Pickup with Metal Scratch Plate

[jgfs08]

I am attempting a new build and in collecting ideas, I was wondering if I could use a metal Scratch Board (Plate).

I am wondering if the metal will mess with the magnetic flux, from the Pups! has anyone tried this out? Or is anyone out there with "theoretical" knowledge, on the subject of Magnetism,  that can comment on my idea?
Thanks.

[antares]

A Tele bridge plate is steel and that seems to be to be time proven! I'd just say avoid ferrous metals if you're concerned. I've made an "S" type from brass many years ago (when brass was all the rage!) and I 've used anodised aluminium with great success too.

Welcome to The Forum!

e&oe...

[dnic]

What Steve said + I've seen all manor of guitar like things made from metal. Shovels with pickups, car parts welded together with pickups, tin cans. All sorts of random metal crap with pickups so I'd say probably not a problem.

[EB]

I have built and worked on a lot of guitars with metal pick guards on them. Steal, copper, stainless, brass, aluminum, and so on.

I never had an issue form any of them.
You do need to watch how it's wired up. Like grounding.
If the pots are connected and the switch, you wont need to use a grounding wire on the post.

I worked on a guitar that the whole face of the guitar was made of steal. It did even have a bridge ground on it because the bridge was being grounded through the metal top. I was surprised that the guitar was super quite.
Just make sure when you put it together that no bare wires are touching anything.
You should be OK!
EB

You can check out videos too on You Tube. There is a guy making all steal guitars. There also Dobro guitars made of all steal and have pickups in them.

[jgfs08]

Thanks, for the advice and the welcome. I am enjoying the Network, its awesome.

[GuitarAttack Forum]

You are OK if a magnet won't stick to the metal you want to use. You can use a little refrigerator magnet to see if it will stick.

If it sticks it will make your pickups unhappy!

John

[antares]

I know that Danny Gatton had a stainless-steel bridge pickup mounting plate made for his '53- presumably from low carbon stainless-steel, but I don't recall the logic he used in coming to that decision. I think that having a ferrous mounting plate is supposed to be associated with eddy currents? I have no opinion on that because my understanding does not extend far enough. Whether there's anything in that detrimental or otherwise, it'd take a strong argument to persuade the wider community that there's anything much compromised in the sound of a vanilla Tele bridge pickup, and of course the Tele pickup mounting bridge plate is either chrome or nickel plated steel.

I do see where John's coming from because Strat shielding plates are always aluminium (I use self adhesive copper foil on mine) but I'm puzzled as to why steel is universally accepted for a Tele bridge pickup yet apparently verboten for an S-type scratchplate / pickguard?

e&oe ...

[dnic]

I saw a Marty Music video called the Holy Grail Guitar Collection. He plays a 50s Tele with the ash tray on and the bridge is very quacky. When he takes the ash tray off I could hear it was slightly less so. Are those ash trays steel or brass? Anyone can answer I mean I'm not asking anyone specifically.

And you all should really watch that video. Some very nice guitars are show.

[antares]

I have just tried a magnet on my ash tray and it grabbed fast and hard. Do they still supply ash trays with Teles I wonder? I can't remember seeing any being used.

e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Oct 15, 2019 7:40:49 GMT -6 antares said:

I have just tried a magnet on my ash tray and it grabbed fast and hard. Do they still supply ash trays with Teles I wonder? I can't remember seeing any being used.

e&oe ...

 You can still get Tele with the ash trays and you can buy the bridges with them.

 There is now a company that makes all seal Teles. How is it possible for a pickup to live inside of an all steal body? Hum...

EB 

[antares]

Magnetic pickups work fine on a steel bodied National guitar too. In fact in the absence of a mic (or the inconvenience that a mic is frequently thought to imply) a magnetic pickup is vastly preferable to a piezo on a resonator.

On another forum, the folks were discussing mounting a pickup on the wrong side of the bridge saddle(s). I offered the opinion that as pickups are traditionally supposed to work by the strings vibrating through the magnetic field(s), there wouldn't be any signal? If I am to believe what they said it did indeed work and I was stumped (I still am.) Some funny things go on sometimes, but I'm sure there has to be an explanation for that. It's just that I haven't figured it out yet.

e&oe ...

[dnic]

I'm inclined to agree Steve, I thought the strings were a critical part of making the whole thing work. I suppose the magnetic field could be enlarged by the steel top of the resonator and still stimulate the pickup. Can't imagine it will be very articulate.

[Deleted]

I have played resonator guitars with all kinds of ways they have put pickups in them and using stick on pickups and so on. They all made some kind of sound. Some better than others. But they all worked.

Did you know that copper repels magnetic fields? There is a guy on You Tube that shows this. Pretty cool video.

Wish I could find the guy who is making steal bodied teles. Think it's a guy on Face Book. He makes some cool ones. Just don't know if I would ever own one or not.

[antares]

I knew Beryllium Copper did. I used a small sheet of BC to shield the magnetic field of a loudspeaker from the electronics (as distinct from electrics) in a multi band / multi mode transceiver I built many moons ago. It worked as expected too.

e&oe ...

[Deleted]

here is one I seen on You Tube. He has not made one since this video. At least I can't find another one. BUt he has videos form the start of this project. It would be nice to see if he ever got it playing.