Is a bridge cover just for looks, or does it actually serve a purpose.

dbull · #1 02-02-2010, 02:35 PM

I have heard that bridge covers reduce hum, and I have heard that they are just decorations.

I've leaned toward the latter, but was wondering what wiser folks thought.

Bardley · #2 02-02-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbull

I have heard that bridge covers reduce hum, and I have heard that they are just decorations.

I've leaned toward the latter, but was wondering what wiser folks thought.

The older ones were, I believe, to help with shielding of the single coil pups.

Nowadays, they are pretty much just for decoration. I keep the bridge cover on my P-Bass because I think it looks better than the raw bridge. I don't like the Pup cover on a P. It's just too wide. On a J, I don't mind it that much.

Pilgrim · #3 02-02-2010, 03:10 PM

Leo thought they would be RF shields. Practice has proven it's not the case.

But they look great anyway.

mccartneyman · #4 02-02-2010, 03:18 PM

You have to think in '50s car terms: Bridge cover = hubcaps. The more chrome, the better.

pj-mike · #5 02-02-2010, 03:19 PM

The older Fenders also used the bridge cover to mount a foam mute

ricca · #6 02-02-2010, 04:06 PM

In the 50' bridge covers had a mute foam to reduce sustain ......for the times basses were too much sounding compared to upright!!
Pick up covers were intended for shielding.
Today.....I've got mine on 'cause they are so cool.....

mech · #7 02-02-2010, 06:30 PM

All the above and on a Fender, at least, it keeps you from tearing your hand up on the saddle height screws. Unless it's grounded to the the electronics there is no sheilding.
mech

walterw · #8 02-02-2010, 07:03 PM

remember, leo didn't want his players messing with anything! all the adjustments were hidden under those covers, and the truss rod was hidden inside the neck pocket.

mech · #9 02-02-2010, 07:53 PM

^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's the best reason. New and little understood technology.

JTE · #10 02-03-2010, 09:27 AM

There is a lot of speculation for why the covers were put on, and I suspect there's a certain amount of truth in all of them. Chrome made them look cool, covered the guts (mostly I think from a cosmetic standpoint, than keeping folks from messing with it because Leo was very adamant that his stuff be easy to work on). Not shielding as there wasn't any pickup around the bridge on the first Fender basses. The very first Precisions had a ground going to the PICKUP cover, but not to the bridge. And a key factor was that Leo always thought that the mute was important. The Precision had the foam weather strip under the bridge cover to mute the strings. The first Jazz had the individual felt mutes to allow some adjustability, before they went to the more simple weather strip foam.

But he also designed the Mustang Bass for CBS after he sold Fender, and that had mutes. Plus he designed the StingRay with a bridge and mute assembly very much like the Mustang Bass's bridge too. The first and only Leo Fender bass design on the market without mutes were the original G&L L- series (1000 and 2000) basses.

John

michael_atw · #11 02-03-2010, 09:32 AM

I always wondered what a metal piece would do over top of a magnetic field.

J. Crawford · #12 02-03-2010, 09:33 AM

JTE knows his stuff, thats for sure!

Nigel Rahmshard · #13 02-03-2010, 09:42 AM

its main purpose is looking cool, the second one is so you can unscrew it and flip it over and put it on the coffee table to use as an ashtray if you dont have one handy.

Jefenator · #14 02-03-2010, 09:42 AM

IME it's handier to wedge foam between the strings & the cover than it is between strings and body. Also on a slab body (w/ no top bevel), the chrome cover is nice to rest your hand on.

bigthemat · #15 02-05-2010, 09:33 AM

on my Marcus Miller the pickup cover is a great wrist rest when slapping. and I use it as a thumb anchor. Oh, and it looks cool... as we've decided that's the most important :P

Pilgrim · #16 02-05-2010, 11:17 AM

I still have the foam from the bridge cover mute on my '63 P. JTE is 100% right - Leo made a number of best guesses, and one of them was that the mute was needed to replicate the sound of an upright bass. I doubt that was the primary reason for adding the cover, but it must have been pretty handy.