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Hello,
I was doing a random search of the net regarding the Telecaster baseplate and came across this thread. I was wondering if it was still active? The thread got me thinking about a seldom used site, which could be used for research like this...the US Patent Office. I was able to obtain the patent number for his original guitar (Broadcaster) combination bridge & pickup assemblies [as it's referred to] dated, Oct. 30, 1951; it makes for interesting reading.
It turns out I answered my own question too relating to the bridge plate. As it appears, no additional plate is mentioned in the patent, only the bottom of the pickup (bobbin). So the baseplate was a definite after thought otherwise it would have been mentioned in the text.
Also, the formed cover that the guitar would come to have in production is again lacking from the patent description. If it were to serve an actual purpose - i.e. shielding and was thought of originally, it would have been mentioned. Electric guitars and their circuits were new at the time, so anything that could be claimed would exclude other companies from capitalizing on his idea.
The only reference to a steel plate that was patented by C.L. Fender in relationship to pickups isn't until 1966...the Jaguar pickup!
I was doing a random search of the net regarding the Telecaster baseplate and came across this thread. I was wondering if it was still active? The thread got me thinking about a seldom used site, which could be used for research like this...the US Patent Office. I was able to obtain the patent number for his original guitar (Broadcaster) combination bridge & pickup assemblies [as it's referred to] dated, Oct. 30, 1951; it makes for interesting reading.
It turns out I answered my own question too relating to the bridge plate. As it appears, no additional plate is mentioned in the patent, only the bottom of the pickup (bobbin). So the baseplate was a definite after thought otherwise it would have been mentioned in the text.
Also, the formed cover that the guitar would come to have in production is again lacking from the patent description. If it were to serve an actual purpose - i.e. shielding and was thought of originally, it would have been mentioned. Electric guitars and their circuits were new at the time, so anything that could be claimed would exclude other companies from capitalizing on his idea.
The only reference to a steel plate that was patented by C.L. Fender in relationship to pickups isn't until 1966...the Jaguar pickup!
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