pickup base plate question [Archive] - Telecaster Guitar Forum

vlammie

July 27th, 2012, 05:34 PM

Hi guys,

I'm currently co-designing a re-issue of a famous '70s japanese axe, and I'm comparing the prototype to my original one from '79.

Meet the ladies:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w395/vlammie/Vintage%20re-issue%20Mad%20Cat/MadCatVintageReissue20.jpg

When playing unplugged, the original guitar sound a bit dryer and has a bit more bass / less treble compared to the prototype of the re-issue.
Probably due to 30+ years of wood drying.

We played around with wiring, caps etc. but there's still a subtle difference.
These guitars have strat-style pickups. The old one has nameless (and pretty noisy) pickups, which have a copper base plate glued to the back of them, with holes under the pickup poles, like this one:

http://sammy11.blog.so-net.ne.jp/_im...11/3145239.jpg

Maybe they put these on to make the pickups sound more like tele-pickups?

The new one has Bill Lawrence S1 / S3 pickups, and these have no base plate.
They sound a bit more 'stratty', more transparent and less noisy. Pretty nice actually.
I know Callaham and Fralin have aftermarket base plates, but they don't have holes in them and are thicker.

Do you think adding a copper plate like the original ones will impact the sound, and add more lows and mids while raising the output level a bit (as advertised)?
I'm looking for a slightly dirtier tone.

Thanks in advance!
Dany


	Telecaster Guitar Forum > Main Telecaster Forum > Tele-Technical > pickup base plate question PDA pickup base plate question vlammie July 27th, 2012, 05:34 PM Hi guys, I'm currently co-designing a re-issue of a famous '70s japanese axe, and I'm comparing the prototype to my original one from '79. Meet the ladies: http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w395/vlammie/Vintage%20re-issue%20Mad%20Cat/MadCatVintageReissue20.jpg When playing unplugged, the original guitar sound a bit dryer and has a bit more bass / less treble compared to the prototype of the re-issue. Probably due to 30+ years of wood drying. We played around with wiring, caps etc. but there's still a subtle difference. These guitars have strat-style pickups. The old one has nameless (and pretty noisy) pickups, which have a copper base plate glued to the back of them, with holes under the pickup poles, like this one: http://sammy11.blog.so-net.ne.jp/_im...11/3145239.jpg Maybe they put these on to make the pickups sound more like tele-pickups? The new one has Bill Lawrence S1 / S3 pickups, and these have no base plate. They sound a bit more 'stratty', more transparent and less noisy. Pretty nice actually. I know Callaham and Fralin have aftermarket base plates, but they don't have holes in them and are thicker. Do you think adding a copper plate like the original ones will impact the sound, and add more lows and mids while raising the output level a bit (as advertised)? I'm looking for a slightly dirtier tone. Thanks in advance! Dany sjtalon July 27th, 2012, 05:37 PM http://www.tdpri.com/resources/tele-bridge-base-plate-materials/ vlammie July 27th, 2012, 05:47 PM http://www.tdpri.com/resources/tele-bridge-base-plate-materials/ Oops... thanks for the link! Any idea if the holes under the pickup poles will have a serious impact on the sound compared to a full plate like callaham and fralin are offering? sjtalon July 27th, 2012, 05:59 PM your link doesn't work vlammie July 27th, 2012, 06:08 PM :confused:your link doesn't work try this: http://sammy11.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2009-09-06-1 Rob DiStefano July 27th, 2012, 06:59 PM little to nothing about the wood, look at the pickups and circuit. swap the pickups and listen ....