This is probably a really stupid question, especially since I've been playing forever and I'm embarrased to ask it :oops:
Anyway, one of my electrics has dual humbuckers. They are black, the uncovered type. They have the slotted screws for pol piece adjustment. With the rest of the cosmetics of the guitar, it is really screaming for chrome covered humbuckers. I'm wondering if I can just buy a pair of the chrome covers and install them over the existing uncovered humbuckers on this guitar? If so, I assume that I just back the screws out of the humbuckers and then reinstall them through the holes in the chrome covers? I know that covering the pickups will probably change the sound, maybe for the worse but I'd like to try it for $10 before springing on a new set of humbuckers. I know it's a stupid question, sorry bout that, but can this be done? THX
Its not really that stupid of a question, I dont even know the answer.
However, I think there will be some type of soldering involved, because Ive heard, to remove the pickup covers, you have to re wax the pickup or somehting like that, Im trying to remembere but I cant. Im sure someone will come by and help you out.
Sorry :oops:
If you get the right size, they should go over the top without too much hassle. You should not have to remove the polepiece screws, as the cover holes should be large enough to pass the screw heads. The covers need to be attached to the guitar's ground system. This may be done by tack soldering the inside of the cover to the brass pup frame -- a couple of tack points should do it. Careful not to damage the pups while doing this. Some makers do wax pot the whole coil-cover assembly to reduce microphonics. That might be a bit advanced (and messy) for you.
Sonically, you may notice a slight loss of highs due to parasitic capacitance between the coils and the covers. There are some other, second-order effects, but these are usually negligible as compared to the capacitance issue.
-=tension & release=-
Yes, you can add covers to the existing humbuckers but it is not just a matter of popping them on. They have to be the right size for the ones you have and they have to be soldered on for a ground. They will probably need to be wax potted also.
And yes, they will change the sound and make them a little bassier.
Thanks all. Like I mentioned, only about $10 for both covers. They had specs for center to center spacing of the high e to low e pole pieces and they will match my existing pickups spacing. Soldering is no problem, it's basically what I do for a living. So, hopefully they'll fit ok (they should) and I'll be able to solder them to the existing pups metal mounting tabs. If it doesn't work out size wise or sound wise, I'm not out much green. I'll just move on to replacing the entire pick-ups which will give me the opportunity to tap the coils ... something I've been thinking about anyway with this guitar for a while now.
Thx for the responses.
I have another question for down the road if you folks can help.
On this guitar, string spacing is 1 7/8'' neck and 2" at bridge. I'm not positive but aren't most buckers optimized for 2" spacing at neck and 2 1/8" at the bridge position? Do I need to be looking for pick-ups with pole piece spacing optimized for the narrower string spacing of my guitar or will standard humbucker do just fine. The existing humbuckers are definitely standard size but they also definitely have been optimized for the 1 7/8" neck and 2" bridge spacing of this guitar as well ... strings sit as dead center as possible over the poles of these pick-ups. Hope that made sense.
You should get them optimized for the string spacing of your guitar.
