"Vintage" 94 Am. Standard Tele coming in

[Southpole]

Ah

It's my understanding that none of the American Standard/American Series/American Standard (v2) stock alnico pickups had a base plate, but when they changed to the "Delta Tone" circa late 1996/early 1997 they add a couple of metal screws to the bottom of the pickup to add a bit of mass. That American Series Ash Tele (the 8502 model) pickup is based on the AVRI 52 pickup so it most likely did have a base plate, but that pickup was only on that model. Then in 2012 they started using the Custom Shop Broadcaster pickup which of course has a base plate, and the V-Mods on the American Pro/Pro IIs have a base plate

It’s almost like the base plate didn’t have a big impact!

I have a 2015 AS (avatar) that has the Broadcaster bridge and Twisted Tele combination that I really like. Way better tone than the 93 Standard

 

[Fendereedo]

OP, you did the correct thing with changing the pickups to AV 64s, to my ears they are the best Fender have ever made.