Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

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RockyStar
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Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by RockyStar »

What is your preference?

In most scenarios I prefer a cover. I also dislike the company name being visible on the pickups.

While I admit there is a slight sonic difference between covered and uncovered and even between metal type on covered pickups, I still prefer covered in most instances.
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Monkey Man
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by Monkey Man »

I'd have thought that plastic covers wouldn't affect tone seeing as they theoretically shouldn't interfere with magnetic fields and flux.
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by RockyStar »

Monkey Man wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:09 am I'd have thought that plastic covers wouldn't affect tone seeing as they theoretically shouldn't interfere with magnetic fields and flux.
My bad, I failed to mention I was referring to humbuckers. I am not much of a traditional single coil or p90 guy. On humbuckers, the metal material can change things. Nickel vs gold vs. uncovered. The gold will effect things most. Nickel effects the least.
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by Monkey Man »

Yeah, I was imagining HB's with plastic covers.
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by RockyStar »

Monkey Man wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:23 am Yeah, I was imagining HB's with plastic covers.
Call me crazy but I am not sure I have ever seen a humbucker with a plastic pickup cover. :o
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by Findthetone1 »

RockyStar wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:02 pm
Monkey Man wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:23 am Yeah, I was imagining HB's with plastic covers.
Call me crazy but I am not sure I have ever seen a humbucker with a plastic pickup cover. :o
Aren’t EMG covers plastic?
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by RockyStar »

Findthetone1 wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:58 pm
RockyStar wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:02 pm
Monkey Man wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:23 am Yeah, I was imagining HB's with plastic covers.
Call me crazy but I am not sure I have ever seen a humbucker with a plastic pickup cover. :o
Aren’t EMG covers plastic?
That doesn't count, they are actives.
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by Monkey Man »

Yup, that 'splains it Brother Rocky.

I was imagining Magnetic, EMG, Bartolini and so on, PU's I'd used on geetars and basses in the past, all of which were actives.
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by harddriver »

I tend to prefer non covered humbuckers. I've tried nickel covered a few times and just couldn't shake the feeling like the metal covers were contributing to oscillations/ring in the pickup feedback quality like the pickup was either more dampened or less dampened depending on how you looked at it.

I've also played a Suhr Aldrich gold covered in a Les Paul and it was a pretty ripping pickup in that guitar but in my guitars I'm still uncovered that in my guitar stable right now.

Probably is just a mental block thing... but it's what I perceived nonetheless. :lol: :roll: :geek:
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Re: Covered vs. Uncovered Pickups

Post by Monkey Man »

Sounds legit to me brother.

If you felt you perceived "oscillations/ring in the pickup feedback quality" or whatever, perhaps you did, and as Rocky implied and any clear-thinking mind might conclude, it makes no sense to use materials that affect magnetic fields and flux unless there's a specific effect you're aiming for.
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