# Brushed Pickup Covers - A How-To



## sehnomatic (Sep 17, 2014)

I've been asked on a few occassions on how to "brush" pickups covers or how to get a brushed aluminum/nickel look. There have also been high number of people who've attempted it only to find out that they've just ruined a pickup.

I'm surprised that no one has posted a how-to on this topic anywhere, so I decided to write this up for you guys.

*Some Knowledge*

First of all, this is probably not what you want, but this is what a lot of people are getting:







A couple rubs and it looks great right? Once you start getting into it, you find that you're getting copper underneath that chrome!

Metal guitar pickup covers are made out of nickel, but in order to plate them with chrome or gold, something more conductive must be laid on to act as a substrate; copper. Therefore:

You cannot achieve a brushed look on conventional chrome or gold plated pickup covers
Only pure or "unplated" nickel covers can be brushed.

*Testing*

Lets say you've got some beaters or your pickups are labelled "nickel" which could imply nickel plating. Simply use sandpaper or a file to scrape at the bottom of the pickup cover and see if you find any copper.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule such as EMG's new brushed pickups.

*The Process*

*Setup and Preparation*










It's not recommended to do this entirely by hand. You'll want to use a flat surface to work your pickup or cover back and forth on to get straight texture.

Make sure you've driven your bolts back with the included allen key so they don't protrude above the cover.

Scotch brite, or 220-400 grit sandpaper can be used depending on how coarse you want your texture to be.
If you want to use sandpaper, put it on top of your scotch brite or a foam sheet because pickup covers, more often than not, aren't perfectly flat and you need a substrate to help form the abrasive of choice to the pickup surface.

It's recommended that you start with a high grit and move down the grades to reach you target appearance because it's harder to move up grits than down, especially on metal. 

*The Technique*

The coveted technique, hidden from the public for decades. Very few master it, and most spend their entire life practicing to be able to perform the forsaken art:

Run the pickup along the guide block.

*The Result*










I am going to try a coarser abrasive, maybe 320 to see how it looks

Thanks for checking out the thread guys, feel free to post a better method, your glorious pickups, and/or the pickups you've butchered.


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## FIXXXER (Sep 17, 2014)

NICE!


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## Purelojik (Sep 18, 2014)

Also a dremel with a wire brush is great. I used it on my raw nickel covers from dimarzio and my unplated bridge from Hipshot.


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## Kammo1 (Sep 18, 2014)

As always simple is best  Thanks for the great tip


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## metaldoggie (Sep 18, 2014)

Do you finish them with anything?
Depending on the metal used, the finished surface may have been coated and now the covers may oxidize over time.
They look killer though!


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## sehnomatic (Sep 18, 2014)

metaldoggie said:


> Do you finish them with anything?
> Depending on the metal used, the finished surface may have been coated and now the covers may oxidize over time.
> They look killer though!



To my knowledge, and that of dimarzio, seymour duncan, and bare knuckle's tech lines, 90% of pickup covers are just nickel-silver without any coating, pure nickel covers of the 60-80s would be more reactive. Since the covers become a bit abrasive and nickel-silver being inherently soft, I'd worry about scratching them. I've coated them with a light wax to prevent abrasion.


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