Cream Plastics or Black? Which Looks Better

ICBM

The pickups would actually look fine on something like a Duesenberg, but not on a Les Paul - it needs either plain metal or plain plastic covers.

It is how it sounds that counts, of course!

hollywoodrox

Cream all the way every time 

timmypix

Black - the cream looks cheap here, at least to me. I know the reason for that is because it is, but the black just looks a bit classier in this context.

Funkfingers

Enough procrastination, already.

Just put the guitar together, string it, play it and decide whether it sounds good.

BillDL

I think it will sound much sweeter with PIO caps impregnated with Ambergris and wrapped in 800 BC papyrus, Galapagos tortoiseshell inlays obscuring the black covers of the pickups, and an Agarwood-oiled Monkey Puzzle wood scratchplate.  I'll probably get the chance to work on it later today.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

I think the pickups look too awful for it to make any difference what colour the surrounds are.

I am inclining towards this view too.

One thing that looks odd with the black surrounds is that the chrome plated pickup height adjustment screws look a bit like seventh and eighth polepieces. 

I am beginning to hope that twin "fairly good" P90s turn out not to suit the guitar. That way, it will be necessary to revert to humbuckers.

BillDL

That's very true, but I hadn't specifically noticed that aspect.  Black screws perhaps?  I have found some thin cream coloured plastic that I can use as inserts inside the chromed ring to cover the black.  Just need to punch holes for the polepieces accurately.  Meantime I'm wiring it up today

BillDL

OK.  I relented and put the cream pickguard back on.  It's not as though the sunburst or the slightly flamed veneer is strikingly marvellous enough to give any reason to see more of the body, and this one fits tightly and doesn't rattle, so it's back on.  The good thing is that with cream pickup rings, poker chip, switch tip, and pickguard, and the chrome bridge and tailpiece, it takes away from the amount of black on the pickups.  The fretboard is composite and as dark as good ebony, and with that being in line with the pickups and the off-white fretboard inlays, it does look a lot less "awkward".

I experimented with all black plastics and black pickup height adjustment screws, but rather than looking elegant it looked cheap.  I tried putting improvised cream plastic tops onto the pickups and using all cream plastics, but it was too creamy.  I made the best compromise and the new look is already growing on me.  Oh, and the amber knobs don't really look out of place at all to my eyes.

Of more importance, the P94 lookalikes sound great on this guitar and I'm glad I fitted them and upgraded the electrics.  For the pretty small outlay on the "B-stock" guitar that had no flaws and using up some of my good quality spare pots I have a pretty good guitar with a very different sound to any others I own.  Hard to describe the sound, but it's something like a deep hollow bark, if that makes sense.

roberty

Throwing my hat into the cream ring 

Edit: that sounded a bit rude

BillDL

https://imgur.com/a/qtUMW7U

https://imgur.com/a/Mf0xEhR

Roland

Now it needs lighter amber knobs

BillDL

Easy enough to change if I find them distracting while watching myself in the mirrored wardrobe door wondering whether I'll ever gig again

Rabs

I have used pickups like that a few times and usually end up putting chrome surrounds on...  Always seems to look better to me.  Like this



I also have the cream or black dilemma with a 336 I bought....  At first I was going to change it to black straight away.. Then I got used to the cream ones and thought it made it look different... Now I am just not sure     Mind you I did try to get some black ones and they didnt fit so am now procrastinating on the matter.

This is what it came like


And this is my rough mock up with black


The issue is they both look good to me for different reasons..  Maybe I need another 336 with P90s  (not).

ICBM

Rabs said:

I also have the cream or black dilemma with a 336 I bought....  At first I was going to change it to black straight away.. Then I got used to the cream ones and thought it made it look different... Now I am just not sure     Mind you I did try to get some black ones and they didnt fit so am now procrastinating on the matter.

Black. Not even close.

Funkfingers

Black pickup covers. Golden control knobs. "Aged" off-white selector switch toggle. (So aged that it is almost ochre.)

BillDL

Soapbar and dogear P90s are always going to look a bit more chunky than a humbucker sized pickup in a ring, so there's no sense trying to make them blend in.  I don't mind the cream livery on the 339 at all and could live with it, but I think black pickups suit that guitar better.  Perhaps black knobs with less striking white numbers, or black bell or top hat knobs might blend in better, but I think Funkfingers suggestion of the gold knobs might balance it all out in my eye.  That's a really nice looking guitar.