how important is f spacing?

[Narcosynthesis]

i have a guitar with a floyd on it, so ideally would use f spaced pickups in it to get the best spacing, problem being, the pickup(s) i have been looking at are not all available in f spacing

so if i put in a normal spacing pickup in an f spaced guitar, would there be many negatives in the sound, or will it still sound fine

i have a normal spaced jb humbucker in my tele (whihc would be f spaced) and it sounds fine, but i got the guitar like that so dont know any different, would switching it for a f spaced jb make a big difference?

much thanks

David

 

[Breogan]

Re: how important is f spacing?

String separation it's wider in a floyd rose than a tele bridge. If the strings aren't aling with the polepieces you can experiment a drop in volumen in the 1st a 6th strings. I've had to deal with it when with one of my guitar and it doesn't have an easy solution.

Well, it doesn't have a solution IMO...

If you can't find a dealer for it you can order it by mail. There are some good online shops like http://www.blackrosecustom.emerchantpro.com/ or http://www.lewsguitars.com/

 

[Davey]

Re: how important is f spacing?

at which buckers were you looking at?

like breogan said,it's not so imensly important. you'd get a bit of a decrease in volume on the E strings (can be a bit adjusted with the polepieces) but other than tat you'd be ok for the time till you get a regular F spaced pup.it's not like, you'll spontaniously combust for not having F spaced pups

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: how important is f spacing?

If you don't hear any volume difference, don't worry about it. I have a standard spaced Distortion that works fine in Floyd guitars.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

Re: how important is f spacing?

i was contemplating something like a phat cat in the bridge, and 59 in the neck of my bc rich assassin (not exactly a 'metal' combination, but i dont play metal as much)

the guitar has a floyd, and the phat cat in the bridge only comes as a normal spaced pickup, and to the get the 59 in a nickel cover (to match the bridge) it would have to the normal spaced too (though i dont think it matters as much at the neck)

so would raising the outer polepieces a bit rectify any volume drop in the two e strings?

David

 

[Davey]

Re: how important is f spacing?

yes, it will rectify the volume drop a bit. a phat cat though? interesting hehe

 

[ranalli]

Re: how important is f spacing?

The whole F-spaced vs non-F-spaced thing is a bit over-done. It's not really a big deal....especially with medium to high output pickups.

 

[The New Guy]

Re: how important is f spacing?

The whole F-spaced vs non-F-spaced thing is a bit over-done. It's not really a big deal....especially with medium to high output pickups.

Agreed, for the longest time I had a normal spaced JB in a Floyd guitar, I saw an F-spaced JB and bought it, no-one could tell a difference.

 

[Steve R.]

Re: how important is f spacing?

Agreed, for the longest time I had a normal spaced JB in a Floyd guitar, I saw an F-spaced JB and bought it, no-one could tell a difference.

Years ago I talked to one of the designers at SD and he said the Trembucker was created merely for looks so that the pole pieces lined up with the strings. He said performance-wise it makes no big difference and I agree. I've used a standard sized JB in my strat with a Floyd for years and never had a problem on the high and low E strings.

-Steve

 

[Old Ghost]

Re: how important is f spacing?

The whole F-spaced vs non-F-spaced thing is a bit over-done. It's not really a big deal....especially with medium to high output pickups.

+1 So true! I couldn't agree more.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

Re: how important is f spacing?

cool, i wandered if it would make much of a difference, i havent noticed any difference in the normal sized jb in my tele (which to my knowledge would be f psaced) or problems in th elow/high e strings, i wasnt sure if that was just my ears or no real difference

as for teh phat cat in the bridge, it seems like a cool pickup, a p90 is somewhere between a singlecoil and a humbucker in sound, which sounds good to me, i have been switching between using a jb humbucker and strat singlecoil (bridge and neck respectively on the guitar) and both sound awesmoe, just completely different sounds, one very thick and rock, the other much more open and airy and defined, so i am hoping a phat cat or similar would sit somewhere between those two
the 59 being a lowish output humbucker sounds like a good idea for the neck, for nice clean sounds or whatever

David