Mod: EMG Covers for Passive Pickups
- Thread starter loktide
- Start date
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lateralus819
Mr. legacy
Would this work with regular routes? I have some BKPS in my carvin and id love to do this.
No, they won't fit. The corners of the cover go farther than a standard route.
sevenstringj
Banned
Just a thought: Could you apply shielding to the inside of that cover and ground it? Wouldn't that provide better shielding than the bridge/strings method? I'm guessing you'd also cover it with tape so it doesn't contact the pole pieces?
JordanLee
Star-stuff
I REALLY want to do this with my cold sweats and 2228 that are coming next week.
Quick question to the OP and others equally knowledgable: was there any resolve to DPM's comment about the casing keeping the pups too far from the strings? Is this a significant problem? Obviously, I'd rather have great sounding pups and have them looks messy, than shitty sounding clean ones... But if I can do BOTH! (shakes head in disbelief)
OP: what are your thoughts? Are you getting good tone (more specifically, the tone you want) with the casings on? Is there enough room to get the
close enough? If not, can you order a thinner casing?
Thanks!
Quick question to the OP and others equally knowledgable: was there any resolve to DPM's comment about the casing keeping the pups too far from the strings? Is this a significant problem? Obviously, I'd rather have great sounding pups and have them looks messy, than shitty sounding clean ones... But if I can do BOTH! (shakes head in disbelief)
OP: what are your thoughts? Are you getting good tone (more specifically, the tone you want) with the casings on? Is there enough room to get the
close enough? If not, can you order a thinner casing?
Thanks!
it really depends on the magnetic field strength of your pickups, if you've got a big ceramic magnet and efficient polepieces it may not effect things too much.
JordanLee
Star-stuff
Spondus
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure it won't have any effect on tone. The magnetic permeability of plastic is very high (as in the magnetic field between plastic and a paramagnet is too small to be felt) and only active pickups need to be placed very close to the strings due to the fact they use weaker magnets and are actively amplified.
Given that the cases are probably only about 1mm thick, you'd just have to bring the pickups about 1mm close the usual so that the poles of the pickup are at the same distance with respect to the strings with the cover both on and off.
Given that the cases are probably only about 1mm thick, you'd just have to bring the pickups about 1mm close the usual so that the poles of the pickup are at the same distance with respect to the strings with the cover both on and off.
JordanLee
Star-stuff
Well, I think I'll give it a shot. The other option is to get pickup rings... Anyone know where one could get some for 8 string BKPs?
These ones are 2mm thick on top. So let's say that I like the tone and output of my bridge pickup with the poles 1.5mm from the treble E (measured when fretted at the last fret), if we place the same pickup with the cover at 0.5mm from the string (ie. really, really close) that pickup's poles will then be 2.5mm from the treble E. Keep in mind this is when fretted at the last fret so when you're playing down the other end of the neck the pickup will be even further away from the strings, plus generally you'd want the bass side lower compared to the treble for balance so that side of the pickup is further away again... anyways, I tried it with these covers before this thread existed and didn't like the effect, then I set up a jig to machine the inside of the covers to 1mm thick and tonally things worked better but it's a total pain in the ass and the heat from machining can sometimes damage the cover so I stopped doing that too. Like I said, it depends on where you like your pickup relative to the strings and how powerful the magnetic field is.
Would a hotter pickup, counter this?
say using BKP's for example, I want the sound of a black dog, but I buy a hotter pup (Miracle man or something like that) and have the cover on it, would this at least in part work?
n00b question i know but im not to hot on magnetic field dynamics
say using BKP's for example, I want the sound of a black dog, but I buy a hotter pup (Miracle man or something like that) and have the cover on it, would this at least in part work?
n00b question i know but im not to hot on magnetic field dynamics
well, it depends on what is making the pickup 'hot'. There are 3 basic ways to increase output, by increasing the number of turns of wire on the coil, increasing the amount of iron in the coil (ie. bigger polepieces), and a larger, more powerful magnet. A hot pickup might have any combination of those factors but the magnet properties and polepiece size are the 2 that will effect the magnetic field out of the top of the pickup.
La Lettre B
Member
The photobucket links are dead
Is there a way to re-upload the images?
I'm about to do this conversion and it would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Is there a way to re-upload the images?
I'm about to do this conversion and it would be appreciated.
Thanks!
first off, major props to Mesh (djpharaoah) for finding a place where you can order EMG-style bass pickup plastic covers to retrofit an EMG808 (www.guitarjonesusa.com)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
so, here's how the covers look like. pretty much exact the same dimensions as the EMG808s (EMG40 housing), but hollow (duh?). the pickups that are going into these are a set of BKP Coldsweats
since the pickup's baseplate is too thick to fit directly into the covers, i ended up sawing off the lower 5mm of the housing to get a tight fit:
here's the result:
cheers
fixd
La Lettre B
Member
I have a question for you.
Is it still possible to properly adjust the height of the pickup with those covers?
Is it still possible to properly adjust the height of the pickup with those covers?
EBEADGBE
New Member
^^^Such good news...the aesthetics was probably the only reason I was debating getting new 8 string pups. Now its a must have.
SplinteredSoul
7 String FTW
You sir (loktide) are my saviour. I too am going to Bare Knuckle 8's, and have been tearing my hair out over pickup rings, and expensive custom covers etc., You just made my life a whole lot easier and I thank you!
Incidentally, since you went from active EMG's to Passive BKP's, how much wiring work did it end up being? Tim at BKP says I'll have to run an earth to the bridge now, which'll be a pain since I have a hipshot hardtail and no trem cavity! Did you have to change the pots too?
Incidentally, since you went from active EMG's to Passive BKP's, how much wiring work did it end up being? Tim at BKP says I'll have to run an earth to the bridge now, which'll be a pain since I have a hipshot hardtail and no trem cavity! Did you have to change the pots too?
