removing pickup covers

[ryanhugh]

hey guys, how hard is it to remove a pickup cover from a humbucker? an hfs to be exact.....

also, does anyone know of a company or person who make custom pickup covers?

[Jim Collins]

Your HFS has a cover? I never knew PRS to put a cover on an HFS.

Anyway, removing a cover is no big deal. The toughest part is removing the solder beads on the bottom of the pickup. The iron will have to be quite hot to get through it. Some folks advocate using an Exacto knife to cut through it.

If this pickup is an HFS with a cover, and it isn't squealing when you use it, it was probably potted in the cover. If so, the cover will be stuck on. Heating it with a hair dryer ought to soften the wax enough for you to remove the cover, once the solder beads have been dealt with.

Once the cover is off, you will probably have to remove a lot of wax. You also may have to wrap some tape around the two coils.

If the pickup is an HFS with a cover, and it doesn't squeal when you crank up the volume, then someone may have put a cover on it without potting. If that is so, you probably won't have to deal with the wax.

[ryanhugh]

thanx for the reply....

I actually have an hfs (uncovered) but I wanted to put a white pickup cover with gold screws over it...just for looks.

I purchased a tvjones powertron that looks like the white one:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e203/ryanhugh/TVTron-5-up.jpg

but I can't get used to the sound of it, I wanted to try and put that cover on an hfs...

anyone know if it's even possible?

[Jim Collins]

The cover might not fit. You'll have to verify that the pole pieces line up with the holes in the cover. Is this cover plastic? How does it attach to the pickup?

There is a reason that the HFS is uncovered. It is a pretty hot pickup, which means a metal cover has a very strong possibility of introducing some unwanted microphonics.

[ryanhugh]

yep, the cover is plastic. Im not sure yet how it is attached to the pickup...Im waiting for a response from tvjones to know for sure. I really appreciate the info man, this is very helpful.

[ryanhugh]

I just found out I can get the black white plastic cover at allparts.com

do you think a plastic cover would alter the tone of the pickup much?

[Jim Collins]

Plastic shouldn't. But the real questions are how is it attached, and how thick is the plastic. I no longer own any PRS humbucker guitars, but I do recall that the pickups just fit in the cavities. If the plastic cover is too thick, you might have a little trouble getting the pickup in there, and adjusting the height.