Anybody done the "Keef" brass bridge Tele mod?

guitars4you

Have heard of the odd person who has removed the lacquer/finish directly under the bridge - Not sure if this was an old folklore story from some 'work bench' blog back in the day - Or a genuine good idea - Believe the theory was the 'lacquer/finish' acts as an insulator between the bridge plate and the wood, so will 'dampen' vibration - Anyone tried it and/or support it 

guitars4you

CasperCaster said:

I believe the Gotoh flat plate/six saddle Tele bridge is brass, (beneath the plating)  with either brass or steel saddles depending on the model.

Used a couple of those over the years and like them (with brass saddles) - as you say brass under the  plating

BillDL

Brass hardware was all the rage back in the very early 80s and a lot of electric guitars came fitted with brass nuts, bridges, saddles, cover plates, switch tips, etc.  A company called Golden DOUBLE Eagle (possibly the precursor to Gotoh - just found the original 1982 catalogue) supplied an extensive range of bodies, necks, pickups, and retrofit hardware including lots of brass.  I fitted brass saddles to Strats and a couple of their brass hard-tail bridges to guitars including a good quality 70s Telecaster Custom copy, and what I noticed was a slightly more "mellow" and less "strident" tone to the guitars, but apparently the same or better sustain.  It's impossible to quantify though, because I never recorded before and after sounds.

@OilCityPickups

I'm intrigued by the photos of the pickups you showed earlier.  They are bound with hessian / jute / sisal twine instead of fabric tape.  I've never seen that before, but my exposure to old pickups is limited.  Was that a common practice, or is that your own unique way of finishing them?  I just looked at your Tele pickups on your website and they are bound in the same way.

Funkfingers

Vintage Telecaster bridge position pickups were routinely wrapped in string prior to the potting wax dip.

Fender pickups that will be covered have nothing around the copper coils.

Seymour Duncan used tape to cover the coils of his hotter-than-vintage replacement pickups for Telecaster bridge position. e.g. The STL-2b Hot and STL-3b Quarter-Pound.

Some cheaper Fender/Squier Telecaster bridge position pickups have plastic insulation tape to cover the copper wire.

Feel free to argue amongst yourselves about the tonal differences between string, paper, fabric and plastic coverings.

OilCityPickups

BillDL said:

Brass hardware was all the rage back in the very early 80s and a lot of electric guitars came fitted with brass nuts, bridges, saddles, cover plates, switch tips, etc.  A company called Golden Eagle (possibly the precursor to Gotoh) supplied an extensive range of bodies, necks, pickups, and retrofit hardware including lots of brass.  I fitted brass saddles to Strats and a couple of their brass hard-tail bridges to guitars including a good quality 70s Telecaster Custom copy, and what I noticed was a slightly more "mellow" and less "strident" tone to the guitars, but apparently the same or better sustain.  It's impossible to quantify though, because I never recorded before and after sounds.

@OilCityPickups

I'm intrigued by the photos of the pickups you showed earlier.  They are bound with hessian / jute / sisal twine instead of fabric tape.  I've never seen that before, but my exposure to old pickups is limited.  Was that a common practice, or is that your own unique way of finishing them?  I just looked at your Tele pickups on your website and they are bound in the same way.

That's the old Fender way of doing it ... black string in the early days ... and plain white cotton string later. The actual string Fender used was I believe the sort butchers use for trussing up turkey, pork joints etc. 
Micawber's bridge pickup was white (well faded to yellow) string wrapped ...  

jca74

OilCityPickups said:. black string in the early days ... and plain white cotton string later. 

Which colour of tone-string has the best sound?

BillDL

Strangely enough I've just installed a set of IronGear Tele pickups and I decided to have a closer look than I've done before.  Visually the final wrapping seemed to be of fabric tape, but I am surprised to see that they have actually used black string!  So even some manufacturers (or "specifiers" of factory pickups in this case) have decided to use an old method on what are "affordable" pickups.

NickB

OilCityPickups said:

NickB said:

OilCityPickups said:

NickB said:

OilCityPickups said:

strtdv said:

The neck pickup in my custom shop Tele is direct mounted, can't say I notice a different over a pickguard mounted one. 

Micawber's pickup wasn't mounted that way for tone ... it was done because the pickup isn't a conventional tele pickup so didn't have a full baseplate so couldn't be mounted securely from the bridge ashtray. 

My understanding is that the bridge PUPs in Keef’s Tele’s (Micawber & Malcolm) aren’t Tele PUPs but Fender lap steel PUPs from late 40s early 50s. 

Your understanding is part right and part wrong :-) The pickups are (or more correctly were) Lap steel pickups ... but not from the 40s or 50s. 

I’m sure I read somewhere that Pierre DeBeauport, Keef’s tech had trouble sourcing sourcing old Fender lap steel pups from the 40s and 50s…. Happy to stand corrected.

Some years ago Micawber's bridge pickup went dead before a gig in London and I dealt with Pierre and rewound Micawber's bridge pickup as well as supplying the copies seen in the image below. The pickup was as I said was a lap steel pickup but not of the age you describe.
 With the greatest respect, 'reading something somewhere' and having an iconic pickup on your bench to be measured and copied (along with being told a fair bit of its history) is a very different thing, :-)
It's Pierre de Beaufort not Beauport by the way. 

Now that’s a cool Stones story!!!! Thank you for sharing. 

thermionic

StuartMac290 said:

NickB said:

btw I think half of Keef’s tone is from where he strikes the strings which is somewhere around where the neck meets the body.

See also: Angus Young, Johnny Marr, pretty much every jazz player...

I'm forever trying to get guitarists to play nearer the neck when I'm producing them. It just sounds so much richer and fuller.

I went to see Johnny Marr a couple of weeks ago and noticed this for the first time. He’s on his bridge pickup 95% of the time but I’m always underwhelmed by the harsh, thin sound of my bridge pickups (even on my Johnny Marr Jaguar!). Lightbulb moment for me.

StuartMac290

thermionic said:

StuartMac290 said:

NickB said:

btw I think half of Keef’s tone is from where he strikes the strings which is somewhere around where the neck meets the body.

See also: Angus Young, Johnny Marr, pretty much every jazz player...

I'm forever trying to get guitarists to play nearer the neck when I'm producing them. It just sounds so much richer and fuller.

I went to see Johnny Marr a couple of weeks ago and noticed this for the first time. He’s on his bridge pickup 95% of the time but I’m always underwhelmed by the harsh, thin sound of my bridge pickups (even on my Johnny Marr Jaguar!). Lightbulb moment for me.

I think Stevie Ray Vaughan is another example. It's not for nothin'!

Johnny Marr has excellent right hand technique generally. Watch it when he plays rhythm - very Nile Rogers.