Why cover pickups?

[Rip Van Dan]

I have never had a metal cover on a pickup before.... is there any sound related reason some basses have this, or is it just a look?

Just a look, especially on a Jazz Bass. I removed the neck cover from my 1965 Jazz bass that I bought in 1966, when I started touring with a nightclub group in 1971. I primarily did that because it allowed me to pick right next to the neck pickup, which was comfortable for me. I didn't realize the wide variety of sounds I could get out of a Jazz Bass just by changing where I pluck the strings without every needing to move the VVT knobs on the Bass or mess with the amp's EQ. So I did keep the bridge pickup cover in place until my '65 Jazz was stolen in 1976, because I thought it looked cool.

In 1985, I replaced my '65 Jazz with a mint-condition 1982 Jazz with an all-maple neck. Someone brought it in as a trade-in and the covers were still in their OEM plastic bags. They had never been mounted on the bass. So the music store put them directly in the accessories case to sell separately. When I bought the bass at a great price a month later, the covers were not included. I am not complaining!

When I actually started gigging again in 1997 with a borrowed amp, I found that I really liked having both of those off. I had discovered that I could easily make my bass sound darker or brighter by moving my plucking hand up toward the neck or back towards the bridge pickup. There's a surprisingly large range for dark to bright that you can change on the fly on a Jazz (and I presume any two-pickup Bass) by just changing where you're plucking the strings. If something sounds too dark, move your plucking hand towards the bridge pickup a bit at a time until you find the mix of sound that you want.

I haven't had the neck pickup cover on since 1971 (52-years) and haven't had that bridge "ash-tray" cover on since 1985 (38-years) and I wouldn't put them on my Jazz if I had them.

 

[Gabu]

You can use it to catch the spotlight beam and bounce it back into the eyes of the guy who is hitting on your girl by the bar.

Or use it to get the waitress' attention for more Goldschläger.

That's some hard core gigging experience talking right there.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

You can use it to catch the spotlight beam and bounce it back into the eyes of the guy who is hitting on your girl by the bar.

Or use it to get the waitress' attention for more Goldschläger.

LOL! I have to tell of an experience I had in 1972 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. We were playing for two weeks at the Kasbah, which was right off of I-84. My wife and I had been married for a few months and she was at the club that evening. She was talking to me at the stage when some guy grabbed her hand and started pulling her over to a booth. I jumped off the stage and grabbed my wife's other hand telling this idiot to let go of my wife. I still had my bass on so I took it off to smack this guy in the head with the body of it. Luckily for him, the bouncer grabbed him by the collar (big bounder!) smacked his arm to make him let go of my wife and threw him out the front door. After thanking him for taking care of that, I got back on the stage and we started our second set.

I did have the ashtray cover over the bridge pickup. Not sure it would have blinded him but I guar-ohn-tee getting hit over the head by the edge of a 10-lb Jazz Bass would have put his lights out. The edge might be dull, but it's a dang big Axe!

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Technically... yeah, you're exactly right... Never having owned a Jazz Bass - and never wanted to own one - I tend to forget that bridge pickup is also under there. I imagine that cover was also intended to "shield" the pickup, too - and worked about as well as the other pickup's cover did...

No, it wasn't used as shielding. It did hide the string mutes that came the 60's Jazz Basses though. I remember thinking, "sure wish my Jazz (1965) had more sustain that it does." Then for the first time ever, in late 1971, I pulled that bridge pickup/bridge cover off and found that it had a strip of open-cell foam glued to the underside of it as a mute to make it sound more like a standup. I tore that crap right off of there and scrubbed the adhesive off too. I put it back in place and suddenly my '65 Jazz actually had some sustain!

Fender used at least three different types of string muting on those early Jazz basses. I don't have those chrome covers on my '82 Jazz that I bought in 1985 and wouldn't put them on it. They just get in the way and limit the locations I can pluck on the strings. I can get a huge difference in the brightness or darkness of the sound coming out of my Jazz just by moving my plucking hand. Those covers limit that.

 

[vvvmmm]

LOL! I have to tell of an experience I had in 1972 i ...

I may have posted this before:


Off Broadway USA – Bully Bully Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

I am convinced that they were, from the beginning, strictly cosmetic.

I have seen this question asked again and again (nothing wrong with that), but I have yet to read primary accounts or sources which cite "shielding", "tone enhancement", or any other sonic purpose. That does not mean said resources are not out there, only that I have not found them or seen them referred to.

Consider the era in which the Precision was being developed, cars and nearly everything else were chromed and aesthetics were important. I would propose (as others have pointed out), Leo thought the bridge assembly and pickups to be more visually pleasing. Akin to the now ubiquitous shrouds on modern automobile engines.

In short, @Killing Floor is correct. They look wicked cool.