Solid steel for vintage tone?

I saw this a couple of days ago. Johan's got a nice Idea, but I would think there could be a better way to execute it. Firebird pickups have a steel reflector plate under the coils and magnets that connect the magnets. This sort of does that in a different way. Using it under the pickup works like a Tele bridge pickup and focuses the energy up. The way Johan does it is sort of in reverse and spreads out the field.. the bottom plate of a mini or full size HB is not magnetic. The mini using the steel plate inside is a different form.

TM1 said:

I saw this a couple of days ago. Johan's got a nice Idea, but I would think there could be a better way to execute it. Firebird pickups have a steel reflector plate under the coils and magnets that connect the magnets. This sort of does that in a different way. Using it under the pickup works like a Tele bridge pickup and focuses the energy up. The way Johan does it is sort of in reverse and spreads out the field.. the bottom plate of a mini or full size HB is not magnetic. The mini using the steel plate inside is a different form.

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I have used steal plates under the pickup. I would adjust the poles and clip off the pole piece screws that extend underneath through the plate. The steel plate increases inductance and lowers the resonate frequency as well as beefing up the tone. I made custom steel plates for the bottom of Melody Maker single coils with GREAT results. I would dab some silicone gel like for aquarium sealing to mount the pickup to the plate and reduce vibration to eliminate feedback squeals. The plate functioned as a Tele does for the same reasons and worked beautifully.

What is this sorcery??



Trying to resist the urge to tinker.....