im still very unclear as to what this treble bleed does exactly.

I'll share my experience with the treble bleed... I got a Fralin loaded pickguard a while back to replace the N3 pups on my Dlx Strat, it came with what Lindy calls "volume kit". At first I was extremely happy with the way my Strat sounded! But I kept having to turn down the tone cause it sounded way too trebly compared to my other Strats... the Dlx sounded great clean and at low volume with the tone dialed in but something wasn't right when I was out playing and had the vol all the way up and tube screamer kicked in, it sounded kinda harsh. After a few months with this setup I recently decided to remove this volume kit and I'm much happier now. The Dlx is more balanced now, most of the vol was available between 1-6, now it's more even and similar to the other Strats. No more harshness at loud vol!

I see the benefits of using a treble bleed if the pups are too warm sounding, but that's not the case with any of my Strats, so I have no need for one anymore.

This has been a great education for me on treble bleed and I now know I would never consider it! If anything I tend to 'tame' the trebles on my Strats because that is a tonal quality they definitely do not lack! (IMHO)

Thanks Martian. I enjoy a healthy exchange of views - a great way to learn.

So much about guitars (especially Strats) is subjective and it's good to see the tolerance that exists here in acknowledgement of this.

Andybighair wrote


Like the ninja said anything that conducts magnetism, not electricity so no brass there matey.

Anything with some iron in it.

Dont some aftermarket pups come with the option of a base plate? looks easy to bash some up from anything a magnet is attracted to tho!

. . . Al

I figure I'll put my two cents in:

Essentially, a base plate serves three functions:

1. Ferromagnetic
2. Electrodynamic
3. Increased shielding

It should be noted the ferrous or words such as #1 above mean the metal is composed of and/or predominantly derived from iron.

Mr. Fender used copper plated steel base plates on the Tele bridge pickups in order to stabilize and increase the magnetic pull of the Alnico III polepieces. The steel was copper plated to retard the steel's oxidization and as most know, copper is an excellent conductor. Ferromagnetic steel plates increase coil inductance akin to mimicking more winds of the coil.

The steel of itself aids in the transmission of the strings through the base plate to the bridge plate via the height adjustment screws and here is where the Tele 'twang' is born. Of note is the obvious fact that this twang will not manifest itself by merely putting a base plate on and in a Strat pickup in a Strat pickguard.

As I've said many times, eddy currents are created when anything is added into the circuit's magnetic field. In this case, base plates made of steel, copper , brass and/or aluminum will create eddy currents. These eddy currents invariably shift the tonality of the affected pickup(s) towards mids and lows where it will be most noticeable with a bridge pickup. Consequently, the better conductivity of the metal(s) used for the base plate, its thickness, etc, will all shape the final tonality of the pickup it is teamed with.

In summation: Only 'regular' steel base plates fulfill the three functions as I've stated above. Brass, copper and aluminum are not ferrous metals and therefore, meet only functions 2 and 3. Lastly, the most common forms of stainless steel used with guitar hardware only meet function 3 as stainless steel's inherent properties largely negate any ferrous influence.

Thanks man, I hadn't thought about that. Gotta get me some steel!


And that is a piece of forum gold right there!

Cheers chaps, Good thread.

Andy