Stupid question: can I add covers to my pickups?

[zorrow]

Hey there! I got a korina guitar with a Seymour Duncan JB and a '59. It sounds quite brittle to my tastes, but I still like it. Here's my question though:

Can one add chrome or gold covers to ordinary humbuckers?

If the answer is "yes", do you think adding covers will impact the sound by slightly cutting the brittle overtones? Or it will alter the tone more than that -or in another way?

TIA

[bubs_42]

Yes and Yes. IMHO and I've gone through alot of pickups. Matter of fact you don't even need to attached them with an iron at first if you don't want to commit.

[murkat]

covers, yes.

Covers do add a little bit of resistance to the load.

I do suggest if you do covers,

make sure that there is a "buffer"

between the top of the bobbins

interfacing with the cover.

This will keep "can rattle" to a minimum.

Thin double sided tape, candle wax, etc.

Also, somehow attaching the cover to pickup

will help as well.

Potting the pickups will take a little off of the edge as well.

J

[BubbaVO]

just curious: did you try lowering the pickup height or changing the capacitor with one of a different value? Either option seems to be less hassle than adding covers.

[zorrow]

Now I just have to figure out what measures I should use -50 mm, 52 mm or what.

BTW, does Seymour Duncan sell pickup covers?

Edited to add: I also dig the look of covered pickups, that's why. Will add a buffer as well -thanks for the advice!

[cynic]

BTW, does Seymour Duncan sell pickup covers?

Yes. I called them directly and got a set of antiquity covers a few years back, it wasn't the most cost effective solution but I "needed" the patina at the time.

[zorrow]

Well, I don't give a dime to who makes the covers, but want to make sure the JB and the '59 are covered the proper way. Would hate having the pole screws unaligned to the cover holes.

[crunchee]

Seems like I remember a Seymour Duncan quote somewhere, where he said that pickups without covers were like running around without pants. Doesn't look like it's stopped him from selling pickups without covers.

[django49]

For Seymour and other survivors of the 60s, maybe running around without pants is preferred.

[Armitage]

Covers typically cut the really high "airy" frequencies, not the lower high mids that give you a brittle tone.

[atquinn]

Putting on covers is definitely no big deal. Since I tend to think pickup covers suck, I have a couple handfulls laying around that I will never use. PM me your address and whether your pickups are regular spaced and I can send you a set of lightly-used nickel ones that will fit your Duncans.

-

Austin

[triodecr]

A while back I found a post on the Duncan forum that listed what covers fit what pickups. I did a quick search but couldn't find it. I do know that Gibson neck covers will fit Duncan regular spaced pickups and they're generally easier to find than Duncan covers.

Edit: Found it!

• Standard spaced Seymour Duncans and Dimarzios = Gibson Neck spacing which is 1 15/16"

• Dimarzio F-spacing = Gibson bridge spacing = 2"

• Seymour Duncan Tremspacing = 2 1/16"

[zorrow]

All my pickups are standard-spaced.

Hey Austin, that's an amazing offer! Thanks man! I still prefer golden covers though --as the guitar we talk about has gold hardware. However, will keep your offer in mind as a backup. Thanks again!

[silentman]

What about rolling back on the tone if the guitar has one?