Clear coating the pickup cover?

[Itchy]

Hey guys, I bought a Holy Diver a couple months ago for a guitar build. I just recently got the guitar back from getting a graphic airbrushed.



I was wondering if clear coating the pickup will have any *noticeable* effect on the tone.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Edge of Thorns by Savatage if I'm not mistaken....

[Itchy]

You know your stuff.  :)

But is the pickup ok to be clearcoated?

[Philly Q]

Not my kind of thing, but nice work!  :)

I don't think clear-coating the pickup will make any difference to the tone at all, it's a thin coat of a non-magnetic material.  It'll make no more difference than the airbrushed image which is already there.

But I'm confused, has the artist not already applied clear coats over the entire artwork, including the pickup?  Or is he just about to do that?

[Itchy]

There is no clear on it yet. I have the tools and ability to clear coat it myself. But I didn't know the effects of clear coat on pickups until your very informative post. Thanks a lot.

[FELINEGUITARS]

I wouldn't expect any change in tone at all

My only concerns would have been whether the paint layers would stay put and not peel, crack or craze
We went through the same concerns when we were painting the Judge Dredd guitar, although the pickup was an EMG as we knew it would work ok as we used a plastic primer

[Philly Q]

I've always admired these full-body-artwork guitars - like Kirk Hammett's Boris Karloff ESP and Phil Collen's Bela Lugosi Jackson.

But I would worry about the paint wearing off the pickups, it doesn't seem to stick very well to metal or plastic. 

I suppose part of the problem is that the pickup has fairly sharp edges which tend to get easily worn by sweaty palms resting on them - just like normal gold covers.

Please show us pics of the guitar when it's finished!  :D

[FELINEGUITARS]

looks like a Jackson with a Sustainer built in

[Itchy]

Good call. Its the DK2S body. And that Judge Dredd guitar looks amazing! I'm fairly certain that I've seen it on jcfonline before. And when I get this thing all put back together, I will make sure to post pictures. Thanks for the input guys.

[Itchy]

Here are the pics you guys wanted.  :D

[FELINEGUITARS]

Good call. Its the DK2S body. And that Judge Dredd guitar looks amazing! I'm fairly certain that I've seen it on jcfonline before. And when I get this thing all put back together, I will make sure to post pictures. Thanks for the input guys.

You might have seen it on here on my my Feline guitars website , as it's one I built from scratch.
i wouldn't think you'd have seen that one on the JCFonline as it's not anything to do with Charvel or Jackson, unless someone posted a link because of the paintwork.

Your Jackson looks even cooler when it's seen all together

[Philly Q]

Looking good!  :D