Does the backplate in a strat...

[ShredCow]

Affect tone?

Removing it and replacing it - the guitar does sound different acoustically... but I only had a couple minutes with the strat since I was helping a friend set it up. Didn't have the time to thoroughly check it out thru an amp.

Please tell me it doesn't matter... *insane!!!*

 

[j_m_s]

I do remove the backplates on my strats. looks cooler IMO. EJ does it too! So what the heck..

acoustically i found the guitar slightly louder. i cant notice any more differences.

 

[dudelove]

I do remove the backplates on my strats. looks cooler IMO. EJ does it too! So what the heck..

hahhaha so does john mayer! so i do it too!

sound wise no difference imo

 

[sepultura]

I use my strat with the back plate removed - never noticed a diff with it on or off. I took it off to add a couple of springs and never fitted it back. Maybe there's a minor acoustic diff but through the amp, I hear no change.

 

[Everdying]

well, the trem cavity contributes a part in giving the strat its signature sound.
so with it closed i would assume theres less jangle to it?

but i havent owned a strat for a few yrs now so wouldnt really know

 

[ShredCow]

Interesting interesting... So acoustically - it does have a difference but amp-ed up... nothing much lah?

Cool.

 

[Fruitwine]

Hi Cow, been a long time! =D

Well, as you might remember, I own two frankenstein strats, aside from the 2 'purebred' strats that my brother and father claim, and I have to say that IMO, there is a difference when a strat's backplate is removed, and when it's on. However, that isn't to say that the difference is significant enough to make or break "tone". I personally find that I get a little more 'aww' (somewhat upper midrange?) out of a strat without the backplate on.

'sides, I thought you got yourself a really pretty strat-ish guitar sometime ago? Or did that sport a fixed bridge?

p.s. By little bit more, I really mean a bloody little bit.

 

[ShredCow]

Fruitwine! Where did you go to! Hahaha, army ah? I hope you've been playing guitar... wonder how you're playing like now. And your brother - where's the hair?

I don't think I got a strat-ish guitar before... the closest is my current USACG parts guitar.

I didn't think the difference would be a make/break thing but its fasinating... the differences I mean.

 

[Whitestrat]

Please tell me it doesn't matter... *insane!!!*

It will sound different acoustically. Whether or not is sounds different thru an amp, depends on how much a cork sniffer you are.:mrgreen:

Then again, Eric Clapton did say at one point that having the pickups mounted on a piece of plastic, and having a trem, even though it's blocked down, is an integral part of his tone.

 

[bouncy]

Whitestrat is correct.

I also once heard this from a good guitar player - anything you go to your guitar be it relic it/paste a few stickers/change strap button, would affect the sound of your guitar.

The issue is whether the difference can be audioble to you or not.

 

[Ized]

i dint actually notice much difference when i removed the backplate of my strat....but Beez warned me about grounding and stuff....so i just put it back on as a precautionary measure.

Anyways i read somewhere that less plastic parts do affect tone, and you'll get more sustain from the guitar, hence the reason why alot of superstrats dont have pickguards... less composite of materials = more sustain.

 

[Whitestrat]

less composite of materials = more sustain.

My 20th anniversary silhouette with 5 different types of woods combined, and 2 different kinds of pickups and using Poly for paints rather than Nitro would severely disagree with you...:mrgreen:

 

[gsonique]

I guess soo...coz usually late nights i jam with nothing on ....bestest tone ever!!

 

[Ized]

My 20th anniversary silhouette with 5 different types of woods combined, and 2 different kinds of pickups and using Poly for paints rather than Nitro would severely disagree with you...:mrgreen:

haha ok haolian lar...... :lol:

 

[ShredCow]

I guess soo...coz usually late nights i jam with nothing on ....bestest tone ever!!

When I feel close to my instrument... bare skin on bare wood... I have freedom of expression!

 

[leecs]

All the guitars i own, i do not put the backplate on because its easier to clean up when changing strings. I dont really hear the tonal differences.