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bridge and pickup covers, function?

#61
Atelier Z has a ZPF-3500CR "Pickup Fence" model that is a slim version of a neck pickup cover.

They make them in Chrome (CR), Black (BLK) & Gold (GL). They can be found on Reverb or E-Bay.

I really like it - it's traditional but with a slight modern twist.

Still enough chrome to give a classy, traditional appearance.

I also find it a lot less "in the way" than a traditional, full width cover.

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#63
Gilmourisgod said:
Where did you get that slim chrome cover? I love how the ashtrays look, but couldn’t live with the limited access they create. That’s pretty slick! Got a link?
Click to expand...

I updated the post- link to Reverb is now there. :thumbsup:

I really dig them - never heard of them until very recently.

Pretty sure they are not sold in the States - mine was shipped from Japan but arrived surprisingly fast - 6 days total.

Just be sure to order the CR model if you want Chrome - the Chrome & Gold can look similar in some pics.

They are wonderfully out of the way for fingerstyle playing. They are still somewhat of a slap "speed bump" but less so than full width covers. :)
 
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#70
Only bass I've had with these covers was a 1970s Ibanez Jazz bass copy - the first new bass I ever owned. I hated them and removed them after a couple of hours.

Then I discovered I hated the screw holes and I wanted to put the screws back in. But the screws it came with were slightly countersunk and I was worried about tightening them as I thought it might crack the finish. So I had to find some pan or dome headed screws to fit. Seemed like such a hassle as a 17 year old...

I might be wrong, but from memory Ibanez didn't copy putting the foam baffles in the bridge cover - well, not on that one, anyway.
 
#75
lojo said:
I love the look of bridge and pickup covers, I think they are still supplied with the new MIA fenders unfixed

Is there scientific (like increased pickup performance etc)

or functional (like thumbresting!) reason for these?

Also I know players used to remove them due to feeling they got in the way, any views on this side of things also?

May be a dumb set of questions, but id love to know as never have
Click to expand...
Someone said it was a way to increase the magnetic field around the pickup, whether this is true or not, I have noticed no difference in sound with it on though.
 
#77
People try to make the same argument about the chromed plastic pup covers on a Ric, claiming they are part of the shielding. Nonsense of course, no more relevant to function than a chrome hood ornament, which is basically what they are. I love how they look, particularly on a Jazz, but they do get in the way of my favorite sweet spot of tone and string tension. The bridge cover Looks cool too, the bent plate bridges were not designed to be good looking, just functional.
 
#78
Gilmourisgod said:
People try to make the same argument about the chromed plastic pup covers on a Ric, claiming they are part of the shielding. Nonsense of course, no more relevant to function than a chrome hood ornament, which is basically what they are. I love how they look, particularly on a Jazz, but they do get in the way of my favorite sweet spot of tone and string tension. The bridge cover Looks cool too, the bent plate bridges were not designed to be good looking, just functional.
Click to expand...
I am very happy to have learn to live with and use in a way I can't avoid it.
 
#80
P-Bass 3.JPG As others have said; originally, the covers did what covers do; cover stuff up. Sometimes "unsightly" stuff - like that bent plate bridge; you have to admit that, as good and functional as it was (and still is), it'll never win a beauty contest. And, until... the late '70s?... Fender basses wore flat wound strings from the factory. And you don't have to change flats every time you turn around, so who cared if it was in the way...:rolleyes: Sometimes, covers protect "delicate"/"sensitive" stuff. Like pickups; which, back in the day, could be sensitive to RF nonsense. As for interfering with your playing? Watch videos of bass players back when these basses were a new thing. Hardly any of them played all over the strings; you didn't need to, when bass lines were "thumpty thumpity thump - change up - thumpty thumpity thunp - change down..." Just use the thumb rest - or the tug bar - and play... If you play like that? The covers aren't a problem at all. What the "problem" really is, is that music changed, and playing styles changed with it. Tug bars, thumb rests, and covers (with a mute) did become an impediment to playing, and people just yanked that stuff off. Fender finally wised up, and didn't put that stuff on their basses any more. My '78 P-Bass still had all that stuff on it when it was new; the original owner took them off, like everyone did at the time. When I bought it from him in 1988, I put it all back on - including flats and the mute in the bridge cover. Why? Because the music I like to play was played with a P-Bass set up the original way; I play in front of the pickup cover with a pick; and, mostly, the bass lines for the music I play, are "thumpty thumpity thump - change up..." It brings back memories of good times; the band I was in and the music we played. It makes me happy; and I don't have to please anybody but myself...:whistle:
 
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