What type of metal is used for the baseplates in Seymour Duncan pickups?

[bhr]

Hello,

Does anyone know what type of metal is used for the baseplates in Seymour Duncan pickups? I'm interested in trying to make a baseplate for a slanted Epiphone Nighthawk bridge pickup. I already have a Duncan JB pickup made for the Nighthawk, I just want to make a baseplate because it sounds like an interesting thing to do.

I found an interesting PremierGuitar article discussing baseplates for single coil pickups, and the effect of different types of metals and the thickness of the metals on the sound of the pickups. Here's a link to the article: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/beefing-up-single-coils-1

Thank you.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

What type of metal is used for the baseplates in Seymour Duncan pickups?

Duncan uses nickel silver.

The article on single coil baseplates is totally different. Those are what commonly called “reflector plates” and are usually made of steel. Being steel they are magnetic and couple to the magnets on the pickup. This increases the inductance and gives a fuller tone.

That won’t work on a humbucker since they use a bar magnet laying on its side. If you used a steel plate under a humbucker you would short out the magnetic circuit and not get very much sound from the pickup.

The single coil reflector plates that aren’t steel, such as brass, induce eddy current loading and will kill some of the top end.


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[bhr]

Re: What type of metal is used for the baseplates in Seymour Duncan pickups?

DavidRavenMoon, thank you for the reply. I'm sure glad I asked this question! I found a couple of suppliers of baseplates for the Nighthawk in Europe, and there offerings were made of brass or Nickel Silver. I think I'll find some Nickel Silver sheet metal and give it a try. Based on the measurements I made of the Duncan Nighthawk pickup baseplate, I think I'll try 20 gauge.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: What type of metal is used for the baseplates in Seymour Duncan pickups?

I used a brass baseplate from one of the European guys to install a JB2 on my own Nighthawk. I didn't notice much if any tonal shift going from the nickle base to the brass base. The pickup has the same basic character it has had in other guitars.