Q: I wanted to replace the single-coil pickups in my guitar with humbuckers so I could get a fatter sound. Unfortunately, when I installed the humbuckers, they didn’t line up correctly with the strings. I thought all humbuckers were the same standard size. Where did I go wrong?
A: Not all humbuckers have the same dimensions. Odds are you need a trem-spaced humbucker (there’s a line of models called “Trembuckers” from Seymour Duncan, for example – just about any of Seymour’s pickups are available with trem-spacing) while the standard humbuckers you tried have a slightly narrower string spread, so the strings don’t line up properly.
An easy way to tell is to measure the string spacing on your guitar. If it comes in at two inches or less from the middle of the high E string to the middle of the low E string, a standard humbucker will work. If the measurement is more than two inches, you’ll want a Duncan Trembucker or other trem-spaced (sometimes called “Fender-spaced”) humbucker.