Pickup Covers - On Or Off?

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Nine Acres

Active member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Location
UK
I've read that somewhere on the Seymour Duncan website that there is an improvement of between 15-20% with the covers off humbuckers. I must admit, I'm a bit short of experience on this one. What experience do you guys have in regard?
 
I don't think that the covers affect the impedence that much. I do think they affect the tone. I'l say that it is niether a positive or negative affect, but your pups will sound different. It's up to you and your ears to determine weather you like it or not.
 
Nine Acres said:
I've read that somewhere on the Seymour Duncan website that there is an improvement of between 15-20% with the covers off humbuckers. I must admit, I'm a bit short of experience on this one. What experience do you guys have in regard?

15-20% "improvement"? Improvement in what? How do they measure it? Sounds fishy to me.

Modern covers have little to no effect on tone, though some say that you lose a small amount of output and treble when you use them, which could be a good thing - smoothing out the pickups' tone.

But mostly it's about looks.
 
Modern covers have little to no effect on tone, though some say that you lose a small amount of output and treble when you use them, which could be a good thing - smoothing out the pickups' tone.

I'd agree with that - If find that covered pickups sound marginally more even than uncovered - but it's barely noticable, in fact in my case it may just be a subjective judgment.

I did once have a set that sounded really kind of "zingy" - not nice - the covers seemed to vibrate at certain frequencies. That was on a cheapy guitar with cheap and very nasty buckers.......
 
The only good reason for removing them would be if you were aiming towards that Clapton Beano look, grow some side burns, and you've nailed it.
You'll look cool too. Hey he's one of the main reasons for me wanting a plaintop tokai, so bear with me.

clapton-01.jpg
 
Duncan 59s & Alnico II Pros sound better without covers IMO. But surely the real question is: Pants. On or off? :lol:
 
Bare Knuckle Pickups from Devon, compensate each pickup individually if it's covered or open. If I remember rightly, the cover does dampen some of the top end, but also depends on what material the cover is made of. Chrome affects the top end differently to Nickel and so on...

www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk

They make loads of different pickups for different styles, my 2 Love Rock's have 2 different sets from the "hot vintage" range (one set is open coils, the other chrome covered), and IMHO, they respond much better to the guitar and the player than any mass produced pickups. Plus the fact that they are hand made in the UK, and they don't cost that much more than their mass produced counter-parts in the UK.
 
Pants. On or off

Everyones welcome to do what they like with their pickups, but the pants have got stay on, no exceptions.

Unless your a member of the chilli peppers, in which case just keep your sock on.
 
Skybone, I completely agree with you about Bare Knuckles - I bought a pair of Mules about 3 years ago. Utterly amazing pickups. Never took the covers off tho'. Sadly, my resources just won't stretch to accommodate another set :cry:
 
Well, my good lady didn't raise too many eyebrows when I traded in my Indie ILP (the tree of life model - but without the tree of life - If you see what I mean) for the Love Rock - I had to put ?270 towards the Tokai. AND I just got a Duncan '59 this week for the bridge, so I'd better be a good boy for a while :(
 

Latest posts

Back
Top