Huw Price journeys from twang to tinnitus, as he examines Leo’s first guitar pickups
Whether you call it the Esquire, Broadcaster or Telecaster, Fender’s T-type was not the company’s first electric musical instrument. Leo Fender started making lap steels in 1946, with many of the design concepts carrying over to Fender’s first ‘electric Spanish’ guitar. On Fender’s famous red two-pickup prototype of 1949, it’s clear to see that the neck pickup was taken straight out of a Champion lap steel – the giveaways being its shape and two mounting screws on the one side that tap straight into the body.
Fender would soon devise a completely different neck pickup, and the three mounting screws confirm that the company had already adapted the Champion unit to create a new bridge pickup. With only minor alterations, both these pickups have remained in production ever since.
Take It To The Bridge
Fender retained the coil dimensions of the Champion lap steel pickup, but added a larger bottom flat to accommodate three fixing screws. With two at the back and one at the front, the pickup height could be adjusted at each end, along with the tilt angle. The pickup was also suspended beneath the metal bridge. Rather than tap into the lower vulcanised fibreboard flat, Fender attached a steel baseplate to the underside of the pickup. In addition to making it easy to mount the pickup, soldering the black leadout wire to the plate grounded the bridge.
The earliest T-type bridge pickups started out with Alnico III, but around 1954 Fender began using more powerful Alnico V slugs. Initially flush with the top, the slugs became staggered in 1955, just like the recently introduced Stratocaster pickups.
On A Plate
The steel baseplates were originally plated with zinc or copper to resist corrosion and make them easier to solder. Also known as induction plates, they have a ferromagnetic effect that stabilises and strengthens the magnetic field for higher output. Only steel baseplates produce this electroferric effect. Copper, brass and steel baseplates all induce eddy current interference to boost the bass and low mids, and this electrodynamic effect can tame an otherwise shrill and trebly tone. Copper and brass plates will warm up a Tele bridge pickup without increasing overall output, and while steel does the same, it also raises the output, which is why adding an inductance plate to the bridge pickup has become a popular Stratocaster modification.
Wired For Sound
Esquire, Broadcaster and Telecaster pickups have traditionally been wound with plain enamel-coated magnet wire. There have been reports of vintage bridge pickups wound with heavy formvar wire, but these are extremely rare.
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