Metalurgy question

[John Harrison]

What is the difference between ferrous and stainless steel bridge plates? Is there a difference in tone between the two?

[Adam Waldron]

Stainless Steel is a ferrous metal.

Ferrous metals are iron based and include all the steel alloys.

Stainless steel and regular plated steel bridge plates should sound pretty much the same. Stainless steel is just resistant to oxidising without plating.

Its the brass bridge plates that will sound different, with its effect on magnetic field of the bridge pick-up.

Cheers,

Adam

[JohnnyAtomic]

whether right or wrong some people use the word ferrous to mean whether a magnet will stick to it or not. a magnet will stick to a regular steel bridge, it will not stick to a stainless steel bridge. so no, stainless and regular steel do not sound the same, regardless of terminology.
johnny atomic

[sparky]

stainless steel is a family of alloys, some are magnetic and some are not. They resist rust to varying degrees and their other properties also vary depending on the exact mix of constituents.

Although the structure of the metal must have some effect, its magnetic properties are a major factor affecting tone; a magnetic stainless bridge should sound similar to a 'normal' steel bridge and a non-magnetic one more like a brass bridge.

[Kingtone]

300 series stainless is non magnetic, 400 series stainless is magnetic. I'm not sure which properties would effect tone more, magnetism or the change to an alloy steel. I've never made a tele bridge before but I have made saddles and there is a tonal difference from steel to stainless steel to brass. I think that there would be a change in tone between mild steel ( ferrous ) and stainless steel but I cant say for sure if it would be brighter or darker.
Maybe its time to go out in the shop and find out....

[uncle harry]

...when you say that steel, stainless steel and
brass saddles all sound different, I believe you.

Could you tell us what they sound like, maybe,
especially in comparison to each other?

Thanks, Yer Uncle

[Michael Murphy]

With regard to saddles, the harder metals (steel, stainless steel) will sound brighter, the brass saddles will be a little mellower. This has nothing to do with magnetism.

Where magnetic properties figure into the equation is the bridgeplate. Since the bridgeplate completely surrounds the pickup, if it is made of a 'magnetic' material, it will affect the magnetic field that naturally surrounds the pickup, changing its shape and intensity, and the way it 'interprets' string vibration. The typical stainless bridgeplate (with little or no magnetic properties) will not affect the magnetic field, thus yielding what some call the 'true, un-altered' tone of the pickup.

This is similar to the difference between pickups which don't have the baseplate on the bottom and those that do- same general principle. The mid-range is emphasized more with the baseplate than without, and this carries over with the bridgeplate material in terms of the traditional 'vintage' Telecaster sound.


-Michael
Charter Member S. Texas He-Man Emoticon Haters Local #316

[Kingtone]

I'll tell you what I've found to be the case with the saddles I've made. Steel is the brightest of the three, has the most bite and sting, then 300 series stainless, then brass. All the saddles are 5/16 dia. with a milled flat bottom on a 50s classic Tele with texas specials....
This has been said before, tone is subjective and I'm still wondering how much of an effect a well made magnetic or non magnetic bridge would have on a Tele...