# Painting a plastic pickup cover



## astm (May 4, 2011)

I want to put a true velvet in my RG1570 in blue, but the problem is that dimarzio does not offer a pickup cover in blue for the true velvet (they say that their other pickup covers won't fit at all)

Will it be okay if I paint a pickup cover in blue by my self with spray and then sealing it with lacquer?

Thanks!


----------



## espman (May 4, 2011)

Do you mean the bobbin?


----------



## astm (May 4, 2011)

espman said:


> Do you mean the bobbin?


No, just the plastic cover

I'm not THAT dumb


----------



## espman (May 5, 2011)

astm said:


> No, just the plastic cover
> 
> I'm not THAT dumb


 
That is the bobbin 
You can get whatever color you wish here - Bobbin Toppers


----------



## Customisbetter (May 5, 2011)

^Thats traditionally called a cover. There is a still a bobbin beneath the cover that either made of cardboard or plastic and is almost always black.


----------



## espman (May 5, 2011)

Customisbetter said:


> ^Thats traditionally called a cover. There is a still a bobbin beneath the cover that either made of cardboard or plastic and is almost always black.


  I've always called it a bobbin, either way I (mostly) know what the OP is looking for.


----------



## astm (May 5, 2011)

So well... It should be ok if I paint the cover? (and not the magnets)


----------



## espman (May 5, 2011)

astm said:


> So well... It should be ok if I paint the cover? (and not the magnets)


 As long as you're very careful not to get any paint on the polepieces or magnets, then yes


----------



## astm (May 5, 2011)

espman said:


> As long as you're very careful not to get any paint on the polepieces or magnets, then yes



Great! I'll buy some replacement covers and paint them.


----------



## theo (May 5, 2011)

I don't think a thin layer of paint will change how the pickups sound, even if you were to paint the pole pieces.


----------



## xRiCoRex (May 5, 2011)

What is the method to remove a cover and change by other ?


----------



## Michel Terres (May 5, 2011)

xRiCoRex said:


> What is the method to remove a cover and change by other ?



you must take out the coil from inside the cover, and, that can be tricky, cheap pickups are glue all over, I never could take out the coil without destroying it, if you're going to try this on a cheap one, it's better to give up, on regular pickups the coil is not glued inside the cover, you'll just have to take out that black plate on the bottom of the pickup, it should be glued, you have to force it a little, the coil should be loose inside, take it out very carefully so the copper wire wont break.

EDIT: whatever you do, DON'T REMOVE THE WAX from the pickup coil, or the microphony will rape your ears when you start playing


----------



## Lukifer (May 5, 2011)

Would this be different for a humbucker, say a stock RG7421 pickup??? Ive also wanted to paint my pup covers and didnt know if it was a good idea or not.


----------



## Michel Terres (May 6, 2011)

Lukifer said:


> Would this be different for a humbucker, say a stock RG7421 pickup??? Ive also wanted to paint my pup covers and didnt know if it was a good idea or not.



it will depend on the humbucker, if it is like this one:






the copper is winded directly on the cover, than you can't take the cover off without damaging the pickup, but if it is like this other one:






there must be two coils inside, than you can remove it like I said on my last post.


----------



## Lukifer (May 6, 2011)

My stickers are like a duncan, with open coils not the emg style. so I would have to tape it off which would be a pain in the ass. I wonder if a touch up pen for cars would work?


----------



## Michel Terres (May 6, 2011)

Lukifer said:


> My stickers are like a duncan, with open coils not the emg style. so I would have to tape it off which would be a pain in the ass. I wonder if a touch up pen for cars would work?



It'll work, but your pickup will look horrible after this, I don't recomend painting it if it's like a duncan.


----------



## Lukifer (May 6, 2011)

I was guessing it would look like Crap. Never know unless u ask though!!


----------



## Michel Terres (May 6, 2011)

Lukifer said:


> I was guessing it would look like Crap. Never know unless u ask though!!



I had tried to paint a white pickup with one of these pens, it surely look like crap now hahaha


----------



## Dead Undead (May 7, 2011)

espman said:


> I've always called it a bobbin, either way I (mostly) know what the OP is looking for.


That's not holding the pole pieces in place, and is therefore not a bobbin. It's just a cover.


Michel Terres said:


> it will depend on the humbucker, if it is like this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's not a cover on the Duncan, and the copper is wound around a plastic pert of the bobbin that holds the pole pieces. Find a cheap (like Ibanez GIO cheap) humbucker one day and take it apart, see how it's put together. Anyway, that's an uncovered humbucker, showing the bobbins and slugs, which would not be showing were it covered. I would just get some bobbin toppers if you have an uncovered humbucker.
Those covered Jackson pickups though, I'm sure you can paint all over that thing without any problem. I saw someone paint over their EMG covers that way.


----------



## Michel Terres (May 7, 2011)

Dead Undead said:


> That's not a cover on the Duncan, and the copper is wound around a plastic pert of the bobbin that holds the pole pieces



I'm sorry, I didn't explained it well, I referred to the core of the bobbin as a cover, but it's not a cover, you're right.


----------

