A simple question concerning pickup covers

[elcochinote]

Hey, I have a question/doubt/inquiry concerning pickup covers and it doesn't have to do with if/how they affect sound. I've always been a huge Marcus Miller fan and loved the pickup cover he sports on his bass. For economical reasons, I couldn't afford a MM signature but I did afford another mid end jazz bass. After a while I had a pickup cover installed on it but realized this one was significantly spaced from the strings. It wasn't until I could finally try an MM signature at a local guitar shop that I saw how close his pickup cover is to the strings. To be honest, it is really uncomfortable to play with such a widely spaced pickup cover, especially since I slap a lot. When I bought my pickup cover on ebay it did say 'J Bass cover', so I was wondering if maybe I could've been given a P Bass cover by mistake or is Marcus Miller's cover a custom-sized one? Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[onosson]

The J covers are quite a bit smaller than the P, and sit lower as well. You may indeed have been the victim of a mixup.

 

[elcochinote]

I did some more searching and am still confused. This is a picture of how my pickup cover is right now:

 

[elcochinote]

Any help is appreciated. bump

 

[onosson]

I have both P and J covers - post a shot looking straight at the bass and I'll tell you which it looks like.

 

[SurferJoe46]

Jazz cover::: 1 7/8" and flatter than the others

Precision cover::: 2 1/4" and more rounded that a Jazz cover.

The OTHER Precision cover::: just different in all ways.

.......and another thought - the cover may have been smashed down flatter in shipping.

If you need to, you can get the distances between the mounting holes for a quick check to see if the cover IS flattened too much.

Here's a drawing I made for someone who asked the same question but KNEW their cover was flattened in shipping.

 

[elcochinote]

Wow, thank you all. From what I can see, mine does definitively have the look of a J Bass cover. It's curved around the edges, from what I can see the P Bass one is straight on the edges. This backs up my original theory that the Marcus Miller one must be made to special or specific measurements. Here are two pictures of mine. My setup/action is pretty low. Click to enlarge them.

 

[elcochinote]

Here's another one:

 

[onosson]

Definitely looks like my J cover.

 

[elcochinote]

And is the space between the strings and your cover like this? http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=221199&d=1311856973

 

[FunkMetalBass]

OP, if you shim your bass neck to raise it up, raise your action, and raise your pickups, you can get your strings closer to the cover.