Bridge pickup with or without brass plate?

[TeleToneTony]

Curious to hear from players who had both types. For me I think there's a lot to be said for the older plateless American Standard bridge pickups.

 

[dlew919]

My Nashville doesn’t have one. I keep wondering whether I should add one. But I like the bridge sound….

 

[Axean naexA]

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If the question is; Does it make a difference? Then the answer might be; Ask ten people and you may get ten different answers.

But if the question is; Does it make it better?

Well, all I can say is I’ve played some that sounded great “with” and some that sounded great “without” the brass bottom plate.

Therefore, in my estimation, it could very well be “too close to call” either way…


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[Matthias]

I have both. It’s all taste. My perception is the Tele twang is in the mids and lows and a copper or brass baseplate goes some way to taming the stereotypical single coil highs to let those come out a bit more. I gather steel doesn’t work in quite the same way… But those vintage-style pickups don’t always sound as smoothed-out and “modern” as a lot of newer pickups. So depends what you want to do and there are other factors at play… It really is sound over specs. I spent ages thinking one Tele had Alnico when in fact they were ceramic (and cheap ones) but I wouldn’t dream of changing those.

As TeleToneTony alludes to, Fender have put some great pickups in their standards… My experience is with the Strat ones and the really are a good compromise between vintage and modern sounds.

 

[Tuxedo Poly]

Most Fender base plates are steel with copper or tin plating. Fender also tried to provide the ferromagnetic effect that (steel) base plates have with large black screws in many of the plate-less bridge pickups.

This, from the late great Bill Lawrence, is a useful read.

Tele bridge base plate, steel or brass?

I'm adding a base plate to my MIM Standard Tele bridge PUP. I have been told to use steel on another forum from a guy who has given me and others great advice in the past, but I have seen that brass is also used and seems to have been used on the older Tele pups. Steel will effect the magnetic...

www.tdpri.com

 

[Nick Fanis]

No such thing as a brass telecaster pickup base plate exists or ever existed.
If you are talking about the STEEL one , sometimes copper plated, than a telecaster bridge pickup without one is not a telecaster pickup.

 

[TeleToneTony]

QUOTE No such thing as a brass telecaster pickup base plate exists or ever existed.
thanks, duh, saddles maybe but not base plates, I let the copper color fool me all these years.

 

[jvin248]

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A brass plate will cut noise.

A steel plate will reflect the magnetic field that normally goes out the back of the guitar, at the strings increasing output.

I like a steel base plate the best.

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[Southpole]

I just assumed for years that all Tele bridge pickups had a metal base plate of some sort. I was surprised to find out that in certain years this was not the case. Had me wondering if it really made as much difference as we might have thought. Not sure if I’d pass a blind test - but it would be interesting to do!