Gibson pole piece spacing

[Jazz Rock]

I just read Voodoochile thread about SD pups and Gibson covers. it reminded methat I wanted to ask around about the gibson bridge pickups spacing like the 498T stock in the studios. Is it what you call a trem-spaced humbucker?

And if it is two different things, would you prefer to replace the stock bridge pup by a normal spaced or a trem spaced bucker?

 

[callous_frigid_chill]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

Well, a trem spaced humbucker will typically be in a guitar with a trem, so I don't think the Gibson pickup would be trem-spaced.

 

[Jazz Rock]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

Fair enough. :chairfall But what is closer to the gibson bridge spacing, a normal pup or trem one?

 

[ES350]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

The 'normal' pole spacing is Gibson-correct...I don't think they reinvented their pickup tooling for one modern Gibson model...trem spacing is for the pointy 80's dreadsticks with the 'Roid Floze.

 

[big_black]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

Yep. Normal spacing is what you want for a Gibson hardtail.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

I beg to differ. This is a normal spaced Seymour Duncan. The E and A string poles are quite a bit off. A tremspaced Dimarzio aligns perfectly. A Trem-spaced SD is a little off, but not as much as a normal spaced SD. Just to note this is a 90's Les Paul Studio.l

 

[big_black]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

The DD/PG combo I put in my '05 Standard two weeks ago is a perfect match. Both neck and bridge align exactly as the the stock pickups did.

I know there are exceptions though. I used to have an MIA Strat (tremolo equipped) that would not align perfectly with either. It was closest with a normal spaced HB.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

I have 2 1990's LP Studios and 2 mid 1980's SG's (Special and Standard) and all of these line up perfectly with a tremspaced Seymour Duncan. I recall my first pickup swap back in 1987 installing my Duncan Distortion into my SG Standard and saying, "WTF, this thing isn't even lined up under the poles and I spent $70 for this thing????" That was before tremspacing and now all is well.

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

When Gibson brands a pickup with an "R" or "T" designation (Rhythm or Treble), that means the pole pieces are spaced appropriately for that position. The poles are farther apart on a 498T than they are on a 490R.

Trembuckers and DiMarzio F-spaced pickups align perfectly in the bridge spot of Gibson guitars. At least the ones I've used have.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Gibson pole piece spacing

I just put pups in my Elitist LP and I put a standard in the neck and trem in the bridge for precise pole piece alignment. The best way is to measure your pole piece distance on each pup and if the pole pieces are spaced apart more in the bridge get a trem-spaced.