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Guitar Bomb Giveaway – Win a FREE set of Oil City Pickups Deep Six humbuckers
Eh, you'll need to be a bit more specific!
Will depend on the pickup type and construction, where the magnets are located, the power of the magnets, the material the cover is made from brass, German silver etc. and then coated with e.g. nickel or gold.
Perceived wisdom is that metal covers on a humbucker will trim the highs a bit.
Pickup makers on here should know all ...
As to whether that filtering is desirable on some pickups is a moot point. There are those who will use brass covers to 'tame' a harsh top end ... my argument is that it's better to build a pickup without a harsh top end than to muffle one that's been poorly designed. I only use nickel covers on my own pickups thesedays, as I want as much signal 'bredth' to come out of an amp as I can. Most of the people who dislike Tele neck pickups find that the missing part of the puzzle falls into place when they fit a nickel cover.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
For what it's worth - There might be a tiny bit more top end when comparing an uncovered pickup against the same pickup with a Throbak cover*. But I don't think I could pass a double blind test.
* I think these are the best covers but it is very likely that I have been influenced by the fact that they are the best looking (most authentic shape etc) PAF covers.
On a bridge humbucker, the brighter screw coil (brighter because it's nearer the bridge) remains uncovered, but the other coil not only loses some highs, but has its overall output attenuated.
In extreme cases (ie, cheapo shite pickups with covers made out of old school bells), this can leave you with a thinner-sounding pickup.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
Another change is down to the position of the screws. When you've got a cover on you tend to have the screws further out a bit, changing the tone a bit.
To be honest as long as you're not using brass I wouldn't worry. I don't fit brass to anything unless someone wants a vintage style Tele neck with a muffler on....
Interestingly enough - if at least one interview with Seth Lover is correct - he designed the PAF without adjustable pole screws ... simply adding them as an afterthought as the marketing people wanted added selling points in the way of things for guitarists to fiddle with! Twin slug coil humbuckers sound different to slug/screw or even twin screw coil. so history could have been quite different
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.