Will a notched vintage tele bridge plate cause pickup howl?

I'm putting together parts for a Tele partscaster (USACG ash body, Allparts fat TMO, etc.). I was planning to use a notched vintage tele bridge plate like those at http://thebridge-works.com. They have some with (1) the lip ground back almost to the pickup on the treble side only; (2) the lip ground back just past the pickup on both treble and bass sides: and (3) the lip ground back to just past the bridge saddles on both sides.

I've been considering the first 2 options, but just now I started thinking that grinding the lip past the pickup cutout on both sides will make the bridge plate rather flexible/weak and contribute to vibrations and cause squeal or howl. Don't some folks screw down the front of the bridge plate to reduce this problem.

Should I avoid option 2 altogether? I don't really play very high volume situations very often these days.

Thanks.

I think the #2 option would be OK. The plate is laying flat on the guitar and not carrying string vibration in the weak area. Worst case scenario, you could put screws in the corners like a Callaham bridge, but I don't think you'll need to.

I say don't be begging trouble. If it was my project, I'd play the game to win. Get the one you want.

That seller also offers the possibility to have two holes drilled at the front, you should contact him.

Some things you can do to prevent it from squealing...

1) Run the bottom of the bridge back-n-forth across some sandpaper, as much as it takes to get it good and flat. This solves it 95% of the time for me.

2) A bit of wax underneath the bridge can also prevent those unwanted contributions to your tonal variety.

3) As mentioned above, two screws in front of the pickup will work, too.

I have a notched wilkinson and never had problem with pickup howl, even with decent amounts of distortion.

I have a notched wilkinson and never had problem with pickup howl, even with decent amounts of distortion.

Did you notch it yourself or buy it that way?

Back in the day when I was running a Tele through a Dual Showman - I had terrible squealing problems which we traced to the cover of the neck pickup vibrating from the volume we played at. I couldn't use the bridge pickup by itself, it was far too tinny and piercing. I finally solved the problem by putting in two P90s from a wrecked Gibson 330 - that was a tone monster Tele, probably a '65 or so......

As others have said, notched ashtrays don't cause squeel. The bridge plate not sitting flush against the body does.

I had terrible squealing problems which we traced to the cover of the neck pickup vibrating from the volume we played at.*******************************

Speak up, I can't hear you.:lol:

Hey Strat,

You could use G.E. Smith's solution with one of those shorty bridges and screw the bridge pickup into he body. He has solved the bridge feedback issue with this configuration. If you don't like the look, I have a Tele with the pickup screwed into the wood on wood risers with adjustment springs with the stock bridge fitted over it. The stock pickup screw holes are in alignment with the screws so I can snake a screwdriver down the screw holes to the screw heads and adjust pickup height like normal. Stealthy!

It's also been suggested to flatten the underside of the stock bridge. The stock Fender bridges work great when you do this. I just put some wet 220 paper and water on my Harbor Freight little granite plate and it's reasonably flat reasonably quickly. It won't be perfect but if you can get all 4 corners with a good sized contact area, you are in business. And yes, the body should be good and flat too! As far as neck squealies go, pot the pickup or remove the cover.

Barncaster

Thanks to all for your comments.

I'll go with notches to just past the pickup on both sides. While I won't expect problems, I have several options to cure the issue should it arise. Thanks again!