Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

[Dave Locher]

I own an oddball guitar, a 1978 or so Gibson Marauder. It has an all-maple bolt-on neck and a solid mahogany body. The pickups mount in a pickguard, which then mounts to the face of the guitar just like a Strat.
I bought this beast for next to nothing a long time ago and modified the snot out of it. One of those mods was to make an aluminum pickguard so I could reposition the controls and put a nice chunky humbucker in the bridge position.
The guitar has always had a slightly grating aspect to the tone. No one hears it but me, but it is there.
The thread about base plates and eddy currents got me to wondering: is it possible the aluminum pickguard is altering the tone of the pickups? I had this same pickup in two other guitars and in those guitars this pickup did not have that spike somewhere in the EQ that bothers me sometimes.

Would building a plastic pickguard potentially alter the tone of the pickup?

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

how did it sound before the mod? Anyway I used to have a full pickguard-size aluminum shield in a strat. No difference in sound. (and of course no difference in noise reduction)

 

[freefrog]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/tweaking-your-treble

 

[Mincer]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

^ great article by Orpheo, there.

The relevant part to this post:

If you use a plastic pickguard and you need more warmth but with a slightly dirty bite to it, you could consider swapping the pickguard for a metal version. On selected guitars I use a brass pickguard and an aluminium pickguard. The brass pickguard attenuates less highs than the aluminium pickguard, or at least, so it would seem. The difference with plastic, celluloid or even bakelite is dramatic. The output seems to be a bit less with a metal pick guard. Presence and treble seem to be less too, but I get the feeling that the metal pickguard gives the tone a bit of a boost in attitude. More raunchy, dirty and nasty.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

Well, since less treble, less presence, and the more raunchy tone is exactly what I want I guess I will stick with the aluminum. I'm actually about to change one of the speakers in my amp and I think that might actually solve my problem.
Thank you for that link - I'm going to read all of them now!

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

can we throw in the options for a brass or nickel pickguard?


this thread would jump to 4 pages by the end of the day.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

can we throw in the options for a brass or nickel pickguard?


this thread would jump to 4 pages by the end of the day.

Ha! I actually considered adding this question to THAT thread but didn't want to give it even more life even though it has turned out to be very educational for me.

 

[LLL]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

On my "Highway Star" strat I have a Callaham aluminum (aluminium for you Brits) pickguard shield. It's a very thin sheet of aluminum that
goes between the body and the pickguard.

Does it change the sound? Hell no, except it helps tame the hum of single coils.

 

[Dahla]

Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

aluminium for you Brits

Actually, to the rest of the world it's called aluminium.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

On my "Highway Star" strat I have a Callaham aluminum (aluminium for you Brits) pickguard shield. It's a very thin sheet of aluminum that
goes between the body and the pickguard.

Does it change the sound? Hell no, except it helps tame the hum of single coils.

The whole shielding thing only helps with radio frequencies. Pretty useless for low frequencies. And in any case the pups are always outside the faraday cage, I doubt shielding even helps with radio noise.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

It's also the acoustic properties of the aluminum pickguard that's making it harsher. The pickups don't only read the sound directly from the strings. They also read the sound that resonates around them from the local area, or from other areas of the guitar.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

The pups sense the vibrations of the magnetic metal (strings). Aluminium is neither magnetic nor in any vibration.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

The pups also sense the vibrations from the rest of the guitar, not only directly from the strings.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

The pups also sense the vibrations from the rest of the guitar, not only directly from the strings.

The trem springs maybe. The vibrating element has to protrude and disturb the pups' magnetic field, and has to be magnetic. Just take your wooden pencil and start moving it in front of your pups. Will they sense anything?

 

[freefrog]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bciXJZglx78

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

Wood pickguard?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bciXJZglx78

The truth. Later kooks.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

I firmly believe that WOOD AFFECTS TONE. But this does not happen because of any pup sensing the wood vibration, but rather because of the way the wood affects string vibration. Still puzzled of why the pups act like microphones in the vid tho...
maybe those pups are .... just microphonic ?

hmm thinking about it, maybe the pups that the guy used to debunk the "anti-wood" conspiracy are extremely loose or of bad quality. By tapping the wood, some metal parts in the pup (wire, bobbin, plate, etc..) are made to vibrate. The better the pup the more immune to those conditions, IMO. So yeah wood contributes to the tone, but not because pups are microphonic or of bad quality.

 

[freefrog]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

Wood pickguard?

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/lacquer.htm ...>>>

"I also replaced the soft plastic pickguard with a wood pickguard and removed the plastic caps from the pickups. Btw. those old fender pickguards were made of celluloid, and thus sound much better than modern plastic pickguards. However, a wooden pickguard sounds best."

LOL...

Still puzzled of why the pups act like microphones in the vid tho...
maybe those pups are .... just microphonic ?

hmm thinking about it, maybe the pups that the guy used to debunk the "anti-wood" conspiracy are extremely loose or of bad quality. By tapping the wood, some metal parts in the pup (wire, bobbin, plate, etc..) are made to vibrate. The better the pup the more immune to those conditions, IMO. So yeah wood contributes to the tone, but not because pups are microphonic or of bad quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngyk6g0rBV8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUOkLE5JDt4

These examples are not polemical, fellow member: I'm just sharing "food for thought" and the goal is to have fun together rather than starting an argument with you or anybody else. )

IME and IMHO, good guitar pickups are precisely those slighty microphonic. But that's just my experience and opinion.


Regarding pickguards, more seriously (but not TOO seriously), there's an interesting experiment to do: use a Strat pickguard with a thick soft shielding foil, play the guitar, count the seconds of sustain. Then put another pickguard with the same electronics but whose shielding foil is thin and rigid. Restring the guitar (with the same strings, of course). Play it and count again the seconds of sustain. Then build your own conclusions. )

 

[greekdude]

Re: Could an aluminum pickguard change pickup sound?

No prob bro. The pups react to knocking on various parts, no doubt. But the ratio of the intensity of sensing the strings vs the various knocks is like night and day. Anyways I once had an aluminium pickguard but no more, can't do the test. What was your conclusion on sustain? Did you test on most frets? It is fun to experiment btw, isn't it?

Anyways I still believe that the coil windings must be extra loose in order to be able to "sing" into a guitar. Just did the knocking test with my EMG 81/60. EMG 60 no matter being an equally hot pup as the 81 was far less microphonic. So just because a pup does this (senses knocking easier), it does not mean this is the norm or this pup is better. In fact I would choose the 60 as a more quality pup. Might be in the design as well for some reason. Don't know.