Guiterry Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Hey everyone. I was wondering if anyone knows of a project or thread that covers the construction of (or information on where I can get) wooden pickup covers. These are largely found on high end bass guitars. I did a search and found threads on how to make the rings, but not the actual cover itself. I'm in the process of making a custom 6 string bass and wanted to add that kind of high end touch if possible. Thanks in advance everyone..javascript:emoticon('') javascript:emoticon('') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 As a project or a thread on the subject you can look at my webpage. The one listed at the bottom of this post. You'll find all the details of the build of the bass and pictures of the wooden cover but no pics of the building of the cover itself. There's nothing extremely challenging there. I took a leftover piece of my body and shaped it to fit in the rout. My cover is 4mm thick (about 5/32") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 I didn't see any pickup covers there. Are you talking about your electronics cavity cover? I'd also like more info on this. I don't think it'd be very difficult, but the only ways I can think of involve more than one piece of wood, or high speed routers on very small pieces of wood (I don't want to lose a finger thanks, my thumb isn't even finished healing from "The Tablesaw Affair") . By the way, that's a very nice bass Phil. Is that your first build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Check out the link in this thread. He has flamed maple, rosewood & ebony humbucker pup rings, not sure what he has for a bass but since he's a member here, maybe you can send him a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Oops! I misread here, I thought he meant electronics cover and not pickup. Well, anyway I will build a pickup cover in wood anyway. The bass was finished this week I only need to build the pickup and its cover and the preamp now. I'll take some pics of the building of the cover if you want to check back again within 4 to 7 days. Devon, that is my first build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 Check out the link in this thread. He has flamed maple, rosewood & ebony humbucker pup rings, not sure what he has for a bass but since he's a member here, maybe you can send him a PM. I've seen the wooden rings, I've even made a few. What we're talking about is the cover that goes over the pickup. Will do Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 unless you want to mess around with veneering the pickup it's self, or trying to glue together an incredibly fragile box made of veneer then the easiest option is to rout. this would be the most practical and safest way i can think. get a scrap peice of wood that's more then big enough, measure the outside of the pickup for depth, and exact measurements. now using 4 peices of wood or something as your template guide's double stick those onto the wood as your template to make the box, then route at appropriate depth (probably take you a couple of passe's) now make sure the pickup fits in there snug, but not to tightly... ok, so you should have a fairly big peice of wood that was easy to clamp while routing, that now has a route in it, (no a hole that goes all the way thru) measure out another box 2mm or so bigger then the route, and cut just outside that line on your band saw/scroll saw, then sand to final shape, being sure to measure carefully every 10 or 20 seconds of sanding to make sure you don't sand those walls down too thin... hope that was clear... unless of course you have a cnc machine then just press the green button Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 (edited) Jon Bell who is on the board occasionally sells pups with a vaneer over the top of the bobbin. Hold on I'll find the link http://www.swinesheadpickups.com <--- Not boxed in but they look tasty Edited December 23, 2004 by Hotrock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 I'm pretty sure David Myka had some on his guitars. I know some people have certain secrets they don't want to give away, but he probably knows what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 (edited) Well it took me more than 4 to 7 days (20 to be exact) but i've got the pictures I promised. They've been done exactly like Krazy Derek mentioned, I don't see many other ways of doing it... I used a big piece of Olive tree I got on my last trip to the south of France a couple of months ago. I first marked the lines for the outside and the inside of the pup cover and cut out the inside very carefully. After that I measured the height of the part of the pickup's pole pieces that come out of the bobbin. I then routed this inside the pickup cover to allow the pickup to lie completely flat inside the cover. I then cut out the cover with a hacksaw and sanded the cover down to shape with my portable beltsander. I clamped my belt sander on the workbench and shaped the cover by moving it with my hands. I left 1.5 mm of wood at the thinnest part of the cover, right on top of the pole pieces. I also covered the cover with epoxy to strenghten it and give it a nice shine The End. Hope you liked my story P.S. No, I didn't pay 100$ for crappy pickups like that, I made them. Edited December 28, 2004 by Phil Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Beautiful result, phil!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 I was worried after that first picture, but they turned out very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 (edited) wow looks great! looks like i'm going to be doing cocobolo pickup covers to go with the cocobolo top I think the ones like hotrock posted (to where you can still see that it's a humbucker) look really cool Edited December 28, 2004 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted December 28, 2004 Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 (edited) I was worried after that first picture, but they turned out very well I know what you mean I got too lazy to make templates so I routed everything freehand. It does look pretty crappy when you look at it from the inside. Edited December 28, 2004 by Phil Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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