Guitar Jones Covers?

[NightWinder]

I just got done sanding a Chrome cover from gj. This is bunk....The material is nearly all brite copper looking. I have recieved covers from them in the past, with a small coating of some bronse stuff. I assume it is used to help the chrome stick, but after further sanding with a belt, truth be told they seem to be Brass covers. I wondering if the Nickle, and Gold covers are brass. Anyone know for sure what material he is selling under NIckle/Silver?

[David Schwab]

I'm really wondering if it makes any difference at all, and if it does, why? Brass is copper and zinc. Nickel silver is copper and zinc (brass) with nickel added. Nothing in brass is magnetic, but nickel is.

Regarding plating.. you will usually find a thin layer of copper between the finish metal and the base metal.

[soundmasterg]

Well I don't know the particulars of the different metals, but I can tell you the brass covers and baseplates in my Epiphone Dot's humbuckers really sucked the tone down the drain. I put in some Duncan pickups with nickel silver baseplates and they sound WAAAYYYYY better. Any pickup that I've ever heard with brass covers and/or brass baseplates sounds pretty neutered to my ears. I don't like them......

[Zhangliqun]

In my experience, their 50mm covers are very transparent and I recommend them but the 49.2mm covers do affect the tone negatively.

Their Tele rhythm covers are very good too -- negligible effect on the tone.

[David Schwab]

Well I don't know the particulars of the different metals, but I can tell you the brass covers and baseplates in my Epiphone Dot's humbuckers really sucked the tone down the drain. I put in some Duncan pickups with nickel silver baseplates and they sound WAAAYYYYY better. Any pickup that I've ever heard with brass covers and/or brass baseplates sounds pretty neutered to my ears. I don't like them......

Duncans sound good in general. The test would be to switch the base plates on the Duncans for the Epi's and see what happens. I think the Epi pickups are just poor sounding... brass or not.

I had an Epi Sheridan II in my shop once.. the pickups were awful. Very dull sounding. I even took the covers off. The owner had me put Duncans in and change the hardware. Sounded like a new guitar!

I have some brass base plates and nickel silver... when I get a chance I'll take a humbucker and record it with each base plate and compare... I'll post the clips here. I'll even do one with with either no base plate or a plastic base.

[Possum]

don't get chrome covers....

I don't know about GJ's chrome covers, you DON'T want chrome, you want nickel plated covers. I think cover makers use chrome when they make brass covers, brass sucks up the highs way more. Chrome is so artificial looking it doesn't age. You can test if its chrome by getting some jewelry antiquing liquid that turns silver black, it will turn nickel black, chrome it won't even do anything to.