Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: giboovhull on January 17, 2011, 07:27:09 PM

Title: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: giboovhull on January 17, 2011, 07:27:09 PM
Hi again,simple quezzie to you all, what difference does having pups covered make in the overall sound,is it subtle or is it very noticeable ,thanks. :?
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Doadman on January 17, 2011, 08:37:48 PM
There are a few threads on this. There is a difference as a cover tends to round out the notes a bit but it's minimal, especially as Tim tweaks the wind a bit to compensate for the effect of a cover.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: ShredHeadJHJ on January 18, 2011, 02:05:34 AM
I heard that it makes the pups brighter, but I have also heard people refute this. I have also heard that it gives a slight sound of a bit lower output when pups are covered.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Telerocker on January 18, 2011, 02:07:18 AM
I understood the covers take away a little bit of highend.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Twinfan on January 18, 2011, 08:47:18 AM
I've found covers to smooth the tone out a little and really quieten the pickups down.  WIthout covers, I find there's more presence and much more noise - handling noise, string scratches and interference/buzzing.

To me they feel more lively to play through, but the noise/interference is very noticebale.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: gwEm on January 18, 2011, 10:20:06 AM
Tim adjusts the wind, so its hard to say. But Dave is spot on here I think, based on my experimentation with a set of old T-Tops. The other thing is without the covers you can adjust the pickups closer to the strings and get more output.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: PhilKing on January 18, 2011, 01:59:58 PM
I'm old enough to remember why we pulled the covers from humbuckers.  In fact my first set of Bare Knuckles were covered with a set of original 63 Gibson covers from a 335.  We took the covers off to get more punch from the pickups.  I think this occurred for 2 reasons.  One is that we opened up the slug coils, and the other was we lowered the screws to be flush with the screw coil and raised the pickups a couple of millimeters.  Both of these together gave that boost.  In BK's case, Tim compensates somewhat for the cover, which reduces the difference, but as Dave and gwEm both say, the covered pickups still sound a little sweeter.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Twinfan on January 18, 2011, 03:26:27 PM
I find the biggest difference is the extraneous noise of open pickups, it's really quite noticeable.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on January 18, 2011, 03:53:36 PM
 8)
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Twinfan on January 18, 2011, 04:03:46 PM
A correction:

Original PAFs from the 50s are NOT wax potted.  Never were.  Any that are now were potted later in their life.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: gwEm on January 18, 2011, 04:05:49 PM
A correction:

Original PAFs from the 50s are NOT wax potted.  Never were.  Any that are now were potted later in their life.

thats true, T-Tops and Dirty Fingers were also not wax potted. In fact, as far as I am aware except for some experiments with epoxy potting it was until the late 80s when they started it properly.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on January 18, 2011, 04:26:40 PM
 8)

Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on January 18, 2011, 04:29:06 PM
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Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: giboovhull on January 18, 2011, 06:52:44 PM
Nice response,thanks ,so would you say then that the covers are in a way a mild noisegate,ironing out a bit of string catching etc....when played.So without covers a tad more raw.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on January 19, 2011, 07:37:28 AM
s
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Pale Rider on January 19, 2011, 11:10:36 AM
Every time I read a line like "Tim changes the wind" the picture coming to mind is Tim making some weird voodoo stuff and changing the direction the wind is blowing. lol

Anyway seriously now....the covers lower the resonance frequency of the pickup and weakens the amplitude in that frequecy. That can be compensated by the wind. If not exactly, closely enough.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Twinfan on January 19, 2011, 11:46:47 AM
Nice response,thanks ,so would you say then that the covers are in a way a mild noisegate,ironing out a bit of string catching etc....when played.So without covers a tad more raw.

That's exactly my experience, yes  :)
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on January 19, 2011, 04:18:27 PM
.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: giboovhull on January 19, 2011, 06:11:03 PM
Wow you know your stuff man,bet you play a mean fiddle too,Ive been playing acoustic a few years,and decided it was time for electric so bought prs tremonti se, nice guitar all in all ,I do like playing the blues ,and on the other hand Foo,s purple hendrix etc,,,,so I think my mind is set on covered mules good all rounder as told ,whats your take on this decision,this is my last post on the matter hopefully ,then its time to exchange my hard earned cash,thanks again :).
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: St.James on March 05, 2011, 04:00:36 PM
 8)
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Afghan Dave on March 05, 2011, 04:12:19 PM
most of this has already been said

 PDT_038 PDT_039 PDT_040 PDT_043 PDT_045 PDT_046 PDT_047
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: WezV on March 05, 2011, 04:34:49 PM
lets have less talk of afgans 'senior member' ;)
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Afghan Dave on March 05, 2011, 04:37:07 PM
"Dave Jr" is equally responsive covered or uncovered.
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: Alex on March 09, 2011, 02:42:07 PM
So if I had the cover removed from my Nailbomb, would it become more responsive and somewhat brighter?
Title: Re: Covered or not (the difference)
Post by: dheim on March 09, 2011, 04:41:02 PM
So if I had the cover removed from my Nailbomb, would it become more responsive and somewhat brighter?

i don't think the response is affected, but it will sound a tad brighter and more "open".
you can get the same effect deconnecting the tone pot and your NB will look just as good as it does now! ;)