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How to Play with Chrome Pickup Covers?

FunkyWilly

FunkyWilly

May 10, 2006
256
45
Chicago, IL
www.wiegler.com
#1
I have a Fender 50's Classic Precision bass and I'm thinking about adding chrome pickup and bridge covers, just because they look so cool. I have never played a bass with covers, and so I don't want to drill my bass unless I know for sure that I can play comfortably with them. I haven't found any basses in nearby stores that have them, so I can't try them out easily. Can anyone post links to videos that show people playing Precision basses with the pickup cover installed? I'm curious to see which side of the cover people tend to play on, and whether they use the cover as a brace, or just ignore it. If you have any personal stories to share about playing with pickup covers, I'm interested to hear them as well.

I searched for topics that address this, but didn't find anything. If there is already a topic, please point me to it.

Thanks!
 
#2
The pickup cover acts as a cool thumb rest, it'll take some getting used to as it offsets your thumb quite a bit. The bridge cover will not permit you to palm mute, so I hope you don't have to do that often.
 
#5
BigOldHarry said:
There is a reason folks remove those (particularly the pickup cover on P)
Click to expand...

There is also a reason some folks add them. I go through phases with my on or off, honestly really dependent on what I am playing. Blues/Blues Rock, I like to have them on. Gives the bass just a little extra character. I can tuck in some foam I have into the bridge cover and get a nice muting effect. The pick-up cover also gives my palm a nice resting point when slapping also. Also I tend to anchor my thumb on the pickup and with my pbass the cover actually gives me a little more room between thumb and forefinger when playing.

Aaron
 
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#6
My first Fender in 1969 came with bridge and PUP covers installed. I played it like this for a couple of months, but found it too restricting, so i removed them and kept it that way for the next forty two years. I like to play close to the bridge for a more biting, precise tone, and further up toward the neck for a full, richer tone, so the covers get in my way.

There's no "right" way though. Look at Will Lee, Jamerson, etc.
When looking at a P or Jazz, I love the way they look installed, but forget about playing it that way! (IMHO)
 
#7
On my Squier VM Precision I leave the cover off because my "sweet spot" is right over the pickup, For me (on a Precision anyway) the cover gets in the way.
On my Squier VM Jazz, however:
Jcovers.jpg

I can play up by the neck using the thumb rest. No problem, as that seems to be the "sweet spot" for that particular bass that gets me the tone I like. I'm still getting used to it, but it doesn't feel really odd like I thought it might when I was installing the covers.
 
#10
Both my P's and J's wear covers. I play behind the neck position pickup, and they are never in my way, and I never like playing right ontop of the pickup, it's actually a more comfortable thumbrest.

The P players have more room for plucking than the J owners do (that is, if you're using a bridge cover too).
 
#12
lopxtc said:
There is also a reason some folks add them. I go through phases with my on or off, honestly really dependent on what I am playing. Blues/Blues Rock, I like to have them on. Gives the bass just a little extra character. I can tuck in some foam I have into the bridge cover and get a nice muting effect. The pick-up cover also gives my palm a nice resting point when slapping also. Also I tend to anchor my thumb on the pickup and with my pbass the cover actually gives me a little more room between thumb and forefinger when playing.

Aaron
Click to expand...

I assure you - there is no reason to add a cover to make playing easier. There is for aesthetics, but that's about it. I've only had one fender that came to me with the chrome in place (my new '77 J bass) and I think I owned it for maybe two days before removing the covers so I could get my fingers on them strings...
 
#13
back in the early 70's, I played a Jazz with a pick in a 3 piece GFRR type act and used a neck pup cover back in the bridge position, over the bridge to rest my hand on while picking ... it worked perfect to keep my hand off the bridge and saddles, etc. while digging in ... to this day, I have been searching for that 3TSB '66 Oval Tuner/dots/no binding Jazz with and extra screw hole just below the bridge that I had put in for anchoring the neck cover down ... probably never will find it ... but as a hand rest is the only actual use (other than aesthetics) I ever saw for a pup cover, unless someone wants to use the above string muting device of course ... personally I could never see having them on and then having to "work around" them ... JMHO
 
#16
I have a hard time with the pup cover on my P Bass. I leave the bridge cover on. It is just too big on a P for me. On a Jazz, however, I like a pup cover on and the bridge cover off. I like it as a thumb rest and a palm rest for slapping. It's just whatever you feel comfortable with.
 
#18
if you like foam mutes then the nice thing about a bridge cover is you can get the foam on top of the strings instead of under. i like the way it sounds muted on top. i have seen people use tape or velcro to do that without a cover too.
i put a pickup cover on my 75 p bass the other day and it made it buzz like the dickens. so before you drill you may want to plug in and hold the cover over the pickup and see if this happens to you - it may save you some drilling!
 
#19
Antny said:
I often wondered why Fender put the cover there to begin with. Anyone know?
Click to expand...

The story I've always heard is that they were originally put on because they thought they helped block noise, single coil hum, and so on. They were mistaken, as they don't actually have any noticeable impact on noise. Not sure about the bridge cover on the precision, but Im guessing it was because they thought it looked tidier.

I'm one of those that finds covers to be very cool looking, but also a serious hindrance to my playing. I like to move my hand position quite a bit while I play, and being limited to two basic positions doesn't cut it for me. Typically I like to play almost over the pickup, but slightly slightly closer to the neck. The covers don't allow for this. YMMV.
 

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