Help with pickup selection.

[J.P. Tosxa]

I hope I can get some help in here since I asked this on reddit and received very mixed responses and then I validated it with AI and I am so confused....

I am interested on this set of pickups: https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/hot-rodded

For this guitar: https://www.ibanez.com/na/products/detail/ar420_4l_04.html

Can someone tell me if they are compatible without any issues or modifications, adjustments, etc? or guide me on how to know if they will be a 1 to 1 upgrade?

Best,

J.P.

One of the responses I received was this:

They will fit just fine, but the bridge on that guitar has a string spacing of 10.5mm so ideally you’d choose the “trembucker” version of the bridge pickup which is slightly longer than the shorter “humbucker” version. The bridge pickup in the set you’re looking at is the shorter “humbucker” version.

The shorter one will fit just fine, but it can look a bit odd visually as the pole pieces don’t align with the strings. Most people don’t think it makes any significant difference to tone.

More info here:

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/...g-spacing-explained-humbuckers-vs-trembuckers

But then I validated with chat GPT and this is what I got:

A 10.5 mm per‑string spacing gives an approximate E‑to‑E spacing of ~52.5 mm, but that measurement is taken at the bridge saddles. Pickup pole spacing is measured where the pickup sits, which is closer to the neck, where the strings are narrower.

On the AR420, the string spread at the pickup location is effectively Gibson‑standard humbucker spacing (≈49–50 mm).

That’s why Ibanez equips the AR420 with Super 58 humbuckers, which use standard humbucker spacing, not F‑spaced.

 

[Mincer]

Usually a Trembucker is used with a tremolo system, which has a slightly wider spacing. I would think the regular version would be just fine here. Sound-wise, you wouldn't notice a difference.

 

[jeremy]

either will work fine. i use whatever i have available thats the right pup, the spacing doesnt seem to play much of a role in the sound in my experience. visually, its nice if things line up, but im not that ocd. usually

 

[J.P. Tosxa]

I had to remove the covers from these pickups, here are the original measurements:

 

[jeremy]

seems like the bridge has 52m spacing which would be trembucker

 

[J.P. Tosxa]

I think now I have a good understanding of this and I can confirm Bridge is a trembucker. Thanks a lot everyone for your help.

 

[Chistopher]

Note that seymour duncan trembuckers require special pickup mounting rings, so you might have to order cream rings separately

 

[Chistopher]

If you want to reuse the same ring you have on your guitar, you have to get standard spacing.

 

[J.P. Tosxa]

The difference of the trembucker mounting holes vs the standard seem to be very small, is this enough that the current mounts won't fit?

Also this guitar has 1 trembucker, 1 standard, the pickup cover seems to be the same size tho.

Also I wasn't able to find the dimensions for the covered trembucker on the website, can anyone help me with this?