Designing With Brass

[kevinT]

Thinking about doing some prototypes and testing of humbuckers using brass baseplates. I haven't used brass at all but I think that some good tones can be derived from pickup designs made with brass baseplates. DiMarzio has used brass successfully for a long time now, so they're living proof.

I know there are a lot of cork sniffers out there and that brass has a bad image.

Before I invest in some brass, I wanted to ask what you guys think? Do you think folks will buy pickups with brass baseplates from someone other than DiMarzio? Or do you think folks just won't be able to get over the bad image that a pickup is cheap and sounds like ass if it has a baseplate made of brass.

[jonson]

Not just Dimazio. there are thousands of pickups sold worldwide from Korea and China etc with brass bassplates. Not usually the customers you deal with or want because those pickups are made cheap and sold cheap but Dimazio did it, so if you can get it sounding good using quality mags and wire then why not give it a go. Most of my customers havn't got a clue about wire, Nickel, Magnets or what the resistance is. they just say hotter or sweeter or whatever. It's the sound that gets them not what it's made of. I stand to be jumped on here by the researched purists but it's a big market and I look at new and old materials all the time so hell with image just do it.

[copperheadroads]

I was recently playing around with different materials for base plates . & after i switched from a brass base plate from a cheap import humbucker to a quality nickel plate, There was a noticeable increase in highs ,It was a pretty brief experiment .

[big_teee]

I had a similar deal, when experimenting with my high output blade hybrid pickup.
I started with a used brass baseplate, cause I had to drill new holes to mount the blade bobbin. Didn't want to mess up a new Nickel baseplate, until I had my hole spacing correct. It was very dull sounding until I changed to the new Nickel baseplate.
Most of my peers think cheap, when you use a brass baseplate.

Rock On,
Terry

[David Schwab]

I was working on a prototype for a hot, but bright, humbucker. Kind of a cross between a Lawrence L-500 and a JB. I used a brass baseplate hoping it would tame the top end a bit. Seems like it worked, but I haven't tried a different baseplate yet. It certainly didn't make the pickup dull sounding though.

[Achiles]

We could make a material "tone" scale,
fron plastic to ss baseplate.
ABS,acrylic,forbom,pcb material,cooper,aluminiun,brass,stainless steel,no baseplate, etc.

[Joe Gwinn]

We could make a material "tone" scale,
fron plastic to ss baseplate.
ABS,acrylic,forbom,pcb material,cooper,aluminiun,brass,stainless steel,no baseplate, etc.

Size matters - the thinner the sheet the less the eddy current effect.

[David Schwab]

We could make a material "tone" scale,
fron plastic to ss baseplate.
ABS,acrylic,forbom,pcb material,cooper,aluminiun,brass,stainless steel,no baseplate, etc.

There's no point at all using any non conductive material (plastic) in the test since they wont have any affect on the tone.

As Joe pointed out it's due to eddy currents flowing on the surface of the conductor. Less conductive, and thinner, is better if the goal is less reduction in highs.

[NightWinder]

Thinking about doing some prototypes and testing of humbuckers using brass baseplates. I haven't used brass at all but I think that some good tones can be derived from pickup designs made with brass baseplates. DiMarzio has used brass successfully for a long time now, so they're living proof.

I know there are a lot of cork sniffers out there and that brass has a bad image.

Before I invest in some brass, I wanted to ask what you guys think? Do you think folks will buy pickups with brass baseplates from someone other than DiMarzio? Or do you think folks just won't be able to get over the bad image that a pickup is cheap and sounds like ass if it has a baseplate made of brass.

Do it Kevin. Branch out- Be different. I think thats what alot of players today are looking for. It may not follow suit with everyone else, but don't follow the heard either. And at the very tail end of things you learn quit a bit- Nothing wrong with that

[David Schwab]

Here's an interesting use for brass. This is a DiMarzio Model One. You can see the brass plate that sits on top of the bobbins. I'm guessing it's there to smooth out the high end.

[Joe Gwinn]

Here's an interesting use for brass. This is a DiMarzio Model One. You can see the brass plate that sits on top of the bobbins. I'm guessing it's there to smooth out the high end.

That would make sense. How thick is the cover? How thinck is the brass plate?

[David Schwab]

That would make sense. How thick is the cover? How thinck is the brass plate?

I have no idea. Someone posted that broken pickup picture on TalkBass. They were trying to figure how to fix it.

The cover looks fairly standard, thickness wise, and the brass plate looks kind of thin.

[kevinT]

Do it Kevin. Branch out- Be different. I think thats what alot of players today are looking for. It may not follow suit with everyone else, but don't follow the heard either. And at the very tail end of things you learn quit a bit- Nothing wrong with that

hey wade,

long time, no see... Hope you're doing we'll. Been seeing your advertisements in Premier Guitar. ... Nice.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to tinker with some brass and see what I come up with.

[kevinT]

One thing I have to give DiMarzio credit for is being creative in their designs. Using different materials and coming up with formulas that work.

Here's an interesting use for brass. This is a DiMarzio Model One. You can see the brass plate that sits on top of the bobbins. I'm guessing it's there to smooth out the high end.

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[kevinT]

Thanks Jonson,

you're right, i think if the pickup sounds good, it will cancel out the bad image of brass. Hell, maybe change folks' perceptions in the process.

Not just Dimazio. there are thousands of pickups sold worldwide from Korea and China etc with brass bassplates. Not usually the customers you deal with or want because those pickups are made cheap and sold cheap but Dimazio did it, so if you can get it sounding good using quality mags and wire then why not give it a go. Most of my customers havn't got a clue about wire, Nickel, Magnets or what the resistance is. they just say hotter or sweeter or whatever. It's the sound that gets them not what it's made of. I stand to be jumped on here by the researched purists but it's a big market and I look at new and old materials all the time so hell with image just do it.