Overview

Our very own German Silver/Nickel humbucker covers, plated to the very highest standard.

Tonally, Humbucker covers are seen as a little bit of a mystery when it comes to pickups.

In comparison to single coils, where you€™ve (almost) always got a plastic cover, or a Tele neck, where you€™ve usually got a brass cover, humbuckers come in a range of styles, and with a range of materials used in their construction, and it€™s well worth taking into consideration the impact these will have on the overall tone of the pickup.

German silver (sometimes called Nickel (not to be confused with the plating)) is most often seen on very high spec Humbuckers, where the addition of a cover is intended to alter the final tone as little as possible. The properties of Nickel make it one of the best materials to achieve this.

Basically, if you€™re happy with the tone of your pickup, but you want the covered look, German silver represents the best option.

Unfortunately, it€™s not as commonly used as brass, and it€™s slightly more expensive to produce due to the difficulties in plating, but it really is the safe option when it comes to tone.

We try to offer as many different finishes as we can with our covers, and there€™s a little bit of confusion with some of the naming conventions used within the industry, so if you€™re in any doubt about which colour you need, just have a look below.

Gold

Pretty self-explanatory really €“ not actually the mineral gold, but just the same colour. You€™ll see if range from a dark orange to a light yellowy tint, our gold is pretty much in the middle of that range.

Black

Black isn€™t as common as you€™d imagine to be honest, but we carry it for completeness sake (and it looks pretty cool too!) €“ we actually carry our covers in a non-reflective gloss black, but it can be €œmatted€ with a little bit of work with some fine sand paper.

Chrome

Chrome is where things get interesting! Basically, Chrome is what most of us call any silver part on a guitar, and that€™s all well and good until you come to change something and it doesn€™t quite match up.

The problem here is that Chrome, Nickel, and Black Nickel (sometimes called Gun Metal or €œCosmo€ if your into your Ibanez®) plating, as well as un-plated (or Raw) nickel, all look very similar.

As a very rough guide, Chrome can be identified because it has a slightly blue sheen to its silver finish, it will almost certainly be electroplated onto a copper back coat too.

Nickel (plating)

Nickel is the number one offender from being confused with Chrome €“ the tell-tale sign for most people is that Nickel will always have a slightly yellowish tint to its silver.

Be aware too, that when most people say a finish is Nickel, they€™re referring to a smooth mirrored finish that has been electroplated to a cover, and not to the construction of the humbuckers cover, and as such, as with Chrome, it will have a copper undercoat to ensure the best possible finish, even when you€™ve got a Nickel finish on a Nickel cover, as in this case.

Black Nickel

It€™s not often people get this one confused with Chrome, but it does happen (as well as mixing it up with Black) €“ Black Nickel is a high gloss, reflective, dark grey shade. Not very common again, occasionally turns up on Super Strats® from the far east, and even then, not often as a Humbucker cover.

Raw (No Plating)

A €œRaw€ humbuckers cover is the correct term used to reference a pickup cover that has no electroplating to influence its colour.

Some people actually prefer a truly unfinished cover because they worry that the copper and electroplating will impact the tone, and as such, pure nickel is a must.

Where raw covers actually come into their own, is in the way which they age. Similar in shade to a Nickel plated cover, the German silver (to avoid confusion here) is slightly softer, and will show its age much more readily, as well as more organically, then any plated cover.

Please note, with Raw covers, they€™ll normally show some light tooling marks and scratches, these can be buffed out to a high shine with a little work.