Can't say how many threads I've seen over the years where a person asks about trem vs standard spacing and most members respond that it's pretty much just visual and doesn't really matter. It DOES matter with some setups.
Example: 2007 ESP GL-56 strat. It has a traditional, bent saddle vibrato bridge with 55mm spacing. The guitar came stock with a standard spaced Custom Shop Pearly Gates bridge model. Here is a pic of what it looked like:
Nice pickup but both E strings were NOTICEABLY quieter. I experimented with pickup height, pole piece height, etc. Nothing really worked. I rendered that pickup pretty much useless in this guitar. Kinda strange that George Lynch approved that pickup for a signature guitar, but seems like I heard this guitar is a replica of an older guitar he has or had. I guess he opted to mimic it, warts and all.
After much research, I ended up ordering a 53mm spaced Suhr Thornbucker +. Here is a pic with it installed:
It still doesn't line up perfectly, but at least both E strings are inline with at least part of the outer poles. Best of all, my E strings are back! Success!
Takeaway: if you have a super high output pickup, play with tons of gain or compression, and/or have a trem with narrower spacing (NOT vintage spacing), then maybe it can be mostly about visuals. But for this setup, it definitely mattered as far as having the E strings match the volume of the other strings.
Example: 2007 ESP GL-56 strat. It has a traditional, bent saddle vibrato bridge with 55mm spacing. The guitar came stock with a standard spaced Custom Shop Pearly Gates bridge model. Here is a pic of what it looked like:
Nice pickup but both E strings were NOTICEABLY quieter. I experimented with pickup height, pole piece height, etc. Nothing really worked. I rendered that pickup pretty much useless in this guitar. Kinda strange that George Lynch approved that pickup for a signature guitar, but seems like I heard this guitar is a replica of an older guitar he has or had. I guess he opted to mimic it, warts and all.
After much research, I ended up ordering a 53mm spaced Suhr Thornbucker +. Here is a pic with it installed:
It still doesn't line up perfectly, but at least both E strings are inline with at least part of the outer poles. Best of all, my E strings are back! Success!
Takeaway: if you have a super high output pickup, play with tons of gain or compression, and/or have a trem with narrower spacing (NOT vintage spacing), then maybe it can be mostly about visuals. But for this setup, it definitely mattered as far as having the E strings match the volume of the other strings.
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