Pickup Covers w/ w/out etc.

[Lucius Paisley]

I have a nickel covered humbucker that I want to use in another guitar. But I want to remove the cover first. What are some of the usual changes (if any) I can expect in the pickup by doing this?

I have been told that I might need to clean off some excess wax, which I guess is to be expected. As far as covering the coil wire, I have had epoxy suggested to me, but that seems super messy.

I was wondering if it would just be easier to use electrical or cloth tape? Good idea/bad idea? And I'm not sure where to get that kind of cloth tape.

These pickups can also be bought without the nickel covers and uses the cloth tape. I have one, but I don't want to use it on this project.

 

[pskorz]

When you remove the cover, it will most likely still have the tape around the copper wire. The unknown Factor will be if you have a rectangular mass of a lot of wax, or just a little bit that can be wiped off relatively easily.

as far as the sonic difference, I think that the removal of the cover will open up the high end slightly. Perhaps noticeably, perhaps very imperceptibly. Once the cover is off you’ll notice that the screw poles are raised above the surface of the pick up may be a millimeter or two. Chances are that you’ll lower them perhaps slightly but still want those pole pieces the same distance from the strings as they were before. Effectively you’re raising the entire pick up by perhaps a fraction of a millimeter from where it had been before that will possibly alter the overall sound. Again how perceptively that will be is in the ear of the beholder, so to speak.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

When you remove the cover, it will most likely still have the tape around the copper wire. The unknown Factor will be if you have a rectangular mass of a lot of wax, or just a little bit that can be wiped off relatively easily.

as far as the sonic difference, I think that the removal of the cover will open up the high end slightly. Perhaps noticeably, perhaps very imperceptibly. Once the cover is off you’ll notice that the screw poles are raised above the surface of the pick up may be a millimeter or two. Chances are that you’ll lower them perhaps slightly but still want those pole pieces the same distance from the strings as they were before. Effectively you’re raising the entire pick up by perhaps a fraction of a millimeter from where it had been before that will possibly alter the overall sound. Again how perceptively that will be is in the ear of the beholder, so to speak.

A rectangular chunk would be a good photo addition to my Instagram.

Re: sonic difference - I don't really have an idea of how they sound, they came out of the guitar they were in as soon as I got it since I already had plans to put another pickup in that.

I just hope it doesn't burn out the electronics/speaker already in the guitar (Spongebob mini guitar, going from single coil to hb), I doubt that's a possibility, but I'm not familiar with PCB boards, so fingers crossed.

 

[beaubrummels]

You need a lower wattage solder iron to work with PC boards. I don't know if I would bother removing a cover to put in a Sponge Bob guitar. The pickup as-is is likely worth more than the whole guitar as is.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

You need a lower wattage solder iron to work with PC boards. I don't know if I would bother removing a cover to put in a Sponge Bob guitar. The pickup as-is is likely worth more than the whole guitar as is.

Like any mod, it's for fun, not to be economical.

It's the same pickup as used here - https://youtu.be/PKGdKpALIuY?t=42 (cue to 0:42 for full humbucker, if the link doesn't go directly there.)

https://www.artistguitars.com.au/buy/16966