banner

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Do pickup covers affect tone?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

    the bridge PAF on Page's '58 died while he was on tour down under in 1980 ....

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

      Yep.
      my vinyl record collection | updated 11 August 2015

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

        If you use that new raw finish covers made of nickel silver, you will get the least dampening (with the exception of plastic). They have less than 20% nickel which is dampening and shifting the resonance, because its a ferrous material.
        Last edited by hamerfan; 03-22-2010, 12:13 PM.
        I get the feeling the A8 will blow your skirt up more so - Edgecrusher

        Smooth trades with Jerryjg, ArtieToo, Theodie, Micah, trevorus, Pierre, pzaxtl, damian1122, Thames, Diocletian, Kevinabb, Fakiekid, oilpit, checo, BachToRock, majewsky, joyouswolf, Koreth, Pontiac Jack, Jeff_H

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

          Originally posted by SirJackdeFuzz View Post
          Feel they DO affect your tone, even though it is minutely !

          There is a reason why Jimmy Page took the silver cover of his bridge pick up.



          could you post the source that shows Jimmy removed the cover on this new PAF? how do you know it didn't allready have the cover off when he got it?

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

            Originally posted by Seth Lover FAN View Post
            could you post the source that shows Jimmy removed the cover on this new PAF? how do you know it didn't allready have the cover off when he got it?
            Sorry, that is not what i was trying to say.

            I read in my Led Zep book (see link below) that he did infact remore the cover himself way back then.
            I am not trying to say he did it recently, or w the guitar in my above post.
            For all we know he could have bought it like that !



            But i do know, according to the book, it was his idea to do so, in the early days of Zepp.
            Tele, SG, LP Jr, '76 Ibanez Artist & Tokai LS92 + FUZZ boxes into a '66 AB165 Bassman & 2X12 (55Hz Greenbacks) / '73 Orange OR120 & 2X12 (V30 & SwampThang) / Orange Thunderverb 50 & PPC212 / Marshall Vintage Modern 50 & 2X12 Genz Benz g-Flex / Laney Klipp / Laney AOR Pro Tube 100


            "...it's a tree with a microphone" - Leslie West

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

              ok, i dig

              I allways wondered how many PAF's he had to choose from when he replaced the PU ... they all seem to sound alittle different to me .... I know the trend of removing the covers started in the 1960's .... and it started the "white bobbin" hunting crap also ....

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                So - plastic covers? Will they affect tone more or less than the nickel-silvers. I don't think that it will be a lot (if any) because it is plastic - does not affect string waves and magnetic fields (that is why you don't need to solder them).
                Yeah, it is just for the looks of it, because you know how pickups stay out (especially the bridge) on a SG Standard.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                  It's not so much the material as it is a physical obstruction. Take a magnet and hold it under a sheet of paper, and on top of the sheet of paper, place a metallic object. Move the magnet, and the object follows. Put the magnet under something as thick as a pickup cover and the object on top, and the object will not follow as tightly as it did on the paper.

                  Increase the distance of the magnet from the material, so the object is in the magnetic field similar to a guitar string, and you have even less results.

                  If you simply must have a cover, make one out of a piece of paper, or a piece of cloth (you can make a square frame out of toothpicks or popsicle sticks if you have to). That will have the least amount of obstruction of the field.
                  Originally posted by Brown Note
                  I'm soooooo jealous about the WR-1. It's the perfect guitar; fantastic to play, balances well even when seated and *great* reach for the upper frets. The sound is bright tight and very articulate. In summary it could only be more awesome if it had b00bs and was on fire!
                  My Blog

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                    Originally posted by gueorgues View Post
                    So - plastic covers? Will they affect tone more or less than the nickel-silvers. I don't think that it will be a lot (if any) because it is plastic - does not affect string waves and magnetic fields (that is why you don't need to solder them).
                    Yeah, it is just for the looks of it, because you know how pickups stay out (especially the bridge) on a SG Standard.
                    Again, the plain sound change is from eddie currents, which of course require that the cover is conductive.

                    Mechanical noises certainly play a role, and I cannot imagine a plastic cover sounds remotely the same here. Just tap on it, it's different.

                    There are also stupid covers that are partially magnetic, of course that kills the pickup right there. But that's not what we are discussing.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                      I have the same pups, C5's and '59n's with and without covers in similar Les Pauls... I can hardly tell a difference. I think any difference can be compensated with your tone knobs or EQ settings. But like I said, the difference is very minor and no adjusmtent will be necessary. I don't think your audience will be able to tell the difference, nor would they be "oh, he would have sounded much better if he only had nickel covers on those pickups"...

                      So anyways, IMO, its cosmetic. Get what you want, the tone will still be there. If not, you can always remove/add covers.
                      If I know I'm going crazy, I must not be insane.

                      Originally posted by TheLivingDead
                      DON'TGETMADBRO

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                        Originally posted by Luke Duke View Post
                        The problem with the plastic will be you can't solder it on so you could get even more mechanical noise.
                        Not really. Plastic is so light that it can't make the coil vibrate the way a metal cover can. If it could, Strat pu's would be the squealiest pickup in the world.
                        Generic signature line.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                          Originally posted by DrNewcenstein View Post
                          It's not so much the material as it is a physical obstruction. Take a magnet and hold it under a sheet of paper, and on top of the sheet of paper, place a metallic object. Move the magnet, and the object follows. Put the magnet under something as thick as a pickup cover and the object on top, and the object will not follow as tightly as it did on the paper.
                          .

                          You've confounded material and distance.
                          This machine kills fascists

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                            No, I was saying that even when both the magnet and the metal object are placed directly against the material (where the magnetic field will be at its strongest) there will be interference. Adding distance increases the interference by weakening the magnetic pull even more.
                            Originally posted by Brown Note
                            I'm soooooo jealous about the WR-1. It's the perfect guitar; fantastic to play, balances well even when seated and *great* reach for the upper frets. The sound is bright tight and very articulate. In summary it could only be more awesome if it had b00bs and was on fire!
                            My Blog

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                              Not as far as I know. Chrome covers don't really, because they're not ferromagnetic metal. Neither is gold. I have heard that the soldering is what changes the tone, although I wouldn't know. I used a cheat to affix chrome covers to my pups, without solder.
                              Wes Montgomery is the cat.

                              New quote finally:
                              "You can check the inherent resonance of an acoustic guitar by farting into the soundhole."
                              -sosomething

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Do pickup covers affect tone?

                                I have noticed that on a Tele neck pickup with the cover you cant get harmonics on the 5th fret. Am I wrong???

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X