Covered vs. uncovered pickups in CT Atom

[schofnsteen]

How would you describe the tonal characteristics between the 2? Is it more esthetics or does it play a significant role in acheiving a Les Paulish sound?

[Mister T]

When I get a Les Paul I take the covers off.

They are NOT a critical part of the Les Paul sound IMO. I find the dull things up a little bit.

[tom]

all things are never equal. our covered humbucker are made differently than all our other humbuckers, so we factored in what the covers do in their design. if you like what our higher powered humbuckers do, get them. les pauls definitely have a more limited bandwidth of freq response, our covered humbuckers do that. when we used to offer covers on our regular humbuckers, there was a pretty dramatic difference in tone to my ears. i used to always take the covers off gibson humbuckers.

[schofnsteen]

If my eyes were closed and each were played, would I hear a SIGNIFICANT difference?

[Mister T]

That is hard to say...depends on your ears. For me the diffs are like night and day.

It is easy to take covers off and the put them back on so (if you have a guitar with covered humbuckers) give it a shot. I have friends that like the sound of humbuckers when they are covered.

[tom]

i think often times there are things we feel as the player that people listening would never detect. the high end that comes off the pick when we slightly scrape the string as we play, how fast the note jumps off, how it blooms when all is exactly right. i'd say covers are more noticeable than than some.

[schofnsteen]

Can the covers be easily removed?

[mbrown3]

Can the covers be easily removed?

See two posts above yours...

[tom]

they would be a waxy mess, but they could be removed. they would look prettier if they were made without covers.

[DrPartagas]

Tom:

I am finalizing an order but have a question that you and anyone can chime in on.

I love the uncovered humbucker look aesthetically. The music I play will be with friends in a more closed environment playing diverse types of music.

I know the sound is somewhat different whether covered or uncovered.

I'm learning to play, taking lessons,.... Should I order uncovered humbuckers or not? I need a little perspective from an expert builder and sea:eek: soned players.

Thanks
Pete

[tom]

(copied from another post).
that's a tough question. of course they look different and the allure of the cover is strong. the uncovered pickup is a bit more open sounding with a bit more high top end. if you were leaning towards more delicate sounds, i'd leave the covers off. if you're rocking and want the most cut through possible, the covers stay. an added note. the covers on a ct feel soooo good on your picking hand, no edges or ring to feel.

[dannopelli]

Here's a thought:

How many Jazz Boxes have you seen with uncovered PUPS?

So, if you tend to like warm round tones, with a less agressive top end, consider covered.

Excellent point about the feel of covered too.

[tom]

we've had people ask for rings on the ct, but if you'd have felt the whole recessed bridge with covers you'd understand why we don't want them. sometimes i just sit and rub my palm around in that area, feels real nice.

[mdrs]

My Atom CT has the covered buckers. As Tom has mentioned before, these pu's are made to accomodate the tonal effect that the cover will have on them.

My CT sounds Les Paul-ish, but is cleaner, clearer, and a bit more trebly, to my ears.

My impression is that the Atom CT's covered pu's do not exhibit the slight "muddying" or loss of highs that other covered pu's display.