By using a wider spaced pickup, the pole have better alignment under the strings to better capture the magnetic field from the poles to obtain proper balance from the strings. The average Gibson pickup pole spacing is around 1.928″ from E to E and a Fender Stratocaster is 2.18″ from E to E. You can see by putting a Gibson style humbucking pickup in your Strat, the two E strings would extend to the outer edges of the humbucking pole pieces by .126″. The magnetic field on a Gibson Humbucker extends beyond the pole pieces but you will notice a slight decrease in output on the two E strings.

Several companies now make wider spaced humbucking pickups and we often wind several with traditional specs along with many custom modifications.