What is the effect of metal pickup covers?

[revsorg]

Like, on a Les Paul pickup, what does the chrome pickup cover do to the sound? If anything? Are they just there to make it look nice or do they have some sort of magnetic effect on the strings?

[TwilightOdyssey]

Metal covers roll off a bit of the high frequencies; pickup manufacturers account for this when winding the pickup.

[revsorg]

So if you took the pickup covers off the pickups on a PRS McCarty it would sound brighter then...

[TwilightOdyssey]

Yes, precisely. Tho it may also adversely affect the the tonal balance.
It is also recommended that you do not remove the cover yourself.

[Zerberus]

Metal covers roll off a bit of the high frequencies; pickup manufacturers account for this when winding the pickup.

Yes, precisely. Tho it may also adversely affect the the tonal balance...

TO, I´m not too sure about this... that they attenuate the highs I agree on, but I´m pretty sure there aren´t for example 6 different Duncan ´59s (Neck, bridge and trembucker versions are all available coverered and uncovered, so that would be 6 different winds for one pickup). I´m pretty sure that most manufacturers don´t have any "compensation" for the cover wound in....

The tonal change is also very similar to just "backing off" the pickup a bit, A very large part of me is starting to become skeptical as to whether it´s actually the COVER that changes to tone or in reality the resulting change in distance dur to the cover raising the top edge...

It is also recommended that you do not remove the cover yourself.

This I have to disagree on, though... on this forum we´ve taught dozens if not hundreds of people how to loosen the 2 solder joints and remove the cover.....there´s not really much to screw up

[TwilightOdyssey]

TO, I´m not too sure about this... that they attenuate the highs I agree on, but ... I´m pretty sure that most manufacturers don´t have any "compensation" for the cover wound in....

Well, I know for a fact that the pups I own have different winds depending on whether the pup is covered or not, so I was just generalizing. I know that this is more plausible with a hand-wound pup, tho; however, I think that there probably is some thought that goes into the pup design as to whether it sounds better covered or uncoverd.

A very large part of me is starting to become skeptical as to whether it´s actually the COVER that changes to tone or in reality the resulting change in distance dur to the cover raising the top edge...

My own theory is different, but I think that the actual cover itself is not the cause for the tonal difference as well.

This I have to disagree on, though... on this forum we´ve taught dozens if not hundreds of people how to loosen the 2 solder joints and remove the cover.....there´s not really much to screw up

Since I've never done it, I of course would never recommend someone to do something I have never done in my own experience!!