Tele bridge base plates... why?

[rjb]

It's the slides that came with lap steels. I used to have a Harmony lap steel and it had a thin slide like that.

Thanks. I've seen every other kind in the photo (including the one in the top-right corner)- but not the thin slide.
Two more questions:
1) Is it made from sheet metal? It looks like the the edges are folded under.
2) Where to I get me one?

[David Schwab]

Thanks. I've seen every other kind in the photo (including the one in the top-right corner)- but not the thin slide.
Two more questions:
1) Is it made from sheet metal? It looks like the the edges are folded under.
2) Where to I get me one?

To me it looks very similar to the second from the right in the top row. That's how mine was.

Something like this

[Alex R]

that's a nice video, thanks for posting that.

[rjb]

To me it looks very similar to the second from the right in the top row. That's how mine was.

Yea, I know. But you haven't answered either of my questions.

[David Schwab]

Yea, I know. But you haven't answered either of my questions.

It's die cast, probably zinc. I don't know where to get one.

Those photos I just posted came from eBay. Wouldn't be too hard to make one from flat steel bar stock.

[big_teee]

It's the slides that came with lap steels. I used to have a Harmony lap steel and it had a thin slide like that.

I did a quick Google search. You can see the flat ones here:

Acoustic Guitar Central: Questions and Answers about Guitars, Technique, Music, and Players

I've never seen a wooden one like that.
I said a P/U like a lap steel pickup.
I meant a P/U attached like a lap steel.
I liked the pictures and him playing the old lap steel in the vid.
Anyway, It had a lot of info, and ideas to pick from.
T

[rjb]

Wouldn't be too hard to make one from flat steel bar stock.

I might try that.
But it still looks to me like the slide in the video, and in your first photo, has "folded under" edges.
The photo caption says it's a Nick Manoloff slide. Nick Manoloff authored guitar & mandolin lesson books published through (I'm guessing) 1920s-1950s.
So, it looks like the source would be... yard sales, flea markets, pawn shops, eBay....

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[rjb]

I've never seen a wooden one like that.

It's bakelite. (It says so in the link David provided.)
Acoustic Guitar Central: Questions and Answers about Guitars, Technique, Music, and Players

[Possum]

No, the GE Smith bridge pickup is not a Tele pickup, its a Champion steel guitar pickup, it has no baseplate and the lower flat work isn't Tele shape. It was made before Telecasters existed I think. The only photos I can find are from a Seymour Duncan repro:

Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1950 Fender Lap Steel Guitar Pickup, Vintage, Hand Aged | eBay

[big_teee]

No, the GE Smith bridge pickup is not a Tele pickup, its a Champion steel guitar pickup, it has no baseplate and the lower flat work isn't Tele shape. It was made before Telecasters existed I think. The only photos I can find are from a Seymour Duncan repro:

Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1950 Fender Lap Steel Guitar Pickup, Vintage, Hand Aged | eBay

** I found this.
It's a regular 3 Adjustment screw Tele P/U, see the picture.

[David Schwab]

Not sure about the Copper Base Plate either.
In the Vid, he said that he and his Buds were cutting off the tele Bridge

Steel baseplate. It's copper plated so it wont rust.

[Possum]

Man, ain't that typical of Fender, its supposed to be a Champion lap steel pickup in there so they cheap out and throw a regular Tele bridge, probably with a steel baseplate too. Thats not what GE used in his own guitar. Excuse me while I rush out and buy one, you pay extra for the different dot markers is what it boils down to, nice profit margin ;-)

[copperheadroads]

"Tele bridge base plates... why?"
It's like a Horse blanket .....It adds Warmth

[David Schwab]

Man, ain't that typical of Fender, its supposed to be a Champion lap steel pickup in there so they cheap out and throw a regular Tele bridge, probably with a steel baseplate too. Thats not what GE used in his own guitar. Excuse me while I rush out and buy one, you pay extra for the different dot markers is what it boils down to, nice profit margin ;-)

Are you sure about that? The guitar was inspired by the lap steel, such as the fingerboard inlays and having the pickup screwed into the body. If you watch the video GE says the lap steel bridge pickup is just like a Tele, so that's where he got the idea to cut his bridge plate off and screw the Tele pickup into the wood. He never said he used a lap steel pickup. He said him and his friends were doing that to their teles.

If you have a source where he says otherwise, please share it.


GE Smith Telecaster® by Fender Electric Guitars

Fender proudly collaborated with Smith on his signature Telecaster® guitar, which was inspired by old Fender lap steels and which features a large neck shape, custom inlays and body-mounted bridge pickup.

Position Inlays:

Lap Steel Inspired Position Inlays

Pickup Configuration:	S/S
Bridge Pickup:	American Vintage Tele® Single-Coil Pickup
Neck Pickup:	American Vintage Tele® Single-Coil Pickup

[Jim Shine]

Leo didn't seem overly concerned with shielding (never seen a shielded cable in a Fender prior to the 80s),

Sure he was. That was the idea behind the neck pickup cover.

The Stratocaster had a controls shield.

Musicmaster family had brass lined routes.

The Jazzmaster was over the top. Every nook and cranny but the actual tops of the pickups was shielded with brass and aluminum. They even stamped the route shields 3D so they would line the walls as well.

The problem was Leo Fender saw each model as the evolution of the "Fender Guitar". he would have discontinued each previous model if it were up to him. And because of that thinking, they rarely ever retrofit new ideas into old models. They just kept making them to similar spec.

FWIW, no truss rod Broadcasters are not the first Telecasters. The line actually began with the 2 pickup Esquire that had no truss rod and a pine body. Near the end of that run they switched to ash and soon changed the 2 pickup model to "Broadcaster" and 1 pickup became the Esquire. Truss rods happened very quickly after that.