Post by blademaster2 on Feb 4, 2018 16:48:59 GMT -5
Just to complete part of my recent experiment, I just performed an A/B comparison with my recently-installed Seymour Duncan SSL-1 in the neck position with and without a metal cover. I wanted to see if I could hear any difference myself between having no metal cover (actually, no cover at all) versus installing a StewMac metal cover. I have read various posts indicating why there is a difference in inductance due to eddy currents in the non-ferrous metal, and that high frequencies are lost due to this, and if this difference is audible or not. The cover is not magnetically attracted to the magnets, but it is electrically conductive of course.
I do accept the presence of eddy currents as a theoretical phenomenon (studied this in university), but it has not been an easy model for me to create intuitively in my mind that this would reduce inductance and/or influence the high frequency response of the pickup audibly.
To be as controlled as I could, I took the cover and sliced it along the sides to make it shorter (around 1/3 height), drilled hopes in it for the SSL-1 pole pieces to fit through (it came with no holes), and I was then able to keep the strings tuned, slip the cover in place within a minute or so, and compare the difference where the strings, amplifier, and my own hearing would be a close to identical for the with-without comparison. I am willing to concede that the shorter walls might be a partial factor, but only to lessen the difference if I was to hear any difference at all.
My observation is that there *is* indeed a very subtle loss of the crisp highs that I could hear before installing it and after removing it. With this cover it lost a little of its 'presence' - still sounds great to me, however (but still bears no resemblance to a Stratocaster). This might be a huge 'duh' to others, but to me it is an interesting result as I always rely on what I can hear before I will accept any broad claims or even instrumented lab results.
So this is unfortunate, since the look of this guitar will need to change when I proceed to acquire a plastic cover, probably in black (I cannot leave it uncovered because it has a humbucker-sized hand-routed hole and a humbucker mounting ring holding this Strat pup and I am not liking that look).
I do accept the presence of eddy currents as a theoretical phenomenon (studied this in university), but it has not been an easy model for me to create intuitively in my mind that this would reduce inductance and/or influence the high frequency response of the pickup audibly.
To be as controlled as I could, I took the cover and sliced it along the sides to make it shorter (around 1/3 height), drilled hopes in it for the SSL-1 pole pieces to fit through (it came with no holes), and I was then able to keep the strings tuned, slip the cover in place within a minute or so, and compare the difference where the strings, amplifier, and my own hearing would be a close to identical for the with-without comparison. I am willing to concede that the shorter walls might be a partial factor, but only to lessen the difference if I was to hear any difference at all.
My observation is that there *is* indeed a very subtle loss of the crisp highs that I could hear before installing it and after removing it. With this cover it lost a little of its 'presence' - still sounds great to me, however (but still bears no resemblance to a Stratocaster). This might be a huge 'duh' to others, but to me it is an interesting result as I always rely on what I can hear before I will accept any broad claims or even instrumented lab results.
So this is unfortunate, since the look of this guitar will need to change when I proceed to acquire a plastic cover, probably in black (I cannot leave it uncovered because it has a humbucker-sized hand-routed hole and a humbucker mounting ring holding this Strat pup and I am not liking that look).