the pros and cons of removing humbucker covers

[astrozombie]

Ive been thinking about removing the covers from my jaguar HH.

what I'm wondering is if the pickup will have the wires bare and look ugly uncovered.

how would i put the covers back on?

would removing them get rid of my wax potted squeal that I get?

is there any difference in tone?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: the pros and cons of removing humbucker covers

The squeal is due to not having enough wax between the pickup bobbins and the metal cover. The tidiest solution is to have the covered pickups professionally re-waxed. There should be a hole in the HB baseplate where the output cable comes out. This is where the fresh hot wax would go in.

Removal and replacement of the metal cover is by high power soldering iron and a little gentle persuasion.

Removal will have some affect on the tone. Whether this is an improvement is a matter of personal taste.

Since the charge for re-potting could between $30 and $50, you might be better advised to obtain a pre-owned replacement pickup and install that. In fact, if you mostly use the bridge PU on the HH Jag, this is probably the smartest solution.

In other threads, you have enthused about the SD Invader HB. How about getting one of those?

 

[astrozombie]

Re: the pros and cons of removing humbucker covers

its a dark pickup, and as theodie once advised me, the jag is short scale, which makes it sound darker...

i also dont really want the invader look on a guitar with a chrome pickup in the neck.

 

[blueman335]

Re: the pros and cons of removing humbucker covers

I have covers on all my PU's, and since I buy most of them used, they usually come open coil. I put on various covers & rarely solder them, and have no feedback issues. The wax & tape hold them on pretty snug. If there's an issue for you, put some electrical tape around the top of the coils to make the fit tight, then resolder them on.