Covers and magnets

[alex1fly]

I'm sure this has been covered (hehe, get it?) many times over, but I'm a little short on time to do a proper search.

Do covers need to be soldered to the baseplate? If so, why is this?

Is there any way to tell what variety an umarked Alnico magnet is? I have a couple unmarked ones in my parts drawer.

Thanks, Alex

 

[Clint 55]

The benefit to soldering a cover to the baseplate is that the baseplate is grounded and when you solder the cover on, you get electrical continuity to the baseplate and the cover gets grounded too. Then the entire pup and leads are now shielded. Baseplate is grounded, poles are grounded, cover is grounded lead is grounded.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Yes, what Clint said.

The best way to use covers is to remove them and throw them in the trash. They alter the tone of the pickup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[idsnowdog]

Soldering covers can also keep them from rattling and causing microphonics.

 

[jeremy]

they do subtly alter the tone but i dont always think its a bad thing.

in general, yes its good to solder them on for a few reasons. i have a handful of guitars with covers on the pups that are just pushed on and not soldered and they work just fine. there is potential for feedback if you play loud or with lots of gain though

 

[hamerfan]

For identifieing alnicos you need a gaussmeter, but the 'fridgemeter' works, too. Put all your alnicos on the fridge and try to put it off. Compare the force with the ones you know. The strongest Alnico is A8 (nearly like a ceramic), then A5, A4, then A2 and A3 - i skipped A6 and A9 because they rarely come up.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

For identifieing alnicos you need a gaussmeter, but the 'fridgemeter' works, too. Put all your alnicos on the fridge and try to put it off. Compare the force with the ones you know. The strongest Alnico is A8 (nearly like a ceramic), then A5, A4, then A2 and A3 - i skipped A6 and A9 because they rarely come up.

I have a gaussmeter, and still most of the time I do the pull test off my metal tool cabinet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lewguitar]

They have to be soldered. Otherwise they come loose and squeel. I clamp them tight top and sides and then solder them.

That's if I'm going to use them in the first place.

I prefer the sound with them removed.

Seems like jazzers and blues guys tend to prefer the slightly warmer sound of covers on.

Rockers, like EVH, seem to prefer the sound with covers off.

There's a not a huge difference in sound.

A little more prescence with them off but just a little.

 

[Clint 55]

Covers sound more vintagey to me which can be a benefit depending on what you want.

 

[alex1fly]

Got it. Thanks!

Amazing what kinds of tone changes you can get with different approaches. Lately I've enjoyed matching a specific pick to each guitar, rather than using one favorite pick. Makes a big difference in tone. And of course this changes when gauge or brand of strings change.

 

[PicoRiveraTele]

Some covers are brass and some are nickel silver. The brass ones cause eddy currents, and they make the pickup sound darker. Think older Epiphones. The nickel silver has a higher resistivity so it causes very little eddy currents. The nickel silver covers are virtually transparent unless they're especially thick, and I've seen some 57 Classics have really thick covers.

I think a lot of it is psychological too, though. If you see that a pickup is uncovered, you expect to sound clear, and so in your head you make the decision to judge it as such. The end result is some mix of reality and imagination. If you put a blind fold on and then play your guitars, all of the sudden everything that sounded so special and unique becomes impossible to tell apart.

 

[Lewguitar]

The no covers thing started with Beck and Clapton in the 60's. And both of them thought the sound was a stronger when they removed the covers from their Gibson pafs. Now, I notice that when they play Gibsons the covers are on. Go figure!

 

[PicoRiveraTele]

The no covers thing started with Beck and Clapton in the 60's. And both of them thought the sound was a stronger when they removed the covers from their Gibson pafs. Now, I notice that when they play Gibsons the covers are on. Go figure!

The specific covers they had, and removed, could have made a difference that today's covers would not make. We're led to believe they were all thin nickel silver covers, but who really knows?

 

[Adieu]

So brass covers make stuff darker? Interesting

One of my fave pups has a half-open brass cover

 

[PicoRiveraTele]

So brass covers make stuff darker? Interesting

One of my fave pups has a half-open brass cover

If the cover is open, the effect is a lot smaller. Eddy currents move in perpendicular circles, so they will still form around the outside of the cover, but of course there are none above the pickup, where the metal has been removed, where the eddy currents would be the most substantial.

That's probably why Filter'trons have that "H" hole pattern on top; it breaks up the circular paths of the eddy currents. I'm not sure if that's what Ray Butts was thinking, but that's the outcome that was achieved.

 

[beaubrummels]

Something I noticed haphazardly with my Duncans is that all my gold-covered pickups seem to be a touch brighter than uncovered or straight chrome/nickel covered of the exact same model. I've observed this with the Jazz set, 59s and Seths at least.

 

[Adieu]

If the cover is open, the effect is a lot smaller. Eddy currents move in perpendicular circles, so they will still form around the outside of the cover, but of course there are none above the pickup, where the metal has been removed, where the eddy currents would be the most substantial.

That's probably why Filter'trons have that "H" hole pattern on top; it breaks up the circular paths of the eddy currents. I'm not sure if that's what Ray Butts was thinking, but that's the outcome that was achieved.

Hmm... so eddies or no eddies?

 

[beaubrummels]

Hmm... so eddies or no eddies?

Looks like you've got some Eddie's, Zakk's and Slash's.:headbang:

 

[Adieu]

Looks like you've got some Eddie's, Zakk's and Slash's.:headbang:

Pretty much

Bridge Super 70, neck EMG 81, and some way outside the sandbox wiring concocted god knows how while under the influence.... but somehow it works.