-Joel
F-Spacing Pickups...
Hey I'm looking for a new pickup and when I was going to choose the type of dimarzio pickup that I was going to purchase, It had the option of regular or F-Spacing. I did some research, and I guess F-Spacing is so the pickups align under the strings of a tremolo bridge. My guitar is an S470DX and has the ZR Bridge in it. The Pickup Arangement is Humbucker for the bridge, Single in the middle, and Humbucker for the neck. So do I need an F-Spacing pickup? Im replacing both of my humbuckers, so do I need an F-spacing pickup in the neck potition? Thanks for any help,
-Joel
-Joel
# 1
I believe it refers to how far apart the strings are, F spaced (or fender spaced) have the strings a bit farther apart, therefore, on the pickups, the little magnets on the pickup have to be a certain distance apart. F spaced are basically just a little farther apart then most guitars. so, what I would do is measure how far apart the magnets on your pickups that you have right now are. and then find out what the distance is on the pickups you intend to buy (I believe they say something like "pole spacing" to denote it) and I believe you would measure from the middle of the magnet on one side, to the middle of the magnet on the other to figure out this number.
now, I'm not 100% on any of this, so you may want some other answers before buying anything
now, I'm not 100% on any of this, so you may want some other answers before buying anything
# 2
[font=trebuchet ms]It's uaually best to go to the original source for these things.
From the DiMarzio pickup FAQ page:[/font]
"What is F-spacing?
All of our full-size humbuckers except the X2N® are available in two polepiece spacings. F-spacing refers to the wider of the two spacings. For proper string alignment and balanced output, F-spaced humbuckers should be used in the bridge position on all guitars with string spacing at the bridge of 2.1" (53 mm) or greater. On these guitars, if the nut width is 1-11/16” (43 mm) or greater, F-spaced pickups can be used in the neck position as well.
Why are there two different spacings?
A long time ago (in the 20th century, actually) the electric guitar world was divided between Gibson and Fender designs. One of the differences between the two was string spacing. In general, Gibson chose a narrower string spacing at the bridge than Fender, and therefore the polepieces on Gibson humbuckers were closer together than the magnets on Fender pickups. When guitar shops started installing humbuckers in the bridge position of Strats, it was obvious that the strings didn’t line up with the polepieces, and if the E strings were too far outside, the sound could suffer. Our first humbuckers followed the original Gibson spacing, and we call them standard-spaced. When we released our first humbuckers with wider spacing, Floyd Rose bridges were very popular. Floyd string-spacing is the same as Fender spacing, so we naturally called the new pickups F-spaced.
How do I know which spacing to use?
F-spaced pickups measure 2.01" (51 mm) center-to-center from the first polepiece to the sixth. Standard-spaced pickups measure 1.90" (48 mm). Although some players believe that F-spaced pickups are only for the bridge position of tremolo bridge guitars, many guitars with fixed bridges (including late 1990s Gibson Les Pauls and Epiphone LPs) should have F-spaced pickups in the bridge position. Most tremolo equipped guitars that have a nut width of 1-11/16” (43mm) or more should also use an F-spaced pickup in the neck position. If you’re replacing a bridge-position pickup and you're not sure what your string-spacing is, it's usually better to get an F-spaced model. It is not necessary for the strings to pass exactly over the center of the polepieces for best performance, but it is wise to avoid a situation where the E strings are sitting completely outside of the outer polepieces.
Do some of your humbuckers come only in one spacing?
The X2N® has solid bar polepieces that work in both normal and F-spaced applications. All 7-string humbuckers are available F-spaced only. All Parker Fly replacement pickups are F-spaced only.
Is there F-spacing for single-coils?
All of our single-coil-sized pickups are designed for F-spaced applications."
[font=trebuchet ms]So, you need to measure the string spacing at each pickup location to decide which type will match more closely. Don't worry if the string spacing is not an exact match for the pickup dimensions - just go with whichever one is closer.[/font]
From the DiMarzio pickup FAQ page:[/font]
"What is F-spacing?
All of our full-size humbuckers except the X2N® are available in two polepiece spacings. F-spacing refers to the wider of the two spacings. For proper string alignment and balanced output, F-spaced humbuckers should be used in the bridge position on all guitars with string spacing at the bridge of 2.1" (53 mm) or greater. On these guitars, if the nut width is 1-11/16” (43 mm) or greater, F-spaced pickups can be used in the neck position as well.
Why are there two different spacings?
A long time ago (in the 20th century, actually) the electric guitar world was divided between Gibson and Fender designs. One of the differences between the two was string spacing. In general, Gibson chose a narrower string spacing at the bridge than Fender, and therefore the polepieces on Gibson humbuckers were closer together than the magnets on Fender pickups. When guitar shops started installing humbuckers in the bridge position of Strats, it was obvious that the strings didn’t line up with the polepieces, and if the E strings were too far outside, the sound could suffer. Our first humbuckers followed the original Gibson spacing, and we call them standard-spaced. When we released our first humbuckers with wider spacing, Floyd Rose bridges were very popular. Floyd string-spacing is the same as Fender spacing, so we naturally called the new pickups F-spaced.
How do I know which spacing to use?
F-spaced pickups measure 2.01" (51 mm) center-to-center from the first polepiece to the sixth. Standard-spaced pickups measure 1.90" (48 mm). Although some players believe that F-spaced pickups are only for the bridge position of tremolo bridge guitars, many guitars with fixed bridges (including late 1990s Gibson Les Pauls and Epiphone LPs) should have F-spaced pickups in the bridge position. Most tremolo equipped guitars that have a nut width of 1-11/16” (43mm) or more should also use an F-spaced pickup in the neck position. If you’re replacing a bridge-position pickup and you're not sure what your string-spacing is, it's usually better to get an F-spaced model. It is not necessary for the strings to pass exactly over the center of the polepieces for best performance, but it is wise to avoid a situation where the E strings are sitting completely outside of the outer polepieces.
Do some of your humbuckers come only in one spacing?
The X2N® has solid bar polepieces that work in both normal and F-spaced applications. All 7-string humbuckers are available F-spaced only. All Parker Fly replacement pickups are F-spaced only.
Is there F-spacing for single-coils?
All of our single-coil-sized pickups are designed for F-spaced applications."
[font=trebuchet ms]So, you need to measure the string spacing at each pickup location to decide which type will match more closely. Don't worry if the string spacing is not an exact match for the pickup dimensions - just go with whichever one is closer.[/font]
# 3
Good post Lord, but I'll simplify for you my friend.
Yes, you need an F-spaced pickup for that paticular guitar. F-spacing (as DiMarzio calls it) or TremBucker spacing (as Seymour Duncan calls it) are actually made for two reasons.
1. any guitar that uses a 25 1/2" scale (ala Fender) has a wider string spacing at the bridge than a guitar that uses a 24 3/4" scale(ala Gibson) regardless of wether or not it has a trem.
2. 24 3/4" scale guitars that use a floyd have a wider string spacing as well, as that is just the way the floyd was designed. You can't get a floyd in different spacings.
Your paticular Ibanez uses a 25 1/2" scale, so definately get an f-spaced replacement for the bridge position p/u. And also, DiMarzio is OEM on a bunch of ibanez guitars, and in fact the IBZ INF2 pickup that comes stock on that paticular model is made by DiMarzio and it is f-spaced.
Hope that clears it up for you
Yes, you need an F-spaced pickup for that paticular guitar. F-spacing (as DiMarzio calls it) or TremBucker spacing (as Seymour Duncan calls it) are actually made for two reasons.
1. any guitar that uses a 25 1/2" scale (ala Fender) has a wider string spacing at the bridge than a guitar that uses a 24 3/4" scale(ala Gibson) regardless of wether or not it has a trem.
2. 24 3/4" scale guitars that use a floyd have a wider string spacing as well, as that is just the way the floyd was designed. You can't get a floyd in different spacings.
Your paticular Ibanez uses a 25 1/2" scale, so definately get an f-spaced replacement for the bridge position p/u. And also, DiMarzio is OEM on a bunch of ibanez guitars, and in fact the IBZ INF2 pickup that comes stock on that paticular model is made by DiMarzio and it is f-spaced.
Hope that clears it up for you
# 4
I have a question to the guys who answered this post.
What if you have active pickups, with no visible poles to use as a measuring reference point? How would you find out if the guitar is f spaced in that instance?
I have a LTD Eclipse 1000 deluxe, if that helps any.
What if you have active pickups, with no visible poles to use as a measuring reference point? How would you find out if the guitar is f spaced in that instance?
I have a LTD Eclipse 1000 deluxe, if that helps any.
# 5
Measure the distance between the center of the E strings where you want to install the pickup. Compare that to the dimensions given in my DiMarzio quote above. If neither one matches up exactly, go the with the one that is slightly wider than your string spacing.
# 6
