Strings over pole pieces

[zinzin]

Is it normal that the strings ain't centred over the pole pieces? This is the first time i noticed it and it got me thinking ... I made a pic of my 330:

[Clint]

Yes, it's normal. The only real alignment problem is when the strings fall off the edge of the fretboard.

[vjf1968]

I don't think any electric guitar on the marlet has the strings exactly over the poles. As long as they are in the reach of the magnetic field your fine.

[zinzin]

Ah, ok... Sorry for the stupid question.

[Clint]

There are no stupid questions. Only long-winded, boring answers.

[iiipopes]

It can be a problem. Even the slightest offset from the center of the strength of the magnetic field can affect string-to-string balance, because magnetic field strength drops as the square of the distance from the center of the magnetic field.

For instruments with toasters, the six alnico slugs are larger diameter under the cover, and measure about 2 1/6 inches from center-to-center of the outside pole pieces. A standard Rick guitar bridge is about 2 inches, so the outside strings are on the inside of the pole pieces. Since this is a continuation of the magnetic field, it is not an issue.

High gain pickups have about 2 inch pole spacing. Again, because of the diameter of the polepieces, it allows for the narrowing from the bridge to the nut to still keep the strings over the pole pieces.

Obviously, the rails of an HB-1 obviate the issue, so long as the string is not off the edge of the pickup, which it is not on standard Rick bridges.

Leo Fender recognized this on his first guitars: Tele pickups have the strings centered over both pickups. But to save costs of manufacturing only one pickup, Strat pickups are an average. They only center on vintage bridges over the middle pickup, and over the bridge pickup on the newer, narrower string spread bridges only centers over the bridge pickup. And string-to-string balance suffers as a result.

But the basses suffer. The original nut width was 1 3/4 inches, and only the original single coil pickup does what it is supposed to. The split-coil P pickup and the J pickups work with the wide nut, but don't with the narrower nuts that most players prefer. I wonder if the same original mule neck was used when developing the other pickups.

Gibson humbuckers are averaged as well: too wide over the bridge pickup, and too narrow over the neck pickup.

This is why other manufacturers, and now even Gibson has seen the light, make differently spaced bridge and neck pickups.

On my 320, I used the toothpick-and-glue treatment to fill the existing pickup mounting screw holes, and remeasured, redrilled and recentered the pickups so they split the difference. I have better string-to-string balance as a result.

[deaconblues]

Thanks for that info, Scott. Interesting stuff.

[Folkie]

Thanks, Scott, for another lesson in guitar physics!

[zinzin]

wow, very detailed info. thanks.