Get the sound of an early 60s Strat for £10!
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:07 pmEver heard of the word ‘paramagnetism’? I hadn’t until a couple of weeks ago. I was reading a guitar maintenance magazine a few weeks ago, and they were building a partscaster. They’d finished the build, and then found they had an aluminium shield (full size that fits under the scratchplate like early 60s Strats) in their parts collection so they fitted it to this guitar, and claimed that it transformed the sound of the guitar for the better, but couldn’t explain why. Turns out that aluminium is a paramagnetic material.
This intrigued me, so I did a bit of digging around on the net, and found this site:
http://www.guitar-bass.net/features/diy ... ct-part-1/
Scroll down to the ‘Shielding Plate’ heading.
Always on the lookout to tame the aggressive brightness of my 1979 Strat- heavy northern ash body and one piece maple neck, I thought I’d give it a try, and found an aluminium shielding plate on fleabay for £10. I’ve been amazed by the results, the ‘ice pick in the ear’ sound has gone, and there’s a much more ‘vintage’ tone to it. At £10, it’s a lot less than a set of boutique pickups, and can transform the sound of a Strat, and explains why early 60s Strats sound the way they do.
Simon
This intrigued me, so I did a bit of digging around on the net, and found this site:
http://www.guitar-bass.net/features/diy ... ct-part-1/
Scroll down to the ‘Shielding Plate’ heading.
Always on the lookout to tame the aggressive brightness of my 1979 Strat- heavy northern ash body and one piece maple neck, I thought I’d give it a try, and found an aluminium shielding plate on fleabay for £10. I’ve been amazed by the results, the ‘ice pick in the ear’ sound has gone, and there’s a much more ‘vintage’ tone to it. At £10, it’s a lot less than a set of boutique pickups, and can transform the sound of a Strat, and explains why early 60s Strats sound the way they do.
Simon