Naked 58/15s

[88prs]

Hi,

Anyone pop the covers off of their 58/15's? What was the result?

Also, are these wax potted and require a lot of clean up if you do pop the covers?

 

[TRJC24PRS]

What model are your 58/15's from?

 

[88prs]

2016 McCarty

 

[TRJC24PRS]

Depends, 58/15's are easy to find but always selling for $800 on Reverb, vintage or not.

 

[garrett]

I don't think you stand to gain much. Maybe a tiny bit of high end.

They are wax potted from what I know, but I don't know to what degree. It's almost sacrilegious to take the cover off a 5x/xx pickup.

 

[elvis]

I'd buy a set of 85/15 to try and sell the loser. Should leave you with little or no out of pocket.

 

[88prs]

I have 58/15's in the McCarty now. I will try pulling the covers off and hope the coils are double black and it brightens it up.

 

[elvis]

I've no doubt they're black. Hope they are not a mess and that the cover removal/reinstallation is trivial.

 

[88prs]

"Hope they are not a mess"

As in covered in wax?

 

[garrett]

I'd buy a set of 85/15 to try and sell the loser. Should leave you with little or no out of pocket.

That's good advice. The 85/15's come up for sale from time to time and not crazy expensive. Compared to the 58/15, they're brighter, clearer through the midrange, more "modern" sounding.

So anyway, you're better off swapping to a different set of pickups. The 58/15 are still fairly rare and valuable.

 

[elvis]

"Hope they are not a mess"

As in covered in wax?

Wax, the tears of Angels, whatever they put in those.

 

[Casi1]

Wax, the tears of Angels, whatever they put in those.

Yeah, I’d hate for the angel tears and holy water mixture to spill out of those pickups....

I’ve got a set and I would bet that there’s something extra special in there that you’d want to keep in there (or bottle up real fast before it bursts into thin air and disappears upon being exposed to the air of the universe).

 

[DogPhishHead]

Yeah, I’d hate for the angel tears and holy water mixture to spill out of those pickups....

I’ve got a set and I would bet that there’s something extra special in there that you’d want to keep in there (or bottle up real fast before it bursts into thin air and disappears upon being exposed to the air of the universe).

Maybe it's an infinity stone ? Hiding from Thanos ?

 

[Matte82]

I have 58/15's in the McCarty now. I will try pulling the covers off and hope the coils are double black and it brightens it up.

I’m the last person to recommend not modding something. I mod everything. But in my experience, taking covers off of a HB, does very very little to the sound. Adjusting their height will affect the sound much more than taking off/adding a cover.

So if you really can get $800 for yours, (I don’t doubt it, just never looked for any) it might be a better idea to do a pickup swap. Then sell yours.

 

[88prs]

ok, so removing the covers lowers capacitance which means more highs..... supposedly more articulate also....

My only worry is removing the cover and having a bunch of wax on top, I wouldn't think so but ya never know.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Yeah, I’d hate for the angel tears and holy water mixture to spill out of those pickups....

I’ve got a set and I would bet that there’s something extra special in there that you’d want to keep in there (or bottle up real fast before it bursts into thin air and disappears upon being exposed to the air of the universe).

You can’t lose the “mojo” of the wire made from unicorn’s mane though!

 

[AP515]

You know the 58/15's and 85/15's are the same pick up right? Just with and without covers. Paul tweaks the recipe a lot so that may no longer be true, but that was what we learned 3 years ago.

 

[elvis]

I doubt that there will be wax on the outside of the bobbins. My best bet is that they are made the same as the uncovered bobbins and then a cover is added. Still, I would never mess up a $400 pickup just to see...

I agree with the pickup height recommendation.

 

[garrett]

You know the 58/15's and 85/15's are the same pick up right? Just with and without covers. Paul tweaks the recipe a lot so that may no longer be true, but that was what we learned 3 years ago.

Shawn confirmed on a thread a while back that while similar, there is more to it than just the cover.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

ok, so removing the covers lowers capacitance which means more highs..... supposedly more articulate also....

Yeah, but it's barely audible. Those covers are metal. I really don't think it's worth it.

Shawn confirmed on a thread a while back that while similar, there is more to it than just the cover.

What? PRSh confirmed that they are the same pickup underneath, though the covers do change the sound signature somewhat, which makes them different pickups.

Also, since the wire is magical, each pickup is going to be different, and since the guitars are handmade, each guitar is going to be different, so each pickup in each guitar is going to be different.

Anyway, sorry to contribute to the entropy, gah, ack, ptui.