Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

C

CenterStaqeSilver

New member
Does anyone put any kind of metal lining in the guitar's pickup spaces? What I mean is a complete metal liner (copper, silver or gold foil perhaps), and the purpose would be to help guide all magnetism upwards towards the strings. I presume the foil would not touch the pickup or wires or anything else but the wood.

I'm considering this just as a creative idea. In a simple way it might seem to make sense to guide all magnetism to a more focused area if possible. It may have some drawbacks or it may be a considerable improvement. It might also do nothing at all. I haven't seen a diagram of the magnetic forces at play with pickups, but if there are any wasted magnetic potentials below the top surface of the pickup, why not get the most out of them?

Anyone tried it? Does it make sense or is it electronic nonsense?

Also, as another whipped idea, how about putting a very sharp point on the top of each hex or screw? Would it boost the treble, sharpen the definition of the electronic signal? Nothing at all? I've noticed most people don't like the sound of the thick pole pieces on powerful pickups. Well then, the opposite is..........!
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

None of those materials would do anything for the magnetic field. You'd need 'iron foil' to do that.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

AdmiralB said:
None of those materials would do anything for the magnetic field. You'd need 'iron foil' to do that.
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Yes, that makes sense. I saw how snuggly the chrome-plated casing on that old Bill Lawrence L500 of "Dime"'s fit, and was thinking that maybe BL discovered something there. Iron would have an impact, but I'm thinking it would take some experimentation, as it might also just send the magnetic fields into chaos or simply weaken them. I had a picture in my mind of fields around the pickup being forced upwards towards and directly at the pole pieces, to assist the sensitivity.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

Do a search for a poster named NOTH, especially his "I tried different pots" thread.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

Man, I hear this jazz about putting a strip of steel/iron under single coils giving them a little more quack, almost like a tele, and while it does just that, it's only a very little improvement, hardly audible, definitely not worth the added risk of microphonics...
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

What your describing is more usefull for shielding against EMI. But putting a base plate under a pickup does change its sound. I use brass baseplates under my single coils and I like the twang they add.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

idsnowdog said:
I use brass baseplates under my single coils and I like the twang they add.
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I assume you mean brass-plated steel or iron, since brass is magnetically invisible and wouldn't affect the tone in any significant manner.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

Solid brass is conductive and yes it makes a difference. Dimarzio's have brass baseplates and a lot of tele's have brass baseplates.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

idsnowdog said:
Solid brass is conductive and yes it makes a difference. Dimarzio's have brass baseplates.
Click to expand...

Conductive yes, magnetic no. It's magnetically transparent, all you're doing with a brass plate is creating some very minor eddy currents.
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

AdmiralB said:
I assume you mean brass-plated steel or iron, since brass is magnetically invisible and wouldn't affect the tone in any significant manner.
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This is what everyonne thinks, and logically it´s correct.

But it doesn´t change the fact that brass inserts and plates do have a noticable effect on tone. For ex. when I repaired a Dimebucker by adding brass screw eyes to the legs it changed the tone noticably (for the worse, I might add) ;)
 
Re: Foil Lining of Pickup Space? Hex/screw caps?

CenterStaqeSilver said:
Also, as another whipped idea, how about putting a very sharp point on the top of each hex or screw? Would it boost the treble, sharpen the definition of the electronic signal? Nothing at all? I've noticed most people don't like the sound of the thick pole pieces on powerful pickups. Well then, the opposite is..........!
Click to expand...

You can use headless set screws to get an effect similar to what you describe. It does increase the treble and decrease the bass a bit. I liked using 1/2" screw polepieces more than using the headless set screws.
 
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