Jackson USA KV2 Experts: Stock Pickups and Pole Spacing

[DC_rhoads82]

Hey! I'm hoping you knowledgeable fellows can help me out. I recently picked up a used USA KV2 that came with aftermarket actives. Not being a fan of actives, I want to throw a set of passives in. Reading on Jackson's site is says the KV2 model comes with two TB4s (Trembucker spaced JBs). However, after using a handy paper pole spacing measuring guide I found online, it looks like my strings measure 50mm low e to high e over the neck HB, and 53mm low e to high e over the bridge HB. Does this make sense? I can snag a reg. spaced JB for a great deal so I was planning to throw that in the neck and think about a different bridge pickup, but I don't want to be hooped with the wrong spacing. I think it's a 2012 model. Thanks for your input!

[Luca1973]

Is it the "standard" KV2 with the Original Floyd bridge??

In this case the E to E spacing at the saddles is 53,5 mm, then 52mm at the bridge pickup, and 49mm at the neck pickup (measured at upper coils)

This means that for a right set you must have a Trembucker at the bridge and a standard spacing at the neck in case of Seymour Duncans.

[Number Of The Priest]

I can think of no trem-equipped/F-spaced/trem-spaced guitar that needs an F-spaced/trem-spaced pickup at the neck position.

I personally feel that polepiece alignment purely cosmetic and might even be overrated, especially for us metal players using high output pickups. Even the weakest pickups emit a magnetic field that covers such a large area around the pickups that a few millimeters of polepiece alignment is probably negligible. Anyone who cleans their frets and fretboards with steel wool knows to apply painter's tape or masking tape over their pickups to prevent all the loose steel wool shavings from being attracted by the pickup magnets... even if you're not cleaning the frets closest to the pickups! Those damn magnets will pull shavings from far away, as a testament to how powerful they can be. Strings at pitch are so close to the pickups that the vibrations they create are definitely not getting away.

To this day, Ibanez somehow still gets away with releasing Japanese-made trem-equipped guitars that have standard-spaced bridge pickups. (Prime example: The Ibanez V8 bridge pickup has always been standard-spaced and can still be found in today's Japanese-made Genesis Series.)

I would imagine that the Jackson website stating that the KV2 has a TB-4 JB in the neck is an error. If you look at some of the old Jackson catalogs (https://www.jacksonguitars.com/suppo...hived-catalogs), they say the KV2 has an SH-2 Jazz (for example, the 2002 catalog, the specs listing on PDF page 11 of 15: https://assets.ctfassets.net/4jcppge...02-catalog.pdf). The catalogs and website are prone to errors from time to time. Why the errors and discrepancies are not corrected is a mystery.

I'm not saying a JB in the neck doesn't exist. While it was not originally designed as a neck pickup, that obviously has not stopped anyone from trying one in the neck. It's actually quite a good neck pickup, with the JB's "singing" quality translating well when used in the neck. I've had one in the neck and can attest to this, but I'll also note that it is very hot and I was glad to have an even hotter bridge pickup (DiMarzio X2N-B - the even hotter bass version of the standard X2N) to provide balance.

The JM was originally designed as the matching neck pickup for the JB. JM is more widely known as the Jazz Model (SH-2).

Since you found an inexpensive SH-4 JB to use in the neck, try it. You might really like it. Congratulations on the KV2!

[DC_rhoads82]

Thank you so much everyone for the replies! I appreciate the confirmation on the pole spacing for the KV2 (it is the standard with the official Floyd rose). I’ll probably give the JB a go in the neck since it is regular spaced and look for a higher output bridge model, perhaps a nazgul. Thank you again!!!