Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

[devilfish]

Hi,

herws a picture of JB trembucker in my highway 1 strat. i was told i needed a trembucker because of the bridge spacing (vintage style tremelo bridge with the bigger saddles.)

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/cheerup347/DSC01321.jpg

the single coils are perefectly in line the with the strings but the g,b,and high e strings dont match up very well with the trembucker.

is this ok? it sounds ok to me but want to know if thats normal really.

i think im getting another one of these bridges for my latest strat projhect so i need to know if need a trembucker or humbucker because of the spacing.

thanks

 

[Iron Horse]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

You'd need a TTB, if that's a TB, at least normal spaced bucker is worse.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

I have a highway 1 strat too, and you're going to want to get the pickup as wide as you can get it in the bridge. I recently ordered a pickup, and the guy used 53mm spacing, and the strings are still wider than the polepieces down there. Ideally, it'd be 54-55mm spacing, but my point is that the highway 1's have really wide string spacing.

 

[Toner]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

Buy a blade style pickup, then change the magnet to your liking if you want to get that far into it, hehheh, those pickups work with any spacing, because then if you want to sell that f or ff spaced one, the buyer's market is lower because they are specialized.

 

[devilfish]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

whats a TTB?, im not going to change it now because it sound alright to me...will it still function ok?

i really dont want to havce to buy a new one, hoe does the whoel string spacing thing work?

how do you know if you need a bigger one?

thanks

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

True, a blade type pickup would effectively solve the problem, dunno however if one of the indeed very limited number of models in production would do what you want...

I wonder what those Fender dudes were thinking with the HW1 anyway...

EDIT:just read you last post.
It will certainly work fine, the players are divided among those that think it makes some difference and those saying it makes absolutely no difference at all (apart from aesthetics)
TTB is nothing, he meant an ever wider trembucker (TB), humbucker (HB) spacing is narrower than trembucker spacing, that's all.

The whole point of the pole pieces being under the strings is so that their magnetic field is directly under the center of string vibration.
I bet if it's only a little off it'll work just fine but as I stated earlier, it's debatable if it'll have an impact on the sound...

CheerS!

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

I wonder what those Fender dudes were thinking with the HW1 anyway...

Traditional Fender string spacing.

Fender made from 1954 - 1969
2 7/32 string spacing

American Reissue Strat or
Highway 1 Strat (up to & including year 2005) or
Custom Shop Relic or
WD exact vintage or
Stewart MacDonald vintage or
Jimmie Vaughan Strat or
Eric Johnson Strat
2 7/32 string spacing

Left-handed Vintage or
Stevie Ray Vaughan Strat (SRV)
2 7/32 string spacing

Made in Mexico Classic (50's,60's,70's) or
Mexican Gold Plated Deluxe
6-pivot bridge
2 7/32 string spacing

Unfortunately, unless you have one of the following, you will have vintage string spacing.

Made in Mexico Standard Series Strat or
Highway 1 Strat (2006 and later)
Comes stock with metric arm
6-pivot bridge
2 1/16 string spacing

American Standard Strat or
American Series Strat or
Strat Plus, etc.
Comes stock w/ 10-32 threaded arm
2-pivot bridge
2 1/16 string spacing

American Deluxe Series Strat
Comes stock w/ proprietary pop-in arm
2-pivot bridge
2 1/16 string spacing

 

[jimijames]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

personally, I prefer the wider spacing, as I use my fingers a lot in conjunction with my picks. Also, it helps if you're trying to learn 'slap' guitar, the wider spacing gives you more room for error when you're wildly throwing your had at your guitar to get the pop you want from the strings.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

... I have a 2000 MiM and always though the string spacing was too small, not larger...

Maybe it was at the nut?

Bah, forget it...

 

[devilfish]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

the serial number on mine is Z4, so its a 2004 model.

i have no problems with the wide spacing, i like it and have no problems playing it but its annoyiogn when it comes to pickups.

 

[kjrocks]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

A trem spaced would take of the alignment problem but I doubt you would hardly notice any difference in tone. If it sounds good now forget it and play the snot out of it

 

[Iron Horse]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

There's no TTB. But if there was, it would be wider than TB or HB

 

[rumbleinbriton]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

American Standard Strat or
American Series Strat or
Strat Plus, etc.
Comes stock w/ 10-32 threaded arm
2-pivot bridge
2 1/16 string spacing

Is this right? I thought the Standard/Plus/Ultra strats were 2 3/16 string spacing???

If so, which would be better for a 2 3/16 spaced bridge? Regular HB or Trembucker?

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

A trem spaced would take of the alignment problem but I doubt you would hardly notice any difference in tone. If it sounds good now forget it and play the snot out of it

+1

 

[rumbleinbriton]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

OK it looks as if the info in Ayrton's post above came from this page at Callaham's:

http://www.callahamguitars.com/blocks.htm

And according to that page, it seems all Fender trem bridges are either 2 7/32" or 2 1/16" string spacings.

But looking at this page which sells Fender parts:

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_genuinefenderstrattrem.htm

A lot of the Fender string spacings are 2 3/16"



So 2 questions:

Which Fenders are 2 7/32, which are 2 3/16" and which are 2 1/16" string spacing?

And which HB pup is most commonly used for 2 3/16" ..regular ot trembucker?

 

[rumbleinbriton]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

I did some searching on the Fender forum, and apparently the 2 7/32" and 2 3/16" are BOTH considered the Vintage spacing.. its just a matter of who you're asking Callaham says vintage is 7/32, guitarpartsresource says 3/16.


Now what about the "inbetween" trems like Wilkinson or Hipshot which are 2 1/8"? I would guess most would use a regular HB, not trembucker?

 

[kjrocks]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

You could go either way on those "inbetweens" no problem. I'd probably go with regular spacing because you're more likely to find those in stock in most places. Otherwise I'd go with trem spaced just because I think it looks better.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

Trem spaced pickups started coming out in the end of the Floyd Rage.... F Spaced Dimarzio and Duncan Trembuckers seem to fit Floyd and Fenders American Standard bridges to a tee.... MiM Standards as well.... Those wider pickups work for modern Fenders and Floyds....

But the point is nothing really lines up with a Vintage Fender bridge as far as full sized Humbuckers go... they are spaced WIDE!!! even Fender Strat pickups poll pieces are sitting on the edge at the Bridge postition

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

I would get a micrometer and measure the distance between the poles on the pickups and the string grooves on the saddles. Also look at the strings and see if they line up with a equal amount of space from the edge of the fretboard from E to E.

When I have seen strings that don't line up well it is sometimes a problem with the neck angle. A lot of neck pockets have considerable play. That means the holes for the mounting screws aren't aligned properly so the neck isn't centered. I have had to dowel and re-drill more than once.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Does this look right. trembucker spacing?

Devilfish, you could split the difference a little more evenly by bending the pickup ears in the appropriate direction with a pair of approriate pliers. Don't forget to put tape on the jaws to keep the cosmetics, should you want to sell the pickup at some point.