Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

[Alvin Lee Fan]

A friend of mine recently installed a Quarter Pounder bridge in his Tele. Not doing p'up swaps very often, he grabbed the baseplate from the old pickup and installed it on the QP because it didn't have one. He thought he should transfer it over to the new pickup.

Now, his Tele sounds really boxy and smothered. Could the baseplate have that effect or is it maybe something else he did?

I'm getting the guitar next week to look it over, just thought I'd mine the forum for some opinions beforehand.

Thanks!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

i have a qp tele lead and with no baseplate i think it sounds great, the baseplate could mess that up

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

Interesting...

The baseplate will add about 5% more bass to a bridge single coil.

Did he include the ground wire? (He should have!)

Did he put a piece of 1/2" masking tape over the polepieces on the bottem before waxing it on? (Again: He should have!)

Maybe he should just take the baseplate off again!

Lew

 

[thucydides]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

It's been years since I had a QPer, but if it didn't come w/one, you probably shouldn't put it on.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

Only one way to find out -- have him yank the plate off and try it that way.

The baseplate may act sort of like a flux shield that concentrates more of the magnetic field up into the strings. The QP is pretty bleepin' hot as it is and the more concentrated magnetic field could be what pushed it over the edge into harshness.

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

Well, I got the word, he's going to drop the guitar off with me next week. I'm gonna take that baseplate off there and see how she sounds. I'm betting that it opens up without it.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Baseplate on Tele Quarter-Pounder

I put a steel baseplate on a bridge QP - in a Strat. Tamed the ice pick and gave me the bass and low-mids I needed.

Grounding the baseplate and separating it from the pole pieces (as suggested earlier) is critical to it working right.

Chip