First Trembuckers?

waylay00

New member
Hey guys - wow, long time since posting here. Got back into the gear side of things a lot more and had forgotten just how addicting it is...good to be back.

Anyways, quick question. When were the first tremolo spaced Duncans made? If I were try to pick up a, say, vintage Custom or JB from the ‘80s with trembucker spacing, does such a thing exist? Or were they all the same? Did anyone really even care that much back then (I realize the angled pickup phenomenon was a result of this, so I guess so...)?

Thanks
 
The first "Trembucker", the (original) Parallel Axis, was officially introduced in 1988. It seems "Trembucker" spaced versions of regular models began to appear very shortly after, sometime in '89 or '90.

Although an exact date is hard to pin down, it's fairly safe to say that the pickup above is from the '89-'94 period. The "Made in USA" stamp was used throughout the '90s on Trembucker baseplates, even though it had been changed to "Made in America" on standard-spaced baseplates at the end of the '80s.
 
People angling humbuckers came from Eddie Van Halen. The misalignment has to be really bad to make a difference, so most people doing it is likely because they’re copying him.
 
Back
Top