Question. I want pearly gates in my San Dimas…

[Toadtele]

Love my new San Dimas. Can’t bond with the bridge pickup. It is a JB TB-4. Reads about 17.5k. So harsh. Want to replace it with a pearly gates. A zebra one specifically.
My wife thinks I should just replace the set. I’m down with that.

Here is my problem/question. I’d like to purchase the pickups on Amazon because I’m flush with gift cards.
I assume I need an f sized bridge pickup because my guitar has a Floyd. Amazon has the trembucker (f spaced) for individual sale. The set they offer doesn’t specify if the bridge is standard or f spaced.
Also they do not offer the neck pickup for sale individually.

I checked Sweetwater as well. They don’t even offer the f spaced option.

Am I over thinking this? I’ve had an f spaced Dimarzio super distortion for years and it has been in half a dozen different guitars with different bridge spacing. Always sounds great.

Any advice or suggestions?
Thanks guys.

 

[Peegoo]

@Toadtele

Message the vendor and ask if the bridge pickup in the set is G or F spaced.

Either way, it makes little difference. Many many players over the years have installed G-spaced humbuckers in the bridge pozish and have had no problems.

Some guitar players listen with their eyeballs. The only people it bothers are those that see a slight misalignment of the strings and poles and they point and go "ew."

But in practice? Nope. Their ears could never tell the difference.


Think about it this way: The three pickups in any given standard Strat are all the exact same distance across the mag poles. The bridge pickup is slanted--meaning the poles' span across the strings is narrower than that of the middle and neck pickups. If this were a problem, all Strat bridge pickups would have a longer span across the mag poles.

 

[Toadtele]

@Toadtele

Message the vendor and ask if the bridge pickup in the set is G or F spaced.

Either way, it makes little difference. Many many players over the years have installed G-spaced humbuckers in the bridge pozish and have had no problems.

Some guitar players listen with their eyeballs. The only people it bothers are those that see a slight misalignment of the strings and poles and they point and go "ew."

But in practice? Nope. Their ears could never tell the difference.


Think about it this way: The three pickups in any given standard Strat are all the exact same distance across the mag poles. The bridge pickup is slanted--meaning the poles' span across the strings is narrower than that of the middle and neck pickups. If this were a problem, all Strat bridge pickups would have a longer span across the mag poles.

This is what I wanted and needed to hear.
Thank you.

 

[Jakedog]

I’ve used both in all kinds of guitars. I’ve had F spaced in Les Pauls, and regular in fender spaced guitars. It never made any difference that I could discern other than looks. Listen to @Peegoo . He’s a real fart smella. Uh… smart fella.

 

[Mark617]

You already know the answer. You’ve done so before and enjoyed. So do for you

 

[Peegoo]

@Jakedog

Here's a tongue twister for ya (say this as fast as you can):

One smart fella, he felt smart
Two smart fellas, they felt smart
Three smart fellas, they all felt smart

 

[fender4life]

I've never had a problem using F spaced on a narrow spaced guitar or visa versa. That said, i only did that because often i'd already have a pickup i wanted to try in a guitar with different spacing and i wasn't about to buy another just to insure the poles and strings line up perfectly. And i never found it to matter. BUT, if i were to buy a new set i'd just the right spacing just to be safe. As someone said, message the seller OR check the model number. The trembucker will be TB-PG1b. TB=trembucker, b=bridge. By the way, not sure about how they sound in a bolt on, ut in my LP the PGs are great. The most alive complex sounding buckers i''ve tried in it of about 4-5 others.

 

[castertom]

Does the san dimas have a slanted bridge pickup? If yes. You will want to use narrow or (g) spaced. A la van halen.

 

[Toadtele]

All done!

Sounds maze balls! So glad my wife suggested switching the set. I thought it would look cool with a zebra in just the bridge. Plus I liked the ‘59, but these are sweet together. Especially with the coil taps!

Thanks for the support guys!

Note: G spaced. And I don’t care.