string spacing at the trem. A preference or a must?

[jdr94]

I never really learned any of this technical crap. Ive always made mutts out of parts and never had any issues but was wondering, does the string spacing at the trem really matter or is it purely preference. Why am i asking now? Well im replacing a takeuchi jt580lp with a newer jt580lp and the string spacing is narrower which im guessing only means ill be less likely to slip the e strings off the fretboard by accident. Is that right?
Also does the nut spacing matter? I always use the nut that was original to the neck fwiw.

[Devotee]

You are right about the high and low E strings not slipping off the fretboard with narrower string spacing. I don't know what the difference between the older JT580LP and newer one is, but nut width is also important for string spacing. You don't have to use the original nut, in fact sometimes you see narrower nuts installed on some necks to correct string spacing issues like the one you mentioned. It's all preference really.

[jdr94]

Ok so nut should match to keep it even down the fretboard but isn't gonna matter all that much. Just what i wanted to know thanks

[Devotee]

Well, the string spacing should 'fan out' up along the fretboard towards the bridge; not even down the fretboard. The key is keeping the 1st and 2nd string parallel to the taper of the fretboard while also allowing just enough space on the fretboard edge of each E string to prevent the strings slipping off the edge, all the while retaining even spacing throughout all strings.

[jdr94]

Right. What i mean by even was that the high and low e should be about the same distance from the edge of the fretboard all the way down. Is that correct?

Edit- not same as eachother, but same as itself

[darrenw5094]

Looks like the JT6 trem has a traditional 50mm spacing from E to e. That is the first floyd type trem with that spacing, as all others are a 53mm. Surely the 53mm like Schaller, OFR etc would be a better fit than the 50mm bridge.

[jdr94]

well im talking about a takeuchi 580lp vs the newer 580lp, not a jt6 but can you tell me why a 53mm spacing would be better than a 50mm? i would think it depends on the nut its matched with, right?

[Axewielder]

You can usually step down to a narrower strings spacing and be ok. You may have a ton of fret margin, but the more the better IMHO. It would have to be way way off for the "parallel to the edge of the fingerboard" thing to be an issue, and I've never seen that. Going the other direction (wider spacing) is really where the issues are. Some boards are just a little narrower than others and don't pair up well with wider string spacing. The nut makes a small difference, but you really have to have the fret margin in the right ballpark to begin with to be able to fine tune it with the nut size. In general, I always go with an R3 and never look back. Once you get down to a 1 5/8" nut however, that gets to be too tight and causes other playability issues IMHO.