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Traditional VS Tremolo Pickup?

Ed Seith

Supreme Galactic Overlord
Staff member
Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
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    Traditional or Tremolo pickup size is kind of antiquated at this point. It's just the magnet spacing. "Back in the day" when the magnets were weaker and had a narrower field, it was more important to get pickups for the right string spacing at the bridge/nut. The Fender ("F-Spaced") were like a millimeter further apart than traditional (Gibson) spacing.

    Nowadays it doesn't matter much, and the Syn pickups are so overwound and powerful they can lift weights for you. The Evertunes are closer to F-Spaced than not, but it won't really matter.
     
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    Christopher Lonski

    Free Bird Player
    Nov 11, 2019
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    Yeah, the difference is more of a cosmetic one than anything. I think it was most likely more of a marketing thing that a functional design change. I've never really done an objective comparison between a traditional spaced pickup and its F-spaced counterpart, but I have had many pickups with spacings that were mismatched to the guitar, and I've never noticed any tone or volume "dropouts" between the strings and no issues when bending like people used to say a lot when it came to this topic. I think that whole concept, if not an entirely made up marketing scheme that shaped the entire aftermarket pickup industry, was more theoretical than a pragmatic one considering that the magnetic field on a humbucker is generally cylindrical shape that surrounds the entire pickup in all directions and not 6 small, precise magnetic fields that are perfectly aligned to the strings. If there is a difference, you are most likely only going to hear it when playing with a clean, uncompressed sound. The second you start playing high gain and that compression sets in, I am about 99% sure that the average player will not be able to hear a discernible difference.
     
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    Marco Jarmer

    One Stringer
    Nov 11, 2019
    7
    6
    Yeah, the difference is more of a cosmetic one than anything. I think it was most likely more of a marketing thing that a functional design change. I've never really done an objective comparison between a traditional spaced pickup and its F-spaced counterpart, but I have had many pickups with spacings that were mismatched to the guitar, and I've never noticed any tone or volume "dropouts" between the strings and no issues when bending like people used to say a lot when it came to this topic. I think that whole concept, if not an entirely made up marketing scheme that shaped the entire aftermarket pickup industry, was more theoretical than a pragmatic one considering that the magnetic field on a humbucker is generally cylindrical shape that surrounds the entire pickup in all directions and not 6 small, precise magnetic fields that are perfectly aligned to the strings. If there is a difference, you are most likely only going to hear it when playing with a clean, uncompressed sound. The second you start playing high gain and that compression sets in, I am about 99% sure that the average player will not be able to hear a discernible difference.
    Thank you for your additional answer that may indeed be the case that it makes no difference. However, I find it interesting that there is this option in the store.

    I also just for fun now written to the Evertune company to just hear their opinion about it.

    Asking costs nothing :D

    Is perhaps also interesting to know what Brian Senior and Junior think of it.
     
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