Me too. For some reason I’ve always preferred guitars with pup covers whether modern or vintage. I can live with the tonal difference, cos I’m rubbish anyway 😂
@@rodennis418 i bought a 57 idk how long ago, its been wet, dropped, beat, slaammed, you name it. Still works as if it were just takenm out of the box. I need a new one cause its just beat up, but not cause its no longer works. So technically, ide need a new one i guess, just want one
I noticed enough difference to know I prefer the sound with the PU cover off. It sounds a little brighter, both the clean sound and the crunch had higher mids and a little more bite.
Ah, my man is back in yet another great video... One fine man to share a beer with... A force of nature... Chillest dude among the chillest... Oh, and KDH is a nice guy, too.
I've wanted to do this to my Les Paul ever since I got it in 2004, this video has made me want to get it done, always thought it looks better this way.
We removed pickup covers in the "old days" because most were not potted and the cover could create "microphonics" in which the pickup would become overly prone to feedback and at times actually act like a microphone picking up random noises around it. This is how the practice began. For a functional reason not ot look cool. I also heard some back in the day say it would increase output slightly. I never put this to test with a multimeter but by having less resistance between the magnet and strings this seems likely true.
You'd be surprised how many players gave absolutely no idea what "unpotted" pickups are. I use Gibson Burstbuckers in my epiphone LP 60s standard and they are unpotted but avoiding that microphonic feedback when using high saturation gain is very possible. I've gotten very frustrated trying to explain "unpotted" pickups quite a few times. Actually the very first video I saw on this channel really got under my skin. He bashes a guitar thru entire video because of the noise and pickup feedback. He didn't demonstrate or play anything on it, didn't show how much gain was actually on it, didn't show it on any settings except "ocean sounds" and microphonic feedback. It was as if he had never come across an unpotted pickups before, it took a long time for me to warm up to this channel after that.
It depends if you're a cover on cover off person I myself cover on. I just bought a PRS and added covers . Looks great. Sounds about the same either way on my guitar as well as the one you just demonstrated.
Glen survived, pickup survived (through pure skill) and the public hairy protuberance survived. Sounded a touch brighter without the cover to my lugs. Fun and educational in one vid - nice one you guitar nerds 😉
I've been adding covers to pickups lately mostly out of preference for the aesthetic. Sound on the ones I have done hasn't changed much at all and I am playing heavier stuff. Got a Seymour Duncan black winter I added a Raw metal cover to from Philadelphia Luthier Supply and a chrome trembucker cover to go on a Duncan Custom.
I have two of the older Epiphone Les Paul guitars. I modded all of the electronics. Overall they're pretty great guitars, even from the factory. Better than the vintage beginner guitars I'd wager.
@@hotrodjones74 Yes, I must say that the value for money is rather correct nonetheless. For me, Epiphone is the brand I need, and I love Les Pauls. I think Gibson is way too expensive for what it is; you don't really get a better guitar in the end.
I just finished taking down an absolutely massive maple tree and have some chunks i really want to get milled cuz it was beautiful and there are several pieces you could make multiple matching solid one piece tops.
Looks cool, reversible, costs nothing to do. Glen, think of it like this. Telecasters have one covered pickup, and one uncovered pickup. It's still in the spirit of 1950s guitar making 😉
Sometimes i wonder if Glenn is even a real person, but then i remembered that Glenn was the legendary song writer for the Band in the late 1790s "The TOBIE O'bias theory" and After many successful tours and centuries, it was decided that Glenn was still unsure which pick up cover was chosen.
Ah yes, the classic PAFH found in almost all Gibson products, the "Patent Applied For Hair" in the finish. I'd like to get Paul Reed Smith's take on tone hair and its importance.
Top wrap all the way!!! Looks way better uncovered, can i hear a difference? Hell no but my hearings screwed from years of drumming. Every stock geetar is a great modding platform :) n if you can wind up some purists in the process even better ;) Looks great sounds great and you 2 are bloody mint together!
I took the covers off and I love the sound (the looks too!). You should have tested the neck pickup as well, that's where it shines in my opinion. Usually the neck pickup on LPs is very muddy (at least to my liking) and taking the cover off puts some life into it.
I thought about that too. When I was younger, I never thought about protecting my fingers and hands..out of fear of hampering my guitar playing. But as I have aged, I actually think about things like that. A few years ago..I got two of my fingertips squished by a piece of industrial equipment. I got lucky and didn't suffer a Tony Iommi-like injury. But I did lose the fingernails..and couldn't play for about 2 weeks. It really sucked. Now, I think about protecting my fretting fingers.
Cover off adds a little bite to the tone , I once got a Les Paul with a sunken in handprint on the face where someone picked up the wet guitar. Still passed Gibson QC though Next modificarion you should refret it yourselves with super jumbo frets , Just make sure theres a defibrilator close for Glen !
Put a Floyd Rose special on it it's a real Floyd Rose and the ones who complain about them are the ones who actually screw them up by messing with them I had mine now 4 years and zero issues..I have 3 high end 2021 Epiphones and would never switch anything out on them all high end electronics hardware and build no reason to change anything..
Glenn, I feel for you.refinished my guitar, 7 coats of nitro laquer. It looked gorgeous, wonderful, then I saw one of my hairs with about 2 coats of finish on top.
I prefer the look of covered pickups, but I definitely noticed more bite in the uncovered pickup... it's making me have second thoughts about my current mod project
At one stage I think I was like glen, always as it was bought, never change anything! And definitely no relic! But....I think in the last few years that's really changed. On my Pacifica 612v I've swapped out the pickups to bare knuckle bootcamps, probably the guitar that has the nicest neck I've played, ibanez sz520 I've changed the pickup rings, changed the bridge as it was tarnished to hell and back, and likewise changed the tuners to surprising cheap and wonderful Gyker lockers, easily now one of my faves. Gretsch I changed the tuners as the originals really were a bit piss, now it's wonderful. My Les Paul from the early 90s, my first guitar......I've taken the scratch plate off....and that's it. Well, i had the tuners replaced to identically looking but better performing gotohs, original pickups sound wonderful and I couldn't bring myself to change
Glen is just scared you’re gonna take a razor to the pube hair in his guitar, lol. 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for shoutout to American Zeeeebras and dad jokes! 🤘🏻🇺🇸🦓👨🏻
The lore in the '70-80s was that taking the covers off gave you more power and treble; I did it to 2 LPs and noticed no difference. One of them had a zebra pickup, the others all black. Never understood Page's uncovered bridge instead of an uncovered neck, but he's Jimmy Page, so good enough. I do like top-wrapping, plus it helps prevent/postpone bridge collapse.
Page's bridge pickup died and he swapped it out on tour in Australia with a double cream , he didn't take the cover off . Then it was replaced with a double black T Top , now he uses Seymour Duncan but the neck is the original 59 paf .
A lot of folks aren't aware that covers don't shield the pickups. If the screws/slugs/pole pieces are extending out past the cover, they aren't being shielded. Soldering the cover to the pickup just grounds the cover and keeps it from picking up noise and sending it through. it doesn't interfere with signals hitting the exposed screw. The covers do magnetically connect to the pickup, though, and add a tiny bit of capacitance which cuts a little treble. Electric players started removing the covers because they felt like the increased treble response pushed more distortion. How much difference it makes is a matter of much debate. I feel like I hear the difference. For what it's worth, I like the way they look with the cover off. The covers were a purely cosmetic decision.
In theory, the pickup cover should help reduce noise due to the whole Faraday Cage thing. Especially if you also shield the cavity the pickup goes into. While you can put the cover back in, you need to pot wax the pickup again, so it may not be for everyone.
Looks good either way … no cover bridge does look more Page/RnR, tho’ … and definitely hotter/brighter without the cover (assuming the height was constant). Noice.
Okay, so this kind of adds to a testing video I did a while back. I was testing single coils vs coil-split humbuckers to see if there was any real difference, as some people claim there is. What I found is that no, there isn't really a difference, but one of the pickups had a chrome cover while the others were uncovered. It lacked a little bit of treble in comparison, and suggested that it could be the cover causing the roll-off. In this video, I do hear that the uncovered pickup is a little brighter than it was with the cover on. Does this matter to me? Absolutely not, I couldn't give a damn about that. I like the look of covered pickups, and in real-life scenarios like in full mixes, you can't tell a difference. And that's where a lot of gear tests seem to end up. Does it make a difference? Sure, probably. Does that difference actually matter? To me, not at all. 🤷
btw from my own extensive testing the uncovered pickup vs covered pickups sound different, without the cover its more bright and raw, with the cover it sounds smooth, rounded in frequency and a tiny bit less harsh. you can also adjust the flathead screws on the pickups for more further tonal shifts. glenn needs to be himself more, the cheetah print shirt suits the hairdo..
Kahler it and load it with amazon humbuckers next
Might scallop the fretboard while I’m there
Drill a cavity for a third pickup and put a dummy switch in it
@@KDHTry it 🤣
Grab a hand drill and make it a semi hollow. From the back, of course. You don't want to ruin the hairy finish
@@KDH Stainless steel refret?
Glen seems like the type of player who never adjusts anything on his guitars out of fear of breaking them lol
@@Slamthulhu Glenn is pretty much my spirit animal in that regard.
I'm a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type of guy
glen needs to be in more videos, yalls energy is very intertaining
They have complimenting personalities. You can tell they're having a lot of fun with it
I think I prefer KDH's solo videos. His videos with Glenn are messier.
@@rodoherty1I would say it’s organic rather than messier
Glen needs to be a permanent co-host.
Please no
I vote YES !
He’s goody as hell & adds to the edge KDH could use ,he’s doesn’t need Glen
he clearly brings a diff vibe the content !
I like the chrome covers. They are aesthetically pleasing to me
Me too. For some reason I’ve always preferred guitars with pup covers whether modern or vintage. I can live with the tonal difference, cos I’m rubbish anyway 😂
They also shield the humbucker since they ground the pickup on it as well.
I think on a hum bucker they are nice
I declare the pickups shall be P U R P L E.
Always liked Shure products. Seeing them support smaller channels just solidifies my liking.
SOLID point. Stand up brand showing how fricking good they really are.
@@rodennis418 i bought a 57 idk how long ago, its been wet, dropped, beat, slaammed, you name it. Still works as if it were just takenm out of the box. I need a new one cause its just beat up, but not cause its no longer works. So technically, ide need a new one i guess, just want one
"why is that smoking?"
"I LEARNED IT FROM YOU, I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU!"
Goddammit
I think the smoke built up in there from being around Glen.
Hahaha, nice shout from back in the day. I remember that one.
Ooh, who else got the reference? 😁 That one's so old it's from back when MTV actually played music.
😂
Very interesting experiment. Really like the back and forth banter, it keeps the video interesting. Nothing like losing a pickup spring.
I love that you guys are just huge music nerds. Bless youse both
The Videos with Glen are always super entertaining. I can’t tell you how often I have watched the Tier List videos.
I noticed enough difference to know I prefer the sound with the PU cover off. It sounds a little brighter, both the clean sound and the crunch had higher mids and a little more bite.
Same. Uncovered definitely.
makes me want to hear the neck also!
I don't know if that's because the pickup covers were off or because you were told how it is supposed to sound with them off.
Possibly the greatest video I've ever seen on this channel.
wow! Rad on the Shure sponsor!!!! Well deserved and LEGIT!
You're having too much fun for it to be legally allowed. Glad to be here for it!
Brightness is coming through for sure
Pretty sure it's psychosomatic. Tonewood will make more difference.
@@richardharrold9736 hahaha nice troll bruh
@@richardharrold9736 🤣
@@richardharrold9736🎉
@@TheApacheTrail not trolling, I mean it.
Ah, my man is back in yet another great video... One fine man to share a beer with... A force of nature... Chillest dude among the chillest... Oh, and KDH is a nice guy, too.
Cheers to Glen. Great guy!
I had a feeling you might say “zebra” weird, but I wasn’t prepared. I love it.
You two have such great comedic chemistry! Always fun to watch.
Spent an hour wrestling with rewiring a flying V, only to give up. Went on TH-cam and this vid was in the top row. Just what I needed
I've wanted to do this to my Les Paul ever since I got it in 2004, this video has made me want to get it done, always thought it looks better this way.
YES! I'm always psyched when Glen shows up 🤘🤘
by far the funniest video I've seen in ages, this is why i stick around lol
Whenever Glen is in the video it's immediately solid gold...
The ad break at that perfect time, chefs kiss lol
You understand how really dumb chefs kiss sounds right?
We removed pickup covers in the "old days" because most were not potted and the cover could create "microphonics" in which the pickup would become overly prone to feedback and at times actually act like a microphone picking up random noises around it. This is how the practice began. For a functional reason not ot look cool. I also heard some back in the day say it would increase output slightly. I never put this to test with a multimeter but by having less resistance between the magnet and strings this seems likely true.
You'd be surprised how many players gave absolutely no idea what "unpotted" pickups are. I use Gibson Burstbuckers in my epiphone LP 60s standard and they are unpotted but avoiding that microphonic feedback when using high saturation gain is very possible. I've gotten very frustrated trying to explain "unpotted" pickups quite a few times. Actually the very first video I saw on this channel really got under my skin. He bashes a guitar thru entire video because of the noise and pickup feedback. He didn't demonstrate or play anything on it, didn't show how much gain was actually on it, didn't show it on any settings except "ocean sounds" and microphonic feedback. It was as if he had never come across an unpotted pickups before, it took a long time for me to warm up to this channel after that.
It’s always a fun video with Glen. I would love to see you guys build guitar kits! 😂
I love your channel. The chemistry between you and Glen really add something. Keep up the great work!
I like the looks of covered and uncovered pickups, but if it were me, I would have just left the covers on if it came that way.
5:21
"That smells like toast"
"HaaH"
You two together is undeniably entertaining for reasons unknown. More please
It depends if you're a cover on cover off person I myself cover on. I just bought a PRS and added covers . Looks great. Sounds about the same either way on my guitar as well as the one you just demonstrated.
1:55 - It’s like Glen is being shown the instruments of torture. Hilarious.
Well done.
Glen survived, pickup survived (through pure skill) and the public hairy protuberance survived. Sounded a touch brighter without the cover to my lugs. Fun and educational in one vid - nice one you guitar nerds 😉
I think Glenn has a cousin in Australia named Ozzy man . Awesome video you guys are awesome together.
Glenn, surely you'd be calling the Gardai, not the police?
the tone-wax and tone-Solder removal is compensated by the Tone-Hair paired with the tone-woods under that finish. gr8 video lads lolz.
Honestly, I never believed open humbuckers would sound different to covered ones...but I was wrong. They are noticably brighter. God tier content.
Same, but I still wonder if everything was comparable or not because de difference was shocking...
Couldn't tell myself , but more of these videos please .
As a guitar player your videos often come up and I glance but this was entertaining lol.laughing in CO, US
I've been adding covers to pickups lately mostly out of preference for the aesthetic. Sound on the ones I have done hasn't changed much at all and I am playing heavier stuff. Got a Seymour Duncan black winter I added a Raw metal cover to from Philadelphia Luthier Supply and a chrome trembucker cover to go on a Duncan Custom.
Love Les Paul’s , I just bought one Epiphone Les Paul 1959 limited edition
I have two of the older Epiphone Les Paul guitars. I modded all of the electronics. Overall they're pretty great guitars, even from the factory. Better than the vintage beginner guitars I'd wager.
Gratz that’s a killer guitar
@@hotrodjones74 Yes, I must say that the value for money is rather correct nonetheless.
For me, Epiphone is the brand I need, and I love Les Pauls.
I think Gibson is way too expensive for what it is; you don't really get a better guitar in the end.
Epiphone was good enough for the Beatles.
@@allenmitchell09 to be honest even Harley Benton is good enough for most of us
Glen was in such a great mood!
If you two are ever in Northern California, please, come have some beers with me lol
I just finished taking down an absolutely massive maple tree and have some chunks i really want to get milled cuz it was beautiful and there are several pieces you could make multiple matching solid one piece tops.
Glen is doing the "I'm going to show off in this video with my friend" bit that a lot of friends do and I'm here for it...
I think Glen has officially the biggest watch ive ever seen. Genuinely impressive
Little brighter little clearer 😮
Looks cool, reversible, costs nothing to do. Glen, think of it like this. Telecasters have one covered pickup, and one uncovered pickup. It's still in the spirit of 1950s guitar making 😉
Sometimes i wonder if Glenn is even a real person, but then i remembered that Glenn was the legendary song writer for the Band in the late 1790s "The TOBIE O'bias theory" and After many successful tours and centuries, it was decided that Glenn was still unsure which pick up cover was chosen.
Glen is super funny , looks like you have great fun together 👍
It's definitely hotter😮. You guys are now responsible for a million mods worldwide😂 well done
Glen looks like an extra in a 60's Cave Man Movie in that shirt! 😂👌
That shirt is pretty outrageous. Love it
also....we officially need "that smells like toast" the song
cant get enough of these videos thanks guys
Ah yes, the classic PAFH found in almost all Gibson products, the "Patent Applied For Hair" in the finish. I'd like to get Paul Reed Smith's take on tone hair and its importance.
What pickups are in that thing? Edit, 61 BB. I'm confused though because I thought they were unpotted and there was definitely wax in them.
fancy recording this on the one hot day of the year in Ireland 😉
Top wrap all the way!!!
Looks way better uncovered, can i hear a difference? Hell no but my hearings screwed from years of drumming.
Every stock geetar is a great modding platform :) n if you can wind up some purists in the process even better ;)
Looks great sounds great and you 2 are bloody mint together!
The uncovered bridge pickup always reminds me of Jimmy Page, looks cool
The audio is a little louder on the left side but the mic itself sounds good!
I took the covers off and I love the sound (the looks too!). You should have tested the neck pickup as well, that's where it shines in my opinion. Usually the neck pickup on LPs is very muddy (at least to my liking) and taking the cover off puts some life into it.
Brave guy!!! A guitar player with his fingers directly under a razor blade
I thought about that too. When I was younger, I never thought about protecting my fingers and hands..out of fear of hampering my guitar playing. But as I have aged, I actually think about things like that. A few years ago..I got two of my fingertips squished by a piece of industrial equipment. I got lucky and didn't suffer a Tony Iommi-like injury. But I did lose the fingernails..and couldn't play for about 2 weeks. It really sucked. Now, I think about protecting my fretting fingers.
@@michaelr.4878 you have to protect those fingers. I had a couple of mishaps through the years. Now I’m a lot more cautious to the things I do
Glen makes these videos 10x better
Cover off adds a little bite to the tone , I once got a Les Paul with a sunken in handprint on the face where someone picked up the wet guitar. Still passed Gibson QC though
Next modificarion you should refret it yourselves with super jumbo frets , Just make sure theres a defibrilator close for Glen !
I top wrap my 10-56's. Just seems more comfortable since I palm mute a lot.
I put uncovered Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in my 60s standard. Big improvement. That's my take.
In awe of the size of that watch he's wearing
I could watch Glen all day make a grilled cheese sandwich and enjoy it
We love you Glen ❤
I too used to be exhausting to be around. It was a lot of fun for me but not always for others LOL
I wasn't prepared for how much brighter it sounded uncovered. Kinda crazy.
Put a Floyd Rose special on it it's a real Floyd Rose and the ones who complain about them are the ones who actually screw them up by messing with them I had mine now 4 years and zero issues..I have 3 high end 2021 Epiphones and would never switch anything out on them all high end electronics hardware and build no reason to change anything..
Definitely sounds brighter without cover
That's a killer top on that Les Paul
The pube paul returns!
Well, I’m not saying it’s definitely a pube - but it’s short, and it’s curly …
Les Pube? Mor Pube? Well, his is a Mor Pube. Mine's a Les Pube, I think haha.
59 Pube Burst
I prefer to leave the covers on since that's the sound it had when I chose to purchase it.
Glenn, I feel for you.refinished my guitar, 7 coats of nitro laquer. It looked gorgeous, wonderful, then I saw one of my hairs with about 2 coats of finish on top.
I prefer the look of covered pickups, but I definitely noticed more bite in the uncovered pickup... it's making me have second thoughts about my current mod project
A man who audits companies and folk within the guitar industry who cuts solder. Come on chief!!!!
Name a better bromance than KDH-Glen
I personally like the look of covered pick ups. They're just aesthetically pleasing to me.
At one stage I think I was like glen, always as it was bought, never change anything! And definitely no relic! But....I think in the last few years that's really changed. On my Pacifica 612v I've swapped out the pickups to bare knuckle bootcamps, probably the guitar that has the nicest neck I've played, ibanez sz520 I've changed the pickup rings, changed the bridge as it was tarnished to hell and back, and likewise changed the tuners to surprising cheap and wonderful Gyker lockers, easily now one of my faves. Gretsch I changed the tuners as the originals really were a bit piss, now it's wonderful. My Les Paul from the early 90s, my first guitar......I've taken the scratch plate off....and that's it. Well, i had the tuners replaced to identically looking but better performing gotohs, original pickups sound wonderful and I couldn't bring myself to change
Huge difference!!!
Love a Glen video!
Glen is just scared you’re gonna take a razor to the pube hair in his guitar, lol. 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for shoutout to American Zeeeebras and dad jokes! 🤘🏻🇺🇸🦓👨🏻
Looked like you had a good time 😊
The lore in the '70-80s was that taking the covers off gave you more power and treble; I did it to 2 LPs and noticed no difference. One of them had a zebra pickup, the others all black. Never understood Page's uncovered bridge instead of an uncovered neck, but he's Jimmy Page, so good enough. I do like top-wrapping, plus it helps prevent/postpone bridge collapse.
Page's bridge pickup died and he swapped it out on tour in Australia with a double cream , he didn't take the cover off . Then it was replaced with a double black T Top , now he uses Seymour Duncan but the neck is the original 59 paf .
@@Dad-Gad According to Tim at Bareknuckle, Jimmy said the neck is an original PAF but not to that particular guitar. Cheers!
A lot of folks aren't aware that covers don't shield the pickups. If the screws/slugs/pole pieces are extending out past the cover, they aren't being shielded. Soldering the cover to the pickup just grounds the cover and keeps it from picking up noise and sending it through. it doesn't interfere with signals hitting the exposed screw. The covers do magnetically connect to the pickup, though, and add a tiny bit of capacitance which cuts a little treble. Electric players started removing the covers because they felt like the increased treble response pushed more distortion. How much difference it makes is a matter of much debate. I feel like I hear the difference. For what it's worth, I like the way they look with the cover off. The covers were a purely cosmetic decision.
You two kill it! Always the best guys!👍😃🌏🌎🌍🇨🇦
off sounds brighter, more raunchy. very nice'
When is that new walker album coming out?
Next week Glen fits a kill switch to the ormsbe 😂😂😂
In theory, the pickup cover should help reduce noise due to the whole Faraday Cage thing. Especially if you also shield the cavity the pickup goes into. While you can put the cover back in, you need to pot wax the pickup again, so it may not be for everyone.
Looks good either way … no cover bridge does look more Page/RnR, tho’ … and definitely hotter/brighter without the cover (assuming the height was constant). Noice.
Okay, so this kind of adds to a testing video I did a while back. I was testing single coils vs coil-split humbuckers to see if there was any real difference, as some people claim there is. What I found is that no, there isn't really a difference, but one of the pickups had a chrome cover while the others were uncovered. It lacked a little bit of treble in comparison, and suggested that it could be the cover causing the roll-off.
In this video, I do hear that the uncovered pickup is a little brighter than it was with the cover on. Does this matter to me? Absolutely not, I couldn't give a damn about that. I like the look of covered pickups, and in real-life scenarios like in full mixes, you can't tell a difference.
And that's where a lot of gear tests seem to end up. Does it make a difference? Sure, probably. Does that difference actually matter? To me, not at all. 🤷
lmfao i actually got an ad break after the "these messages" bit
Added some top end with the clean. Exactly the same with any gain
You forgot to put a link to the Shure stuff in the description.
btw from my own extensive testing the uncovered pickup vs covered pickups sound different, without the cover its more bright and raw, with the cover it sounds smooth, rounded in frequency and a tiny bit less harsh.
you can also adjust the flathead screws on the pickups for more further tonal shifts.
glenn needs to be himself more, the cheetah print shirt suits the hairdo..