Exposed or covered pole pieces? why?

[Diego]

Fellow TBers,

I apologize in advance if this topic has been covered. Which PU configuration do you prefer (in wooden or plastic casings)

Covered or exposed pole pieces? Why? Pros? Cons?

Lets see what are the preferences!

[PilbaraBass]

covered....and I chose plastic

why covered? because, although exposed pole pieces look cool, I run my pickups close to my strings and I have issues with pole "popping" on my strings...(to eliminate this, I use electrical tape, but am also looking into "shimming" the cover so that the pole pieces stay just under the plastic...

why plastic? because, none of basses have a nice figured top that would warrant a nice wooden cover...if they did, I'd probably choose wood....

[TehRoflCopter]

IMO, and this is just me, but on 99% of basses I absolutely hate the look of wooden covers. There's just something about black plastic covers that looks so right. Covered or uncovered depends on the bass. Although sound > looks, so as long the pups do their job, I'm not one to complain.

[Diego]

Anyone else? C'mon guys, what are your thoughts?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Exposed poles, it just looks cooler!

[alembicguy]

Barts!!Covered!!

[landry.bass]

The sound is more important to me, and I can't say I really prefer one thing over another. Some basses look right with pole pieces covered, and others don't. For example, I couldn't imagine my deluxe P with covered pole pieces, that would just look weird.

[Shindig]

I agree with Landry.bass. It really doesn't matter to me as long as they sound good.
I swapped out EMG's for a set of Sadowsky HC's and noticed I was getting odd pops occasionally while I was playing. I thought my pre-amp was going bad and then realized it was my fingertips hitting the exposed poles on the pickups when I played closer to the bridge. Some black electrical tape fixed the problem.
These Sadowsky's sure sound good (IMO) to my old ears.

[acleex38]

I have a cosmetic love of uncovered pole pieces...and yet I don't have any basses getting regular playtime with them. It's all plastic covered.

Not a fan of wooden pickup covers for my own basses, but I certain like the look of them well enough.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by TehRoflCopter

IMO, and this is just me, but on 99% of basses I absolutely hate the look of wooden covers. There's just something about black plastic covers that looks so right. Covered or uncovered depends on the bass. Although sound > looks, so as long the pups do their job, I'm not one to complain.

+1

Covered or uncovered depends very much on the specific instrument. I have two late-model jet black Carvin LB70s with chrome hardware that are each going to get new pickups with exposed pole pieces - either Nordstrand NJ4SVs/NJ4SEs, or a couple pair of DiMarzio UltraJazz - because that little extra flash of exposed metal will give them a little extra dash of dangerous attitude.

But, I've also got a 1992 Carvin LB70 in pure white that has a pair of EMG-J pickups - covered. Because their more refined appearance just happens to fit that particular instrument better...

MM

[smperry]

Depends on the bass, but I generally like to see polepieces, whether it's wood or plastic. But some basses just look better with covered polepieces.

Marshall

[DaveAceofBass]

Covered poles! Often times pickup builders use blade magnets on covered pickups, which means that the string spacing doesn't matter as much and the magnetic field covers a larger surface. Some would argue that these sound smoother. I like covered poles because there's less of a noticeable popping sound if the strings accidentally hit the pickups.

[alexofc69]

I have always liked my pickups with covered poles. It just looks cleaner and eliminates any pops when touching poles. Im getting Nordstrand FatStacks with covered poles for a custom I will be getting.

[saxnbass]

IMO, it's all about the sound.

[XsorrowfoxX]

covered poles PLEASE.
My fingers sweat when I play and It causes open coils to rust.
Does anyone else get this problem?

Also, does anyone know where I can buy plastic pickup covers for a jazz bass?
I'm having no luck online.

[RavCat]

For the most part, I'm in the "Don't care as long as it sounds good" school, I own basses with covered and exposed poles.

However, for my Warwick (a brand which 95% of the time has covered poles) I feel the exposed pieces just give it a more unusual look, and when I was looking around for an MM replacement, one of the stipulations was exposed poles.

I think it depends more on the style of pickup. I don't like seeing MM's or P's with covered poles, but I think they suit J's 50/50, and exposed poles on soapbars never look quite right (apart from Nordstrand's skewed design on their Big Splits).

Not a fan of wooden covers however, nor am I a fan of any pickup colours besides dark grey/black.

[boonerstreet]

What about the pickups with exposed pole pieces but the cover prevents them from touching the strings? An example would be semour duncan basslines. You can see the poles, but the cover goes above them preventing any popping noises. I voted for plastic covered, but I think this type would be my favorite. The best of both worlds.

[optikhog]

Originally Posted by DaveAceofBass

Covered poles! Often times pickup builders use blade magnets on covered pickups, which means that the string spacing doesn't matter as much and the magnetic field covers a larger surface. Some would argue that these sound smoother. I like covered poles because there's less of a noticeable popping sound if the strings accidentally hit the pickups.

AMEN

[Anscari]

It depends, In my Yamaha (P/J) I've got a P Basslines (uncovered) and a Custom J (covered). When it's time to solo and I'm short of ideas, I tend to touch the last pole of the pickup with the amp gain at max, and the phaser on, and get that crazy siren sounds!