Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:59 am

I have applications where both sound good or where small tweaks make them sound better or where custom pickups were the way to go. It is all very subjective and emotional. There are no hard fast rules as to what will sound good to everyone. I have had endless problems trying to get JB to sound good yet a hybrid of JB and Distortion sounds killer. Who would know sometimes the only thing to do is try and and see.

Can you explain the metal plate under the 1/4 pounder? I use a 1/4 pounder in one of my guitars.

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:10 am

fillmore nyc wrote:
77custom wrote: Send me your address and I'll send you one. If you like it, keep it.
PM sent. Thanks, brother. Thats unbelievably cool of you!!

No sweat. Hope you don't mind a double creme.

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:45 am

908ssp wrote: Can you explain the metal plate under the 1/4 pounder? I use a 1/4 pounder in one of my guitars.

I remember having a strat bridge pickup with a metal bar epoxied to the bottom of it. If I remember correctly, they do that to add thickness to the pickup. It gives it a fatter sound.

fillmore nyc · Post by **fillmore nyc** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:20 pm

77custom wrote:
908ssp wrote: Can you explain the metal plate under the 1/4 pounder? I use a 1/4 pounder in one of my guitars.
I remember having a strat bridge pickup with a metal bar epoxied to the bottom of it. If I remember correctly, they do that to add thickness to the pickup. It gives it a fatter sound.

My understanding is that it somehow reflects the mag field upwards, boosting the lows without affecting the highs. Lindy Fralin has that plate as an option on his Strat pickups, and makes that claim about it.

Here is a copy & paste from his website:

"A Bass Plate is an option for the bridge position on ALNICO poled pickups which will give you 10% more bass without affecting the mids or highs."

When I added a baseplate to my old DiMarzio Pre-B1, I didnt know this info about the effect of a baseplate, but I remember that it definitely sounded better.

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:35 pm

fillmore nyc wrote:
77custom wrote:
908ssp wrote: Can you explain the metal plate under the 1/4 pounder? I use a 1/4 pounder in one of my guitars.
I remember having a strat bridge pickup with a metal bar epoxied to the bottom of it. If I remember correctly, they do that to add thickness to the pickup. It gives it a fatter sound.
My understanding is that it somehow reflects the mag field upwards, boosting the lows without affecting the highs. Lindy Fralin has that plate as an option on his Strat pickups, and makes that claim about it.

Here is a copy & paste from his website:

"A Bass Plate is an option for the bridge position on ALNICO poled pickups which will give you 10% more bass without affecting the mids or highs."

When I added a baseplate to my old DiMarzio Pre-B1, I didnt know this info about the effect of a baseplate, but I remember that it definitely sounded better.

I think I'll try this with my exsisting Tele pickup first. It might just be what I'm looking for. Besides it would be cheaper for now.

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:41 pm

Was the Bass plate steel? Seems to me it would have to be to have an effect on the magnetism as a none magnetic metal would just be transparent to the magnetic flux. Also did it touch the bottom of the alnico poles or was it isolated? I would think you would want to ground it to so it doesn't act to increase noise. Any pictures?

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:28 pm

908ssp wrote:Was the Bass plate steel? Seems to me it would have to be to have an effect on the magnetism as a none magnetic metal would just be transparent to the magnetic flux. Also did it touch the bottom of the alnico poles or was it isolated? I would think you would want to ground it to so it doesn't act to increase noise. Any pictures?

I'll check my pickup when I get home.

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 5:32 pm

I checked my American standard bridge pups and they have 2 screws added to the bottom. I added 3 more screws to one of them to see if it would add more bas to the pup. I can't remember if it worked or not. It was such a long time ago and I can't even remember what I did yesterday.

I'll take some pics later.

Yngve · Post by **Yngve** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:22 pm

fillmore nyc! Can you show some pics of the modification you did to your pick-ups? This is a very interesting topic and wouldn't mind doing to to some single coil pick-ups l have around.

Yngwie308 just to let you know the HS-3 and YJM sound fantastic and so much clarity and punch compared to my friends Les Paul! I couldnt believe it nor did he, l though in all honesty that the Les Paul that he has would kick the Malmsteen right off! Its a mystery!

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:01 pm

I found this bit of info from Bill Lawrence and Lindy Fralin:

http://www.tdpri.com/resourceBASEPLATE.htm

http://www.fralinpickups.com/bplate.asp

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:46 am

77custom wrote:I found this bit of info from Bill Lawrence and Lindy Fralin:

http://www.tdpri.com/resourceBASEPLATE.htm

http://www.fralinpickups.com/bplate.asp

Fantastic better than I could have hoped for thanks.

77custom · Post by **77custom** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:36 am

908ssp wrote:
77custom wrote:I found this bit of info from Bill Lawrence and Lindy Fralin:

http://www.tdpri.com/resourceBASEPLATE.htm

http://www.fralinpickups.com/bplate.asp
Fantastic better than I could have hoped for thanks.

Your welcome,I like to help out when I can.

fillmore nyc · Post by **fillmore nyc** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:09 pm

Yngve wrote:fillmore nyc! Can you show some pics of the modification you did to your pick-ups? This is a very interesting topic and wouldn't mind doing to to some single coil pick-ups l have around.

I dont have that pickup anymore, so I cant show you what I did, but I can tell you that its a pretty simple mod. The plate IS ferrous (steel), but mine was from an old, blown actual Tele pickup, so it was plated with what appeared to be copper. The plate IS grounded, and the mounting screws thread directly into the plate, thru the pickup bobbin. The screws are not threaded into the bobbin, they just pass thru it, and the plate touched the magnet slugs.
I honestly dont remember using any kind of potting agent between the plate and the pickup bobbin, but I do think it would be a good idea to put something in there to reduce the possibility of microphonic vibration from occuring. I would bet that using a little bit of silicone would do the trick.

philmanatee · Post by **philmanatee** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:07 am

Wolfe is winding me some strat pickups right now and I asked him about adding a baseplate. He said it is important to fasten it well and suggested using epoxy. Phil

fillmore nyc · Post by **fillmore nyc** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:09 am

philmanatee wrote:Wolfe is winding me some strat pickups right now and I asked him about adding a baseplate. He said it is important to fasten it well and suggested using epoxy. Phil

Im sure that would work, but it WILL be permanent. IMO, silicone would do the job just as well, but would be removable, if done carefully.
(Plus, if you get any epoxy in the mounting holes, you'll have a bit of a rough time getting it out... silicone will just push out with a toothpick.

)