Are Strat pickup covers interchangeable?

[alex1fly]

Ordering online is always a crap shoot. Colors on a screen don't always match up with colors in real-life. I'm poised to order up a set of Strat pickups, and am wondering how much I need to worry about "getting the color right" from the get-go. Have you all had success or frustration with attempts to change your pickup covers on Strat single coil pickups? There are quite a lot of options out there, and it seems like it'd be pretty much a standard size (since they have to fit in the same Strat sized pickguard), but figured I'd check here before assuming.

[ThreeChordWonder]

Single coil covers are completely interchangeable. And the match you get with the pickguard will depend on two things : the pickup covers and the pickguard. Usually they're so close so as to not be an issue, but you k ow how some people are...

Probably the closest match will be with kosher Fender pickup covers and a kosher Fender pickguard, but of course you won't get the S-D logo.

[Benjy_26]

The overall dimensions of the covers are pretty much standard. The polepiece spacing isn't.

[Mincer]

Well, most covers won't fit Quarter Pounds. I have had the spacing of some holes not quite line up, too. So if they are interchangeable, it isn't 100% in every case.

[beaubrummels]

They are not all interchangeable. For example, many of the colored replacement aftermarket ones don't quite fit on original American Strat pickups. (I had to shave the pole opening a little bit to fit.)

[GuitarDoc]

They are absolutely NOT interchangeable! The pole spacing is the biggest culprit. Make sure you measure yours first before ordering new covers. Also measure the height...that's another common variable.

[eclecticsynergy]

Generally most US-made covers will fit most standard Strat pickups.
But as has been said, not all Strat pickups are standard - even among the ones that appear to be.
Import covers from China may be more iffy in terms of fit; can't say for sure.

As for color matching, black is probably pretty safe. White too, at least among US makers.
Some of the Chinese white plastics can be a bit off - I got a greyish humbucker once.

When it comes to parchment & aged whites, even US ones are all over the place. And cream? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Even mint greens vary by a surprising amount.

I think ThreeChordWonder is right: Fender covers are most likely to match Fender pickguards.
But depending on the color, even that isn't a sure thing, I'm afraid.

[Chistopher]

Most covers that don't fit have only been limited by the E and e polepieces, and those are usually close enough to where if you're careful drilling them out you can make them fit without any visible signs of finangling.

[ThreeChordWonder]

Dimensional tolerances stack up.

Supposing your pole to pole spacing is 0.385 inches nominal with a +/- 0.010" (0.25 mm) tolerance.
Maximum E to A = 0.385+0.010 = 0.395
Maximum A to D = same
Now the distance from E to D isn't 2x0 385 = 0.770 it's 0.790
and so it goes on until E to e isn't 5x0.385 = 1.925, it's 5x0.395 = 1.975. A whole 0.050 or 1.25 mm different.

A good draffie and a good machinist would, however, work from one datum, so:
E to A = 0.385 +/- 0.010
E to D = 2 x 0.385 = 0.770 +/- 0.010
E to G = 3 x 0.385 = 1.115 +/- 0.010
E to B = 4 x 0.385 = 1.540 +/- 0.010
E to e = 5 x 0.385 = 1.925 +/- 0.010.

[PFDarkside]

What look are you going for?


I’ve had success with Duncan vintage style pickups and Fender plastics. I think trying to match pickguard and plastics is tough, so I choose a deliberate mismatch.

My favorite looks I’ve come up with are all Fender combos:
-Parchment pickguard with aged white covers/knobs
-Tortoise pickguard with aged white covers/knobs
-Mint pickguard with parchment or aged white covers/knobs
-White pickguard with parchment covers/knobs

I think as they age, most plastics converge in color for the most part as opposed to diverging.

[alex1fly]

Thanks!

I have a black pickguard, green guitar, and I ordered up "parchment" pickup covers with these new pickups. So we'll see. Eventually if this guitar breaks (it's a real beater) I'd like to get a black Strat, which I think looks great with parchment/cream pickups. Mint could have also looked cool on this green guitar.