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Pickup covers are driving me nuts!

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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1,934
I can't stand the covers on my R8. I know I've had it for only a few days, but I always thought those pickups didn't look right, even on others guitars.

I have a set of Shaw pickups that I don't use, and the covers are already removed. The thing is that i'm not really sure what they're made of, chrome or nickel. They have a nice, slight patina on them already, from years i've been playing them, but before unsoldering/resoldering the burstuckers covers, what do you guys think.

Here's a couple of pics, and one of the R8 with her older sister... the tobacco color is a bit off, and it was a pain to get the patina of the Shaws on picture, but:

VOS covers:

DSC04900.jpg


Shaw covers:

DSC04910.jpg


With her sister:

DSC04913.jpg
 

Callaway

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Nov 15, 2009
Messages
213
My guess is the Shaw covers are chrome and will never have actual patina per say just scratches and wear. The BB are nickle, the nickle will look much better as time goes on besides it matches your bridge and t-piece. Was the guitar not VOS or did your polish the VOS off your hardware?
 

DANELECTRO

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Feb 24, 2003
Messages
6,318
I'm can't believe that Gibson hasn't fixed their covers yet. The current Gibson pickup covers are the least accurate PAF covers made by anyone anywhere, and they're the guys that invented the damn things!

Original PAFs
PAF-MatchedSet1c.jpg


Throbaks and DMCs are a couple of my favorites. These are even the older Throbak covers. Jon has since retooled and the new ones are improved.
PickupCovers008800.jpg


PickupCovers010800.jpg


PickupCovers014800.jpg


This is why your pickup covers annoy you. On the left are Gibson VOS Burstbuckers. On the right are DMC 1.5 covers. Notice how small the Gibson pickups look in comparison. Believe it or not, they're both the same size. The giant edge radii on the Gibsons give the illusion that they are much smaller.
PickupCovers-GibsonvsDMC.jpg
 

jbzoso2002

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May 10, 2009
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1,089
Another great post by Danelectro!

ThroBak sells covers now.

Jimmy:peace2
 

Guitar Whiskey

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Aug 10, 2006
Messages
2,757
Ditch the chrome covers and buy yourself a set of Throbak covers off Ebay. Best deal currently for something of great quality.
 

Ken Fortunato

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Feb 26, 2006
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2,742
If it's the shape that you don't like, then replace 'em.

However, if it's just the "shiny-newness" thing, then trust me, the stock nickle covers will corrode to hell in a hurray. Seriously...
 
Last edited:

latestarter

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Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
I agree DANELECTRO...those current Gibson ones are terrible. I suspect a lot of the parts on our Historics these days are farmed out to the cheapest manufacturer in Asia and rough enough is good enough. I've seen Nashville bridges with post spacings 1-2mm out between various years. No consistency.
 

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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My guess is the Shaw covers are chrome and will never have actual patina per say just scratches and wear. The BB are nickle, the nickle will look much better as time goes on besides it matches your bridge and t-piece. Was the guitar not VOS or did your polish the VOS off your hardware?

I know BB covers are Nickel, I wasn't sure about the Shaws, as they neither look chrome, nor Nickel. Weird. They have a nice subtle patina and some wear from honest playing, bu the hue (?) is weird. Not really chrome, not really nickel... the shape is better than the historic BB though...

As far as the VOS. No, I didn't polish the hardware at all. It wasn't very tarnished to begin with. Just a bit. What I did clean, is the VOS crap on the body.
 

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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I'm can't believe that Gibson hasn't fixed their covers yet. The current Gibson pickup covers are the least accurate PAF covers made by anyone anywhere, and they're the guys that invented the damn things!

Thanks for the detailed and illustrated answer. I agree that the shape on those Gibson BB is nonsense. That's why I was wondering about putting the Shaw covers. They might not be the most accurate, but far better than the BBs...

You're right though, those Throbak lookg 'right', and the aging seems subtle and not as 'in your face' as some I've seen. Might give them a shot. Thanks again. :salude
 

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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If it's the shape that you don't like, then replace 'em.

However, if it's just the "shiny-newness" thing, then trust me, the stock nickle covers will corrode to hell in a hurray. Seriously...

Yup, I don't like the shape.
Actually, if they were shiny, they might look less wrong than this VOS treatment that I don't understand. They look like a brand new 'satin' finish... I don't know what kind of aged look the people at Gibson find on those covers :rolleyes . They'd rather put shiny nickel and let the time do its job.

Anyway, thanks all for the input. I might drop a line to Jon to hook me up on his covers.
 

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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For the heck of it, here's a picture (flash ruins some of the patina...) of the Shaws I was thinking about using the covers.

aa95edea.jpg
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
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4,876
I think the Shaws are even more curved than the BB's- but I love the guts on those Shaw covers!
 

wild.joz

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Mar 19, 2008
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Well, thanks to all who gave their input.
I just pulled the trigger on a set of Throbak covers... we'll see when they're here.
 
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