Do I really need a trembucker?

punx77 · Dec 24, 2014

So my Fender Strat 50's Classic has a wider string spacing that in theory requires a trembucker over a humbucker. But I'm stuck with a humbucker to be installed. Is this a major problem? When googling, either people will say it doesn't matter at all and the rest just quote pages explaining the theory but without actually having experienced a bad combination themselves it seems.

So what to do, go through all the hassle of selling the humbucker, buy a trembucker, buy or have someone modify the pickguard and maybe even the routing because of the wider space?

dominus · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

I had a volume drop on the low and high E strings before. Most people say it doesn't matter. I would err on the side of caution personally.

Gibson 1964 · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

I don't think you would have to worry about routing. Modifying the pickguard is a minimal job with a knife and 5 minutes and maybe some sandpaper.

While the humbucker might work fine, trying it would be the easy way. If you have a volume drop on the e's, (Which I have personally experienced.) swap the two pickups. The mod to your pickguard should be less than 10 minutes, and that is all it would take. The volume drop is most noticeable on a high e.

SoundAt11 · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

From my experience, I notice 2 differences:
tone: a little more bass and treble due to the high and low E strings being directly over the polepieces of the trembucker. I had an SG that I used lots of different standard spaced Duncan Customs in and once I put a Trembucker-spaced Custom in (that actually lined up with the wide-spaced bridge), the tone really improved: more bass, more treble, and it just seemed louder to me.
visual: for starters, the wider pickup is the same approximate size as your strat single coils. Having a standard humbucker, it's not the smaller coils cause it too look a little small compare to those tall single coils. That and if you stare at your guitar a lot, the fact that the poles on a standard humbucker aren't lined up with the strings may just bother you.

punx77 · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

Visually it wouldn't bother me at all, I just worry slapping a humbucker on an f-spaced guitar would sound noticebly weird. I take it from your post that it would and that I SHOULD go through the trouble to get a trembucker?

Gibson 1964 · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

My thought would be if you have the humbucker already, sure, try it. But if you don't or could exchange, I would go for trembucker as just the safer option. I might sell one and buy a used trembucker myself.

punx77 · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

Would installing it at an angel like van halen did be an option (in theory). Isn't this the reason for angeled humbuckers in f-spaced guitars?

HALENisking · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

It was just kind of an attempt to compromise by getting one pole of each coil under both E's. My #1 has an angled bridge route, I think it sounds great. But I would almost always order an F spaced humbucker before routing into the body.

punx77 · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

Ok, thank you. I'm just a bit worried because I hear some people claim the TB-4 sounds a bit different than the SH-4 in favour of the SH-4.

HALENisking · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

I've generally found it wise to give in to any nagging in my head if:

A)I and others can't seem to prove the worry completely wrong in my eyes.

B)I can afford it.

No doubling back to think that way, helps keep your mind on the music. If you can't try it out to hear it for some reason then buy a trembucker is my advice.

punx77 said:
Ok, thank you. I'm just a bit worried because I hear some people claim the TB-4 sounds a bit different than the SH-4 in favour of the SH-4.

Also that makes no sense.

Kac · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

you don't "need" one. I've operated strats with standard and tremspaced humbuckers and also an angled humbucker as well. I really couldn't tell enough of a difference to warrant changing any of the ones I had to anything else. That being said I would only use trembuckers in wider spaced guitars going forward because in my head it might make some difference whether I actually realize it or not.

Jeffblue · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

For F-spaced bridges I would always prefer the spacing to be correct. I find it annoying if I have or work on a guitar that has strings not lined up with the pickup pole pieces, at least somewhat. It looks wrong and is not good methodology. Common sense will dictate that a Gibson spaced pickup in a Fender spaced bridge that when you bend the strings, you'll move out-of-range of the pole pieces. That makes for poor engineering of optimum tone. Just sayin'.

punx77 · Dec 25, 2014

Re: Do I really need a trembucker?

But I'm not bothered by the looks of poles not aligning. I'm not OCD like that. All I care about if it actually makes a difference and not what people only think it will in THEORY but what they've actually experienced in REALITY. I am perfectly aware of what the various sources have to say about it but who have heard it?

I read someone saying that people have been playing with regular humbuckers on f-spaced floyd guitars for ages before the trembucker was even invented without problem. Is this true?

Edgecrusher · Dec 25, 2014