Distance between Humbuckers

[Dansk_84]

I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a certain distance a pair of EMG humbers had to be apart to work correctly? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[David Schwab]

You can make them touch each other if you want. It doesn't matter.

[Dansk_84]

Thanks for that. saves me having to re design my guitar

[Mark Hammer]

David is correct, however the usefulness of the spacing will depend on what you are trying to achieve. The pickups CAN be spaced any which way you want, but generally speaking the closer they are to each other, the less tonal difference you can expect by switching pickups. Additionally, if you have any intention of installing a phase-reverse switch to place the two pickups out of phase with each other, the closer the pickups are, the bigger a volume drop you will experience when flipping phase.

Ideally, in order to have the selection of pickups play a more significant role in changing your tone, you want them as far apart as you can manage. If space does not permit, then sometimes it can be useful to employ a SC-spaced pickup (like a dual rails of some kind) in either the neck or bridge position, since the sensing area of that pickup will be narrower than a side-by-side humbucker. This will effectively mimic being able to space your pickups farther apart.