Who has put a baseplate on their strat pickup?

[Bruxist]

Thinking about doing this with the bridge pups on my strats.

Wanted to hear directly from some folks who have tried it, what brand you used, caveats, etc.

Thanks!

 

[joealso]

My Fralin SP-43 bridge pickup came with a base plate. I can't say what it might have sounded like without, but I do love the sound and 2 others guitar players have commented positively about it too - both unprompted. Sounds very much like a P-90 to my ears. Full and beefy but crisp.

 

[JD0x0]

Added one to a tonerider surfari bridge pickup. Just a piece of steel (zinc plated?) I found laying around, which was just large enough to cover all 6 polepieces. A bit thicker than the standard strat baseplate you can get on the web, too.

I also have a Klein custom strat pickup in the neck of my tele which has a steel baseplate.

FWIW, both these pickups are equipped with weaker grade Alnico 3 magnets.

 

[E5RSY]

I put one from Callaham on my '57 AVRI Strat. The effect is there, but it is subtle. Definitely a step in the right direction, regardless.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

I put one from Callaham on my strat bridge pickup last year, with the intent of cutting the highs a bit and fattening up the tone. When I first tried it out, I thought I heard a slight difference. But later, I decided that I heard no real difference but wanted to hear a difference because I just got done working on it and didn't want to consider my time wasted. I ended up replacing that pickup with an overwound pickup and have been happy with it ever since.

 

[LowCaster]

Same her. I did buy a Fralin baseplate to put under a Seymour Duncan SSL1 (vintage strat). I don't hear a major difference against the other pickups of the set (SSL1s too), nothing that could not be caused by heigth or position, but it doesn't harm the tone either. It will stay in there and I forget it.

No caveats, it's easy.

If you want a real change, swap one pickup with something hotter.

 

[E5RSY]

I have no plans to take mine off, but I do think I need to wire that pickup to a tone pot to really get what I was after.

Scott

 

[SPUDCASTER]

The Fezzter Maverick bridge pickup for my Strat came with one.

 

[Zepfan]

Just put a Tele bridge pickup(minus the ashtray of course) in the bridge position of your Strat. Alvin Youngblood Hart has a Strat like that and it sounds fantastic.

 

[moosie]

Pretty sure my Fralin Vintage Hot set came with a plate on the bridge. It's my son's guitar now, so I can't easily check.

Those Fralins are some very sweet-sounding pickups!

 

[LAGinz]

Thinking about doing this with the bridge pups on my strats.

Wanted to hear directly from some folks who have tried it, what brand you used, caveats, etc.

Thanks!

Got one with my Rumpelstiltskin pre-CBS set. Sound just incredible. Somewhat thicker sounding than original American Std. Set, but still firmly within Strat territory.

 

[E5RSY]

Something just came to mind: I will say, even if it may not make the bridge pickup sound a ton different on its own, I think it definitely improves the sound of the bridge-middle setting.

 

[Ringo]

I did my own plate years ago on a MIJ 60s RI with alnico pickups, just used a piece of hacksaw blade and glued it on with some silicone.
Seemed to make a difference but not that much.
I have a Fralin baseplate that I may install the next time I change strings on my Strat which has Fralin Vintage Hot pickups.

 

[jimbo735]

I did, gave a little more sumptin to it!
Mine was hand made by me just to experiment.the pickup is actually a old Dimarzio strat pickup from way back in the 80,s.It thickened some but wasn't a giant difference might be the steel I used but there was a difference specially when cranked.
I think it can be a good thing.

 

[Michael A.]

If I attached a rectangle of thin steel with a hole for the pickup underneath the pick guard at the bridge on a Strat, would it approximate the effect of a Tele bridge plate in terms of focusing and thickening the sound? Or would it introduce some detrimental effect to the properties of the pickup? This could be done temporarily with something like contact cement.

 

[archetype]

I did my own plate years ago on a MIJ 60s RI with alnico pickups, just used a piece of hacksaw blade and glued it on with some silicone.
Seemed to make a difference but not that much.
I have a Fralin baseplate that I may install the next time I change strings on my Strat which has Fralin Vintage Hot pickups.

A hacksaw blade probably doesn't have enough mass to make much difference. Put that Fralin on.

 

[E5RSY]

A hacksaw blade probably doesn't have enough mass to make much difference. Put that Fralin on.

Put 'em both on.

 

[Ricky D.]

If I attached a rectangle of thin steel with a hole for the pickup underneath the pick guard at the bridge on a Strat, would it approximate the effect of a Tele bridge plate in terms of focusing and thickening the sound? Or would it introduce some detrimental effect to the properties of the pickup? This could be done temporarily with something like contact cement.

Nice idea! Can't hurt it. Why don't you give it a try.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Just put a Tele bridge pickup(minus the ashtray of course) in the bridge position of your Strat. Alvin Youngblood Hart has a Strat like that and it sounds fantastic.

Lowell George also did this in the 70's.

 

[thunderbyrd]

I have the baseplate on a strat bridge, but the guitar is a hardtail, so I have no idea. it sounds pretty good.