Telecaster Bridge Pickup Baseplate - A New Look

[rjb]

I tried shielding the inside of a Stratocaster cover - top & sides (did a real good job too) with tape soldered carefully and grounded. It didn't take long to find out it's best wrapped around the coil because it took a great sounding pickup and made it micro-junk. Parts cannot move the slightest, it really needs to be one mass. I suppose that's why Seth Lover soldered the cover to the base on his hum-bucking design.

Are you saying that (non-ferrous) copper cavity shielding made the pickup microphonic?
What would be the mechanism for that to happen- capacitive coupling?
Are you SURE that both the top and sides have continuity to ground?

[big_teee]

I agree with McRuff, put the copper around the pickup, and wax pot it on the pickup.
With the help of the dampening wax, That makes it one piece.
Also putting it around the pickup, makes it much easier to control the grounding of the copper foil.
I do my Soapbar bass pickups that way.
T

[rjb]

I agree with McRuff, put the copper around the pickup, and wax pot it on the pickup.

Fine, but I was asking how shielding a Strat cavity "took a great sounding pickup and made it micro-junk."

[Mike Sulzer]

Fine, but I was asking how shielding a Strat cavity "took a great sounding pickup and made it micro-junk."

Apparently it was the inside of the cover that was shielded, but I cannot see how that would turn a pickup into junk either. Any shielding close to the pickup, if it makes closed circuit around it, kills some highs, although it is easy enough to avoid completing the loop. Perhaps the comparison was between a completed loop and and one with a gap or insulated overlap.

[rjb]

Apparently it was the inside of the cover that was shielded,....

OK, I get it.
Not enough coffee this morning.

[Mike Sulzer]

OK, I get it.
Not enough coffee this morning.

I know that feeling!

[Mr McRuff]

I'm not too sure what was going on either with the copper tape and know what you're saying. The only thing I can think is that I did the cover in a way where the copper tape came in contact with the magnet at the top cover (I let it go through the holes and neatly trimmed it at the top of the cover). I remember checking with a meter and all poles were reading continuity with ground once the cover was in place. Could this have done it? Your thought?

Thanks for the link and photo of the lap steel, Steve! Is that one of your collection?

[Jim Shine]

It is also obvious that Leo often filed for patents then continued to tweak the designs. Sometimes he just threw the whole idea away (he has a patent on a flat truss rod he never used). The Tele base plate likely came after the patent was filed.

Here are some thoughts on the Jaguar:

The Jaguar pickup did not have the steel for shielding..and even Fender today calls the claw a shield. The intention was for the saw teeth to work with the magnets to create an altered magnetic field. You can see the theorized field in the patent. This design was likely inspired by his older work as Leo had similar "saw teeth" stamped into the housing for the K&F and earliest Fender brand steel guitars..

[David Schwab]

Yes, but he wasn't frugal AND good with money. He never made a profit after selling Fender.

The only reason he sold Fender was that he was in poor health (after having a streptococcal sinus infection). He sold the company for $13 million! How did he not make a profit?