Username: Password:

Author Topic: Wrong pickup spacing?  (Read 14274 times)

simonp

  • Bantamweight
  • **
  • Posts: 102
    • http://www.myspace.com/earlsofstoke
Wrong pickup spacing?
« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2006, 01:40:14 PM »
There was no complaint about the advice inferred, I appreciate that you cannot know every guitar, and it does seem strange that my Standard LP has the wider bridge.
I only noticed it visually, it certainly wasn't obvious from the sound. The lower strings are a bit quiet, but that is due to the fact I cannot bet the pickup very close to the strings as the original gibson spring is too long and binds up before the pickup gets as high as I would like. I guess the gibson pickup bracket is somewhat further from the top of the pickup than the BKP one. Still, easy enough to fix, jut means I have to de-string the guitar.

The pickups sound great though, playing clean there is a much greater change from soft to hard picking than with the stock ones, and there seems to be more sustain too. The neck pickup sounds much sweeter and less muddy. I always hated the clean sound before, but now it is great.
The overdriven sound is good too, lots of bite but creamy too. Even at high gain settings I get no squeal from the unpotted pickups.
Les Paul Standard with Mules, Charvel Fusion, Cornford MK50H & 2x12, Trace Elliot Speed Twin C100.

Philly Q

  • Light Heavyweight
  • ******
  • Posts: 18109
Wrong pickup spacing?
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2006, 02:30:04 PM »
Quote from: simonp
it does seem strange that my Standard LP has the wider bridge.

Almost all newer Gibsons with Nashville tune-o-matic bridges have wide spacing - LPs, SGs, Vs etc.  The spacing can vary a bit depending on how they notch the saddles - on most of mine they're cut very slightly off-centre to widen the spacing a little, but basically it's 52mm across the saddles.

As for Gibson pickups, 57 Classics and Burstbuckers only come with the narrower 49mm spacing.  The 490T, 498T, 500T and Dirty Fingers have the wider 52mm spacing.  If you look at the bottom of a 490 or 500 series pickup, there are two rows of holes for the polepieces, 52mm (T-spaced) on one side and 49mm (R-spaced) on the other - it's a universal baseplate.

Sorry for droning on, but these things fascinate me.  :wink:
BKPs I've Got:  RR, BKP-91, ITs, VHII, CS set, Emeralds
BKPs I Had:  RY+Abraxas, Crawlers, BD+SM