oldslapper Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Having read a few threads here which mention pick up and bridge covers, it would appear that there’s a lot of peeps that hate them. Lots of “first thing I do is take em off”, “stoopid things get in the way”, “pointless nonsense”, etc. I have to shamefully admit to being a fan, I loves em I does, especially on a P. I play guitar sometimes, which may explain my somewhat watered down attitude towards all things bass. My question is then, where have all these discarded covers gone? Is there a European “chrome cover” mountain somewhere? Have they all been melted down and turned into suits of armour? I’ve been after a set for my PJ for ages, but can’t find a used set anywhere. So suggestions below please: Where have all the covers gone? 🤯 Slappy. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Mine have been sitting safely in my sock drawer for the last 50 years. Since the day I bought my P bass in March 1969. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkPonyPrincess Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 It limits the different places you can play, you cannot get that crunch and percussive thwack of playing directly over the pickup you are forced to play in the safety zone. Playing right up to the bridge is not possible, in all it’s more restrictive than it is beneficial so I never have them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) About two years ago I was going through some old boxes and found an Ashtray cover for an old 1974 Hagstrom, Jazz Bass (Fretless). The Bass is long gone, sold in the mid 90's sometime. After discussing this with friend of mine from the States, he said he knew of someone looking for the same Hagstrom cover for his 70's Jazz Bass. I agreed that the guy could contact me if he wanted. He did and offered me £75 plus the postage to Canada, paid into my Paypal account - Which I accepted. Maybe just a case of right time, right place, I suppose. After all, it was just a piece of junk tin as far as I was concerned. Edited August 28, 2019 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I'm guessing most were simply binned. I think they look cool, as I'm into vintage, but as others have said, a real pain to play around. A neat trick (if anyone is interested) if you want to "age" chrome parts, which I've used on new parts as well, is to rub the chrome lightly with a scourer pad (with a tiny bit of WD40) to remove the very thin layer of chrome, to reveal the duller metal beneath. Then put the now de-chromed parts in a smallish box part full of nails and screws (rusty screws are best) and shake vigorously, the more you do it, the more little nicks and marks are made on the parts which genuinely looks like they have been bashed about for a number of years. The longer you shake the box, the more "aged" the parts look. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) My fretless Sire V7 came with an ashtray. It's in a drawer somewhere. I might have at least given it a go if the bass had come with the corresponding pre drilled holes required to fit it but it didn't and I'm not going to drill the holes myself or faff around with double sided tape for an aesthetic feature that I'm almost certainly going to decide is just a hindrance to my normal playing style. Edited August 28, 2019 by Cato 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I ask similar a similar question regarding the public place smoking ban.....there MUST be a UK ashtray mountain somewhere 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobthedog Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 My P has the bridge cover but no pickup cover. For my playing “style” it just gets in the way. The bass still looks sort of vintage (despite being 2011) but is now, for me, playable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 somewhere I have the pickup cover for my Ricky 4001 Pointless bit of hardware, but I'll hang on to it forever more, should I ever want to part with the bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 The bridge cover comes in handy as an armoured codpiece for those rougher gigs... 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Pre-Internet and I ordered some for my Fenders back in the 90s. I sent off a postal order to the USA and everything. I was a fierce defender of them and proudly flew the flag against anyone who dared suggest they got in the way. I kept them on for over 20 years. I came up with a whole list of excuses as to how you could adapt your style to fit around them... then in a rare light bulb moment about three years ago, I suddenly realised that they did, um, get in the way. They are sat in a bag of spares right now. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Obvious answer is to have enough basses that some have them and some don't. I like them because the increase the differences in how my basses feel and the point of having a small collection is that each one makes you play differently. Plus they do look the dogs on a bass with a sunburst and tort scratchplate. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 I could direct some of you to the wanted section..... but that might be illegal... so I won’t. 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 Funny thing is I feel very different with thumb rests/tug bars. They come off straight away. 😆 I’ve got a few somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) They're not called ash trays for nothing. Back in the good old early 70s, people playing Fender type basses rarely if ever had the ash trays fitted (rather like cars and hub caps in the same era - they just got in the way). The bridge ones, when upturned, found ideal usage as ash trays - preferably the Jazz version as they're larger - suddenly, the bass player became everyone's studio friend with the ash tray (in those days most musicians also smoked) - most especially those with a Jazz one. Different times, and of course all those improved basses from the early 70s onwards didn't have them - even Fender deleted them (eventually 🙄 ) as a pointless anachronism!! How times change - suddenly everyone wants to use vintage equipment with the ash trays fitted (I love the look of Fender J and P basses with them fitted) - I tried a US vintage Jazz (LPB) and Precision (Sonic blue) and the abiding memory of the covers seriously getting the way of playing remains to this day!! I have mine, seriously cigarette burned on the inside, somewhere. Edited August 28, 2019 by drTStingray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I owned a fender Marcus Miller in about 2000-2010, and I got used to the pickup cover being on. Never use the bridge ones on a jazz though - too big. Did have a very nice P with mutes in the cover. Looked brilliant. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Just about to add a bridge one to a homemade P and a homemade jazz which I am routing for different pick ups will have a bridge and a neck to help cover dodgy work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 I have always played where the strings are exposed (between both covers) so they’ve never got in the way for me. Horses for courses of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, oldslapper said: Lots of “first thing I do is take em off”, “stoopid things get in the way”, “pointless nonsense”, etc. Totally agree with this along with "unnecessary addition of extra weight.." Maybe you'll find a load behind all the sets of secondhand golf clubs which we all own... Edited August 28, 2019 by TheGreek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Blimey, once you start looking they turn up in all sorts of places! 3 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Quite literally a pup cover 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 37 minutes ago, oldslapper said: Quite literally a pup cover Brilliant 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I think the original Fender Pick up covers were supposed to block interference from electric lights or summat. The bridge ones acted as mutes or dampeners. I craved after a pair to put on my sunburst/tort P Bass, but rapidly took them off as they did indeed get in the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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