No. Aesthetics only. Some like 'em, some don't.
I like 'em on my parts jazz bass: I think it makes her look classy, in a 60's "pumps and pearls" kinda way. It's also my only bass with ashtrays.
View attachment 3706407
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
bridge and pickup covers, function?
- Thread starter lojo
- Start date
I like 'em on my parts jazz bass: I think it makes her look classy, in a 60's "pumps and pearls" kinda way. It's also my only bass with ashtrays.
View attachment 3706407
People think this thing is anoying but it is false, it really help playing (Jamerson), Marcus Miller), my avatar is named ''Leo was right'' because this kind of detail that was in the original concept of the ''Fender bass'' have its fonction, the mute in the bridge cover was interesting too. My pbass and even my Jbass have it all.
I added a bridge cover both to my Squire J and Glarry P basses, and a pup cover to the Squire, as I prefer the old school look. The covers don't impeded my playing, as I'm not an aggressive bassist. The Gibson EB3-L has the stock bridge cover, and the other two basses arrived with no covers.
Yep. I got 'em, too!
Beautiful piece! I am not sure why mine has never had the pick up cover, there's no sign as to there being one at all. Only the Fender Emblem bridge cap. Would like to get a pick up cover at some point.
The pup cover on a p-bass (imo) serves no function other than getting in the way. The bridge cover originally had a piece of foam glued to the inside top edge to act as a mute. Without the foam it just looks nice as the original p-bass bridge in not much to look at.
The bridge cover can house a foam mute. When you play the higher register, the dampening slightly weakens corresponding to the shorter string length, giving a relatively more consistent muting compared with the under-string foam mute. Carol Kaye used to tape a foam mute over her bridge to simulate this effect.
The pickup cover is known as "slapping handrest" here in China (where most of these parts are made). I can see some people see it as a help while others see it as a hindrance. Personally I find them in the way when I palm-mute with a pick. OTOH I leave it on my Rickenbacker horseshoe pickup, since it gives the characteristic sound.
The pickup cover is known as "slapping handrest" here in China (where most of these parts are made). I can see some people see it as a help while others see it as a hindrance. Personally I find them in the way when I palm-mute with a pick. OTOH I leave it on my Rickenbacker horseshoe pickup, since it gives the characteristic sound.
Mine, pictured a few replies up, is a complete mutant of a bass. Story goes like this:
My first bass was a MiM J-Bass, bought in ‘93. Played the hell out of it, and to this day, even though I play my Dingwalls much more fluidly than any parallel fretted bass, that neck feels like home to my left hand. A few years ago, after about a decade away from playing, due to family, work, and school time pressures, I got back to playing, but something was mucked up in the electronics. I’d just built a PJ from Warmoth parts, and got a wild hair to do something with the old J, so I cannibalized everything I could use from it, got a Squier Affinity body from eBay, the needed parts, and built up a PJ with my old neck, tuners, bridge, neck plate, etc, and new hardware and electronics. I knew I wanted an old school cool look, I got some covers, P for the P pickup, J bridge cover. I also knew that eventually, removing the covers to change strings would probably wear out the wood that the screws went into, so instead I installed threaded inserts into the body, so I could cross that worry off. I also knew that, for the sake of thumb rest familiarity, I needed a solution, so I installed a chrome thumb rest, forward of the neck pickup. So, it’s a vintage-aesthetic bass of a type and configuration that’s not remotely vintage, still feels like home under my left hand, and is less stressful to do regular string changes than regular covers would be.
My first bass was a MiM J-Bass, bought in ‘93. Played the hell out of it, and to this day, even though I play my Dingwalls much more fluidly than any parallel fretted bass, that neck feels like home to my left hand. A few years ago, after about a decade away from playing, due to family, work, and school time pressures, I got back to playing, but something was mucked up in the electronics. I’d just built a PJ from Warmoth parts, and got a wild hair to do something with the old J, so I cannibalized everything I could use from it, got a Squier Affinity body from eBay, the needed parts, and built up a PJ with my old neck, tuners, bridge, neck plate, etc, and new hardware and electronics. I knew I wanted an old school cool look, I got some covers, P for the P pickup, J bridge cover. I also knew that eventually, removing the covers to change strings would probably wear out the wood that the screws went into, so instead I installed threaded inserts into the body, so I could cross that worry off. I also knew that, for the sake of thumb rest familiarity, I needed a solution, so I installed a chrome thumb rest, forward of the neck pickup. So, it’s a vintage-aesthetic bass of a type and configuration that’s not remotely vintage, still feels like home under my left hand, and is less stressful to do regular string changes than regular covers would be.
Great work nonetheless! This one came with the forward thumb rest and a backset finger rest for the slap function. Split pick ups are due for an overhaul. As is, it sounds like a dream. I haven't been able to pinpoint much information on this particular bass since it was given to me by an elderly couple I used to work with. I have since learned quite a bit from these replies which is much appreciated. I had it and wanted to know it's history.
Yours is almost certainly a bass that had the bridge cover and rests added by a past owner. P basses bridge covers are quite a bit smaller than J bass bridge covers, mostly due to there being no bridge pickup to cover up. Whoever installed that cover, I’m pretty sure, made an aesthetic choice. Personally, I much prefer the look of the J bridge cover to the P bridge cover, just in overall shape. More than just shape, though, I think the big Fender “F” logo played a part in the choice of covers. I considered putting an F cover on my mutant PJ, but elected for smooth lines instead.
Your bass is a beaut, and if it plays well, so much the better.
It does play otherworldly well. I believe there was the aesthetic aspect for the Fender F cover as it provides no other function.
The pickup cover messes with the magnetic field of the split coil pickups and they stop being fully hum cancelling. I've experienced this on all my P basses, using a recent, official cover set by Fender.
A shielded P bass makes absolutely no noise. Just hovering the cover over the pickups makes the bass hum.
I know the cover interacts with the pickups because I have a cheap dual blade pickup in my Bronco that is not fully hum cancelling but the hum stops when I place the cover on it.
All my basses are correctly grounded and shielded. The cover gets grounded by the screws. No difference.
The hum is audible through my amp and my audio interface. I tested different outlets too.
I made a thread about it a couple of years ago. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this issue but many people deny it's true. I suspect their basses aren't shielded so they make noise anyway. Or maybe they have older covers that are made of a different metal.
The bridge cover also adds noise but it's a metallic ping triggered by certain notes. Putting foam under the cover, over the strings for muting or behind the bridge, eliminates the ping.
A shielded P bass makes absolutely no noise. Just hovering the cover over the pickups makes the bass hum.
I know the cover interacts with the pickups because I have a cheap dual blade pickup in my Bronco that is not fully hum cancelling but the hum stops when I place the cover on it.
All my basses are correctly grounded and shielded. The cover gets grounded by the screws. No difference.
The hum is audible through my amp and my audio interface. I tested different outlets too.
I made a thread about it a couple of years ago. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this issue but many people deny it's true. I suspect their basses aren't shielded so they make noise anyway. Or maybe they have older covers that are made of a different metal.
The bridge cover also adds noise but it's a metallic ping triggered by certain notes. Putting foam under the cover, over the strings for muting or behind the bridge, eliminates the ping.
Not a dumb question at all, but based on the number of replies here it seems that everyone thinks the covers were purely for aesthetics.
Nope.
The Pickup cover actually affects the magnetic field and changes the tone of the pickup. It's not a subtle difference in most cases, and it gives a more 'focused' sound than an uncovered pickup
The Bridge cover was designed to allow a mute to be positioned above the bridge to emulate palm muting. 90% of the classic P bass tones of the 60s and early 70s involve some sort of string damping. When you control the string that way you can actually bring the bass up in a mix without overwhelming the low end. It's one of the secrets to the Motown sound.
No discernible difference in tone for me but see my above comment for the effect on hum.
