsa spacers because they sound more airy to his ears than maple.


                    :P
                    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                    Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                      What I want to know is, have any of you tried mahogany?

                      Seriously though, it's hard to figure how they could make any appreciable difference. Pickup makers who want to be vintage correct use 'em anyway.

                      When Tim Shaw was designing a new pickup for Gibson - one intended to sound as much like the original PAFs as possible - he chose to use plastic spacers. Tim knows what he's doing when it comes to pickups and these sound great; they bring a pretty good price on the used market, especially for a factory Gibson pickup.

                      Still, many boutique winders (including some guys who have studied vintage PAFs extensively) use wood. Not sure whether that's for any tonal purpose or if it's just so they can say they do.
                      .
                      "You should know better by now than to introduce science into a discussion of voodoo."
                      .

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                      • #12
                        Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                        I don't always use spacers
                        My mum says I'm speshal...

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                        • #13
                          Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                          Ive got a guitar with Wooden pickup spacers -1979 Pedulla MVP

                          maybe on a spectral analyzer you could see some micro roll off -but absolutely nothing you could hear.
                          “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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                          • #14
                            Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                            The only reason Gibson used wooden spacers is because they were made with scrap materials, so no added cost other than manufacturing. And for the record, Gibson made p'ups considering'em as a "necessary evil" to be able to sell their guitars. And it still is, if you ask me.

                            /Peter
                            Peter Pedersen aka Discharged
                            Kolding, Denmark

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                            • #15
                              Re: Wooden Pickup Spacers?

                              Originally posted by Discharged View Post
                              And for the record, Gibson made p'ups considering'em as a "necessary evil" to be able to sell their guitars. And it still is, if you ask me.

                              /Peter
                              Chapman thinks the same thing, but for different reasons. They openly admit the only reason they include pickups in a guitar is because they wouldn't sell without them. They heavily believe in pickup swaps.
                              You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
                              Whilst you can only wonder why

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