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Anybody had luck with magnetic pickup mounted underneath license plate?

Got a license plate I really, really don't want to mess with. Not a huge fan of piezos these days - unless maybe if they're set in the bridge. I've read where some folks have actually mounted a magnetic pup underneath the plate itself. Anyone had experience doing this?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on August 30, 2015 at 2:15pm

I've mounted a mag pickup inside a cigar box without cutting a hole through the lid. It worked well. I did take the cover off the pickup to expose the poles then pressed the pickup solidly against the underside of the box. It seemed to pick up the string vibration without problem I would think that a license plate, being thinner, would work even better.

The easiest thing to do might be to mount the plate on two boards so you can slide a pickup under it to do a little testing. Not sure this is actually necessary since it worked through a wood box lit, but you could try it easily enough to satisfy yourself.

Check this prior post: Mag in the box

Give it a go.

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Permalink Reply by CaptnCatfish on August 31, 2015 at 3:38am

I finished a LPG, using the Electric Delta Pickup, but I cut the hole for it in the plate.Today I changed the plate on this guitar to try, because with some plates I have the same problem, you have and I wonder ,if it works.So I placed the Pickup directly under the plate, sound was there,but for me a piezo sounds much more better .Changing to distortion or other effects was not possible without feedback, even worse than with the piezos.So unfortunately no luck with this test.

The Electric Delta Pickup fits perfectly for a couple of plates, because it is quite small and easy to install, I use a Tube&Sheet drill, the midlle you can cut and rasp by hand.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 31, 2015 at 4:07pm

Yep. Most times you can just stick it to the underside of the plate. If the plate is steel, the mag pole pieces will stick to it. If it's one of the newer aluminum plates, it won't, unless you fit a flat piece of steel on the top side; the mag pup will stick to that through the aluminum. Only problem there would be if a number or design is in the way.

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on September 3, 2015 at 5:02am

Works for me

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Permalink Reply by Vick Griffin on September 4, 2015 at 10:47am

Thanks guys, sounds like piezo to me or maybe a rod piezo mounted in the bridge.

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Permalink Reply by Uncle Toad on September 12, 2015 at 12:07pm

From a scientific point of view - the mag pickup senses changes in magnetic flux, so you want to make sure the pickup is near something with iron that will vibrate. In conventional designs, that would be the strings. However - on a license plate - maybe if you put it under the bridge, you'd get maximum vibration there, and the pickup would have a signal worth talking about - time for some experiments.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on September 12, 2015 at 10:45pm

I've not done a licence plate guitar but I've done this in approx 150 tin guitars and resos, I'm a big fan of it. Im not the only one, cos I've sold all but maybe ten of those guitars - people love em and i have many repeat customers. It has its own sound. You can wire up your pickup temporarily to a jack and stick it on the outside to see if you like it. I recommend just snapping the pickup straight onto the steel. If it doesn't stick then theres insufficient iron in there and it won't work anyway.