Tele Bridge PU in a Strat ?

[Leo_Gnardo]

I tried this. Tele bridge pickups sound different without all of that metal around them, and not in a good way IMO.

I'll keep that in mind. No reason we couldn't put some metal around the pickup. What strikes your ear best? Brass, copper, steel?

Richard Thompson: I like my blue Ferringtoncaster best, although the top string could be louder.

On that Richard Thompson Strat, he's got the bridge tilted reverse, no wonder he says he could stand some more volume from the top string, assuming he means top in pitch.

[John Kolbeck]

I tried this. Tele bridge pickups sound different without all of that metal around them, and not in a good way IMO.

It might be the guitar that sounds different as a result of the added metal, and the pickup just picks up that difference.

[Richard]

Does the extra metal act similarly to a core in an inductor, increasing inductance and favoring the lower frequencies?

[John_H]

Can you describe the difference?

Tele bridge pickups are a tall coil. This alone results in a pretty bright pickup. Twangy, almost shrill in some examples. The heavy base plate, and bridge do a lot to tame this characteristic. When the metal is removed from around the pickup, the eddy currents are decreased causing a brighter sounding pickup with a more focused resonant peak. The metal of the bridge plate I imagine helps shield about 50% of the coil from RF also.

I'll keep that in mind. No reason we couldn't put some metal around the pickup. What strikes your ear best? Brass, copper, steel?

Some heavy shielding attached to the pick guard might be a good solution. In this situation, I would try steel first.

On that Richard Thompson Strat, he's got the bridge tilted reverse, no wonder he says he could stand some more volume from the top string, assuming he means top in pitch.

It would have to make a difference.

It might be the guitar that sounds different as a result of the added metal, and the pickup just picks up that difference.

Think about the difference between a covered versus an uncovered humbucker. Anytime that you add metal to the equation, it impacts the tone.

Does the extra metal act similarly to a core in an inductor, increasing inductance and favoring the lower frequencies?

I think it would have more to do with increasing the eddy currents, and dispersing the magnetic flux in this situation.

[rjb]

I'll keep that in mind. No reason we couldn't put some metal around the pickup. What strikes your ear best? Brass, copper, steel?

FWIW, here's Bill Lawrence's treatise on the subject.
Bill Lawrence Website
Perhaps to be taken with a grain of salt- especially the last two paragraphs regarding aluminum shielding.
But that would be a topic for another thread....

On that Richard Thompson Strat, he's got the bridge tilted reverse, no wonder he says he could stand some more volume from the top string, assuming he means top in pitch.

Hunh? It's tilted the same way as any standard right-handed Strat or Tele bridge pickup.
That may be reverse of common sense, but it is the standard tilt direction.

[Justin Thomas]

Seems like it's the middle pickup that's tilted opposite, assuming the P90 is straight... Tele pup looks normal.

Justin

[Leo_Gnardo]

It's tilted the same way as any standard right-handed Strat or Tele bridge pickup.
That may be reverse of common sense, but it is the standard tilt direction.

So it is, my bad. I must be looking at too many strats too closely, like from under the pickguard.

[rjb]

Seems like it's the middle pickup that's tilted opposite, assuming the P90 is straight...

I would guess camera angle.
Try tilting your screen so the bottom of the P90 looks horizontal.

- Kenny Keystone

[Richard]

Don't know how his pickups are different from standard tele pickups but Tom Anderson doesn't use the big tele bridge plate.
// Anderson Guitarworks \\

[Drewline]

I put a Tele bridge pickup in my wife's Strat years ago. She liked it & used it for years until she decided she wanted noiseless pickups. I went with DiMarzio Area 58 & 61 pickups. She did not like having a Strat bridge pickup so I changed it to a Fast Track I had around. DiMarzio makes both Strat & Tele versions. Same pickup different baseplates. This gives her the bite & power of a Tele pickup.