What are "F-spaced" pups?

[ShredCow]

Hi all,
I just realised I had a nice pic of my guitar close up and you can see both of the pups very nice. A picture says a thousand words.

F-spaced simply means, Floyd Spaced... and F-spaced pups are normal pups with their poles just spaced out a little more to compensate for a Floyd Rose trem's wider string spacing.

Humbucker Spacing Measurement from low-E to high-E Pole-pieces
F-Spaced Pickup: 2.00"
Regular Pickup: 1-29/32"

Now, the Neck pup is F-spaced, the Bridge pup isn't.

Both are Dimarzio Breeds (at that time) and check out the way the poles are out of alignment with the strings at the Bridge hum.

Tonewise, does it make a difference??? I don't know, haven't tried to A/B an F-spaced Breed, with a normal Breed in my guitar... but I do know, I always thought my Breed bridge didn't have a very tight low end, which I expected of it. Then I swapped my Breed with an X2N (all X2Ns are f-spaced) and the bass as tight as it can be. My Breed went into my friend's Gibson Flying V which has a mahogany body (like my S520EX there) but normal fixed bridge. His tone is super duper tight. That's not an accurate comparision, but I suspected that f-spacing has got to do with it.

In anycase, ppl have done A/B-ing before and many reported little or no difference in tone. In fact, the most reports of tonal difference was with the Bridge pup since it is closest to the bridge, and hence, the strings are widest there. Most ppl do not detect anything different between the f-spaced neck pup and a normal neck pup. Note in the pic that the poles of the f-spaced neck Breed are slightly wider than the string spacing?

Anyway, the biggest diff is cosmetics. Which is why, I'm getting an F-Spaced Tonezone in 2 wks time.

Hope this sheds some light on this frequently asked question.

 

[Vaiyen]

well, Beez was telling me it doesn't make a difference in tone.
Besides, for someone who does a lot of bending or vibrato, the pole-pieces will most of the time be unaligned.

 

[ShredCow]

True true... but I bet Eric Johnson will say there's a diff? But who's got Eric Johnson's ears?!?!

Anyway, this might just turn out to be one of those... you know, the power of suggestion? I bet, if I were blindfolded and had to A/B between an f-spaced pup and normal one, I wouldn't be able to tell the diff. But well.. Its for the looks lah...

 

[Vaiyen]

yea, more for the cosmetic appeal, and the reassurance, I feel.

 

[ShredCow]

Thats true.

The power of suggestion is amazing.

 

[subversion]

there are endless debate about whether non-F-sapaced pickups would do well in Floyd equipped/ floating vibrato equippped guitar. the laypersons wouldn't hear marked difference from this ill-alignment but recording engineers would tell you that ill-alignment would cause a drop in volume during recordings but that's when the sound waves are electronically enhanced to make such differences material, but not during our daily playing experience.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

are the measurements of the floating bridge's spacings and the normal vintage tremolo's found on a yamaha pacifica different?

i think the yamaha pacifica's vintage tremolo unit's the same as a fender strat, so my guess is it's suppose to be the same as floyd rose length from 1st to 6th string?

it says here on dimarzio's webby:

Floyd string-spacing is the same as Fender spacing, so we naturally called the new pickups F-spaced.

was a bit confused because i saw this pic by sub of his RG321:

the spacings there looked like a vintage tremolo unit spacing and the pole pieces looks a bit off-aligned... could be parallex error though...

can any1 help me out on this pls?

 

[ShredCow]

Usually, the Bridge pup can be F spaced for a fixed bridge.

Just measure your strings, lo E to hi E, if it hits 2 inches, get an F spaced pup.

 

[redjackal]

what if it's suppose to be a F spaced pickups and i didnt use a F spaced pickup in there?

 

[ShredCow]

There would be a diff, because the poles are further away... just as when you lower/raise your pups. But its a very little diff... like what Sub said up there, you need to be very attentive to spot it.

Anyway, F spaced pups cost the same and look nicer! So why not?!

 

[mamemo]

from what i've tried, correct string alignment with the pole pieces results in easier pinch harmonics. Maybe im wrong tho, but it was pretty effortless to do so compared to my friend's axe which had an f-spaced pickup without a floyd rose.

bar magnet pickups like X2N, dimebucker or EMGs can be used as f-spaced/non spaced too

 

[fretless6]

from what i've tried, correct string alignment with the pole pieces results in easier pinch harmonics. Maybe im wrong tho, but it was pretty effortless to do so compared to my friend's axe which had an f-spaced pickup without a floyd rose.

bar magnet pickups like X2N, dimebucker or EMGs can be used as f-spaced/non spaced too

Almost all humbuckers use bar magnets, I believe what you are referring to is the use of "rails" instead of pole pieces?

Anyway try to think in 3 dimensions. What matters is the distance of the pole piece from the string, not which axis it's placed off from. Whether the pole piece is "misaligned" to the side or lowered due to pickup being lowered into the cavity, the difference is the same.

The magnetic field of a pickup isn't limited to just 2mm above the pole pieces. What's more, even when using non F-ed pickups over a locking trem, the string is still over the pole piece, just not aligned right smack in the middle.

IMHO, F Spacing and Trembuckers are largely a marketing gimmick. "See, our pickups are custom tailored to match ur locking trem guitar, u should buy us instead of other brands!" If there's any significant difference, it's with regards to cosmetics. Heck, I've been using a neck pickup in bridge position on my Ibanez with a Lo Po Edge for years.

 

[ShredCow]

Which neck pup is that fretless?

I am using a Breed neck in bridge position.... love the fatter, bassier, strong PAF tones.

 

[fretless6]

Which neck pup is that fretless?

I'm using a Duncan Alnico II Pro neck in the bridge. I like the lower output on it, gives me more free play with dynamics.

 

[Chronicles]

does ALL ibanez guitar need f-spaced pickups? or it only applies on double locking system? how about guitars with wikinson tremolo? Sorry if this sound dumb, just feeling curious

 

[ShredCow]

Well, for Ibanez, even on the fixed bridge RG321, the hi e to lo e measurement is @ 2 inches. So an f spaced bridge pup would look right-er than a normal spaced one.

Just measure your lo e to hi e, if its 2 inches, f spaced.