Cover Removal on BKP Humbuckers - Change in Tone?

[darkbluemurder]

Hi,

I am considering removing covers off some BKP humbuckers to match the looks of the guitar they go in. My question is: has anybody done this and what were the tonal changes?

The reason I am asking is that I did this once with a pair of non-BKP humbuckers, and the tone changed dramatically but not necessarily for the better. With the cover the pickups were dull like a blanket over the speaker. Without the cover they were much brighter but had a weird unmusical sizzle to them. While I don't expect any BKP to have such thing (none of those I tried did) I would rather not invest the time if I had to deal with a drastic tonal change. I am sure a subtle change would not bother me.

This is not about the general influence of covers on the tone - that has been discussed to death. I am only interested in hands-on experience of removing covers of BKP humbuckers.

Thanks,
Stephan

[richard]

From BK themselves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D756154qUdo

[JimmyMoorby]

In my personal experience no.

[clivey]

Funnily enough, I just did this tonight with a set of Crawlers in my main guitar. I've always liked them, but felt they were a little dark. Removing the covers has definitely opened up the high end a little, not too much, but noticeable. Other than that, nothing else has changed, so I'm pretty happy with the results. They also look way better without the covers in this guitar.

[darkbluemurder]

Thank you very much for your replies - that was the information I was looking for.

Cheers Stephan

[pcarrion]

That's a really interesting matter!! I took covers off from several pickups. I did notice a "huge" in difference in bassier-middier pickups in not bright guitars. I never had a problem with rebel yells and mules in a Les Paul. But I had a set of holydivers, and there was this thick rich in mids sound but there was something missing. I took the covers off and things completely changed. I think maybe the difference is not that big, but this little extra cut and brightness in some cases is the touch that tilt the balance.

[FRockStar]

I took the cover off an Abraxas I had in a heavy mahogany Les Paul copy as I felt it was just a little too restrained &... not muffled exactly,  but lacked cut and punch. It made a subtle but noticeable difference and had the desired effect of opening the sound up a little. How much was due to removal of the cover and how much due to subsequent pickup height and pole  piece adjustment is hard to tell, however.

[darkbluemurder]

How much was due to removal of the cover and how much due to subsequent pickup height and pole  piece adjustment is hard to tell, however.

I am well aware of that - once you remove the cover you are able to bring the slug side of the pickup closer to the strings. That certainly must affect something.

Cheers Stephan

[Chris Rowberry]

The basic rules of covered and uncovered are that with an open humbucker, you tend to get more presence to the tone whilst with a covered humbucker you will find you get a warmer tone. These are only very slight difference and also depend on the height of the pickup when you install them again.

I would note that we do offer a free service to take covers off Bare Knuckle Pickups so that you retain your lifetime warranty on the pickups. If you remove the covers yourself we're unable to retain the warranty on the pickups.

[darkbluemurder]

I would note that we do offer a free service to take covers off Bare Knuckle Pickups so that you retain your lifetime warranty on the pickups. If you remove the covers yourself we're unable to retain the warranty on the pickups.

Chris, thanks for clarifying this.

Since I purchased my covered Black Dog neck second hand the void of the warranty is a non-issue unless the BKP warranty extends beyond the original purchaser.

Cheers Stephan

[Chris Rowberry]

Ah right, the warranty can only be held by the original purchaser as we have to be able to track it. But we will still take the covers off for free for anyone just because we would rather know its done correctly and that you have a pickup that is working properly in your guitar. Life's too short for waiting on pickup repairs! 

[darkbluemurder]

The cover is off now and the pickup is still working well. I have not noticed any negative tonal impacts when I tested it in a guitar.

Cheers Stephan

[Chris Rowberry]

Excellent, I'm pleased it was all good!