42mm nut vs 43mm

[Dr loomis]

I was wondering if a 43mm nut requires an f -spaced pickup compared to a standard 42mm nut? The fretboard on a 43mm is the thickness of a dime wider than a 42mm standard. Is this enough for the poles not to line up with the strings on standard pickups?

[dg]

The nut width won't dictate anything wrt to polepiece spacing. The string spacing at the bridge is all that matters.

[Dr loomis]

I was getting the mentality that the wider fretboard 43mm, the further the poles are spaced apart at the bridge. The neck is 56mm at the last fret compared to a 58mm on a Floyd rose equipped guitar. If the nut is wider, 43mm don't that make the bridge "tailpiece" wider also?

[Foulacy]

I was getting the mentality that the wider fretboard 43mm, the further the poles are spaced apart at the bridge. The neck is 56mm at the last fret compared to a 58mm on a Floyd rose equipped guitar. If the nut is wider, 43mm don't that make the bridge "tailpiece" wider also?

No, the bridge is spaced however it's spaced. The only distance that matters is from bridge to nut LENGTH wise. The space between each string at the nut is personal preference.

[dg]

A 1mm change at the nut will have such a tiny effect on the string angle that it won't affect the spacing at the other end of the guitar. Try pinching your low & high E strings together about 1mm near the nut and see how much the string positions change over their pole pieces. It's almost impossible to see the difference.

I'm not sure I understand, but I think your second post asks a different question, which relates to matching certain bridges with certain nut widths. They are independent of each other. Floyd-equipped guitars come in a wide variety of nut widths. Some have necks that are 1 3/4" wide at the nut and some have necks that are 1 5/8" wide at the nut to allow for different manufacturer and player preferences.

Here's an example that shows that nut & bridge widths can be independent: when Jackson/Charvel introduced the JT-6 trem, it had 2" string spacing and they used 1 11/16" nut width on most of the guitars that had it. When they switched to the JT-590, which has regular Floyd spacing (2 1/8"), they stuck with 1 11/16" nut width. They are independent, and pole piece spacing is determined only by the bridge string spacing because the pickups are so much closer to that end of the guitar.

[Dr loomis]

A 1mm change at the nut will have such a tiny effect on the string angle that it won't affect the spacing at the other end of the guitar. Try pinching your low & high E strings together about 1mm near the nut and see how much the string positions change over their pole pieces. It's almost impossible to see the difference.

I'm not sure I understand, but I think your second post asks a different question, which relates to matching certain bridges with certain nut widths. They are independent of each other. Floyd-equipped guitars come in a wide variety of nut widths. Some have necks that are 1 3/4" wide at the nut and some have necks that are 1 5/8" wide at the nut to allow for different manufacturer and player preferences.

Here's an example that shows that nut & bridge widths can be independent: when Jackson/Charvel introduced the JT-6 trem, it had 2" string spacing and they used 1 11/16" nut width on most of the guitars that had it. When they switched to the JT-590, which has regular Floyd spacing (2 1/8"), they stuck with 1 11/16" nut width. They are independent, and pole piece spacing is determined only by the bridge string spacing because the pickups are so much closer to that end of the guitar.

Cool! Nice answer. I see now.

[MartinBarre]

F spaced pickups are, IMO, for looks only. Ask Grandturk how his Iron Maiden sig models sound.
Or, for that matter, ask Dave Murray or Adrian Smith themselves, since they both use standard spaced pickups on trem equipped guitars.

Nut spacing will have zero effect on the sound from the pickups.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

My Charvels both have standard-spaced pickups. They sound great.

[Dr loomis]

Glad to see every ones on the same page of this topic! Thanks

[nandrewjackson]

i replaced the stock locking nut on my SL2H with the wider version. to me, it is easier to play on, say, frets 1 thru 10, and everything above that is about the same as it was.
One caution if you are going wider. It is a lot easier to accidently move the high E string off of the fretboard, depending on how you play (lots of frethand vibrato)

[zuppermuhle]

F spaced pickups are, IMO, for looks only. Ask Grandturk how his Iron Maiden sig models sound.
Or, for that matter, ask Dave Murray or Adrian Smith themselves, since they both use standard spaced pickups on trem equipped guitars.

Nut spacing will have zero effect on the sound from the pickups.

I have to agree with you on that. I have a regular spaced neck pickup on the bridge. The polepieces don't align that well but you can't hear the difference.

And the bridge spacing isn't that big difference. Modern tune-o-matics like the one by Gotoh uses a 2 1/16(52mm) spacing which is only 1/8 narrower from the Floyd Rose spacing. However some Fender bridges have a 56mm spacing.

So I guess the only guitar where you need a F-Spaced pickup is a fat strat? :p It would be so much easier if we all had L500's and X2N's

[marnold]

FWIW, I have played guitars with non-f-spaced pickups in the bridge position that had noticeably weaker output on the high and low E strings. It was especially obvious when playing full chords. You'd never be able to tell on the middle four strings, obviously.

[Axewielder]

Really with pickups it's all about subtle differences. I mean, how many completely different types of magnets and winding techniques can there be? That being said, spreading out the pole pieces .1" (a large distance in guitar terms) would seem to be a major thing compared to a lot of the other differences in pickups. So, -1 to the "for looks only" comment IMHO.

[Zerberus]

String spread at the height of the bridge pickup is the ONLY defining factor in the choice between a standard pickup or a trembucker.

If the string spread is >2" (5.08 cm), a standard spaced pickup will line up better. If it´s 2" or more, a Trembucker will line up better.

As far as it being "only cosmetic", I feel that´s BS perpetuated mostly by people that don´t play much clean. When playing without distortion, the low e strings are almost always obviously quieter when a misalignment exists.