LPguitarman Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I have a Classic Antique LP (see avatar). Can you put covers on the open '57 Classic pick-ups? Would it change the sound? Is it fairly easy to do? (never really messed with pick-ups before) Will I have to adjust the action to account for slightly higher pick-ups, or lower the pickups? Roughly what do the covers cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Can you put covers on the open '57 Classic pick-ups? Yes Would it change the sound? Yes, but not in a dramatic way; there is a small shift in higher frequencies (better or worse is subject to taste). Is it fairly easy to do? (never really messed with pick-ups before) I'm not very handy with a soldering iron but *removed* the covers myself (it's just two blobs of solder that hold the covers on) on my LP. However, I would probably pay someone who knows what they're doing if I ever wanted to put them back on as I would imagine it's a pain in the butt to get the covers sitting right and don't know what "right" is anyway. Will I have to adjust the action to account for slightly higher pick-ups, or lower the pickups? Most likely not unless you have the pickups set really high to begin with. Roughly what do the covers cost? No idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRom Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 You can put covers on them. To get the right size measure the distance between the outside poll pieces on each pickup. Will either be 1 15/16 or 2 1/16 or both as the pickups may be different (this is normal). I measured from the outside edge of the poll at one end to the inside edge of the poll at the other end. It is easy to do but time consuming. You have to remove the bride, T.O.M., pickup rings as welll as the pups themselves. Watch for flying springs! Putting the springs back on is even more fun ... The covers fit fairly tightly over the pup. Use a piece of electrical tape wrapped around the pickup for an even tighter fit if need be. I have not noticed a change in sound since putting mine on last week. I did not have to change the action (measure first) but I did have to change the height of the pickup a little bit to take into account the cover's thickness. Covers were rougly $16 each (genuine Gibson parts) and with shipping it was just south of $40. for the pair. *EDIT* Choose covers that are made from the same material as the rest of your hardware (nickel, chorme, etc) or it will look funky. If these pictures scare you then you should consider not doing it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 You can put covers on them. To get the right size measure the distance between the outside poll pieces on each pickup. Will either be 1 15/16 or 2 1/16 or both as the pickups may be different (this is normal). I measured from the outside edge of the poll at one end to the inside edge of the poll at the other end. It is easy to do but time consuming. You have to remove the bride' date=' T.O.M., pickup rings as welll as the pups themselves. Watch for flying springs! Putting the springs back on is even more fun ... The covers fit fairly tightly over the pup. Use a piece of electrical tape wrapped around the pickup for an even tighter fit if need be. I have not noticed a change in sound since putting mine on last week. I did not have to change the action (measure first) but I did have to change the height of the pickup a little bit to take into account the cover's thickness. Covers were rougly $16 each (genuine Gibson parts) and with shipping it was just south of $40. for the pair. *EDIT* Choose covers that are made from the same material as the rest of your hardware (nickel, chorme, etc) or it will look funky. If these pictures scare you then you should consider not doing it yourself. [img']http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/mromolino/Les%20Paul%20Faded/LP-pu-out1.jpg[/img] Thanks for the detailed input... OK I'm officially scared. Don't want to do that myself. I was thinking it may be just a few screws or something to that order. I'm more of a player than a tech. I don't even do my own set-ups. I could probably do it if I put my mind to it, but it's not that important. Was more curious than anything. I like the sound the way it is. If I do decide to do it, I'll look into having my local tech perform the operation. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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