In my opinion, I think PRS shouldn't use Zebra coils on every single SE model... Very unappealing and gives way the model being from the SE line..
I have soldered on three sets of raw nickel/silver metal covers over the zebras on three of my SE's and they look fantastic.
The total time to solder on one set of covers is less than a half hour, clean up included.
I left the pickups soldered to the guitars and loosened the strings way up to turn the pickups over onto a towel placed on top of the guitars. Having good soldering skills, I firmly placed the covers on the pickups checking that the screws were tightly pressed thru the cover holes evenly. I then took some medium sandpaper and sanded the soldering site on one of the long sides of the pickup cover only. In these cases it was about an inch long area at the edge of the metal pickup base plate and the edge of the cover, at the same contact spot where the solder would need to stick well.
I then applied a thin coat of the real facilitator of this and many other soldering jobs - some "paste soldering flux" available in a small tub at the hardware store. I then got out my solder that I always buy from Radio Shack because they are the only place that sells "electrical solder - containing
lead". You can get this electrical solder from Radio Shack in the very useful 1.0mm solder wire size. It is flux or rosin core but you still need to use paste flux to eliminate the dreaded "balling up and rolling off" of the solder. You want the solder to "sheet out" at the soldering site for a thin and excellent solder joint. Clumps of piled up solder are sure indicators that the person that did the soldering did not know what they were doing; and these piles of solder are often "cold solder joints" and do not make good electrical contacts and are therefore very poor soldering joints - you want to avoid this and start using "paste flux" to the site before applying the soldering iron and solder to the soldering site.
I have two "pencil" type soldering irons; one 15 watts and a stronger 40 watt one for getting in there, heating things up quick and getting out of there before burning up the insides of bulkier more massive components that take more to heat them up to melting temperatures. These are "Weller" brand soldering irons and are far superior to the Radio Shack junk soldering irons, or other brand "x" soldering irons of cheap quality - even though they cost about the same exact amount. True Value Hardware, etc., sells the "Weller" brand soldering irons and replacement tips.
Before soldering I have a cut in half piece of one of the 3M type yellow sponges with the green scrubbie layer on top. I get this sponge wet and wring it out. I heat up my soldering iron and draw it across the green surface and you will see the black oxidization quickly disappear from the soldering iron tip. Sometimes it will even turn shinny silver from the solder under the oxidization. Often though, you have to do a pre-soldering procedure to prepare your soldering iron, called "tinning" the tip of the soldering iron. It may be dull grey after removing the oxidation. Apply some paste flux liberally to the hot soldering iron tip and watch it smoke up as it burns off the impurities from the soldering iron tip. The flux cleans by burning off impurities. Quickly apply the "electrical leaded" soldering wire to the soldering iron tip, moving the solder wire around to completely coat the tip with a shinny sliver coating of solder. This is called "tinning" the tip and should be done before and after soldering to maintain the tip in an unoxidized state, ready for soldering. After tinning the tip proceed to examining the soldering site where the baseplate of the pickup and the metal cover will be tack soldered.
Apply "paste flux" to the sanded soldering site at the contact point between the baseplate of the pickup and the edge of the metal cover. Have some uncoiled solder wire ready to grab and apply to the soldering site. Apply the hot soldering iron (15 watt) to the flux covered site until the flux is smoking liberally, removing impurities that would otherwise cause the solder to bead up and roll off. Quickly grab the soldering wire and apply it to the still smoking soldering site, applying only enough solder to cover maybe three quarters of an inch of the joint between the baseplate an the side of the metal cover. Do not pile up the solder but get enough on to obviously bridge the two parts together. Don't let the solder excessively melt down into the inside of the pickup any more than minimally necessary. The goal, of course being zero getting inside the pickup. Quickly remove the heat and the solder will harden within a few seconds, firmly holding the pickup cover on. You only need to solder one side of the cover, this will totally be strong enough to firmly hold the cover onto the baseplate.
You should see zero dreaded and unsightly "balling up and rolling off" of the solder when doing it this way. You will wind up with a great solder joint and a great looking pickup - transformed from an ugly zebra to a very cool looking metal covered pickup.
These covers are about five a piece from Philadelphia Luthier Tools online with super fast delivery and super great customer service. They have a wide variety of metal pickup cover options. I'm going to order another two sets right now and put one set on my SE Santana in Santana Yellow.
Spending a minimal amount to build your own soldering kit is well worth it. Don't forget to get some of the "key to mastery of soldering" - paste flux. Don't get thick "plumbers solder" almost exclusively available at hardware stores and other outlets. Get "electrical solder" containing "lead". "Lead free" solder is almost all you will find, but search for leaded. Lead free is almost impossible to melt with a soldering iron and is difficult to work with, requiring huge amounts of damaging heat. You will readily find lead containing electrical solder in rolls of various diameter at Radio Shack. You might want to stock up on some. The 3M yellow and green scrubbie sponge is also a very excellent item to have for cleaning your soldering tip during the job and for cleaning and tinning before and after soldering jobs. You will be glad you put together a very inexpensive soldering kit. You will be able to do guitar repairs that will pay for the kit the first time you use it.
Good luck with soldering on the new covers. They fit right into mounting rings perfectly and look great. You will be very satisfied with your work.
All of my zebra PRS pickups sound very good in my opinion and I have not replaced any of them, and I'm quick to upgrade my pickups. The metal covers transform them into some awesome pickups and your guitar will look super nice.
Here is a picture of one of my SE Custom 24's, brand new.
