Flaked pick up covers?

Thinking about the pick up covers on my prized prestige 227.

What do ppl think about scraping all the black off? Is it worth doing to improve the look?
Everything else looks superb except those covers.
Or are they just a standard size? Could i buy some replacement black or chrome covers?

I'd just respray them.. can't be that hard a job

Hmm never had much luck with spraying stuff. Dunno about getting that glossy look.
Technical side like unscrewing and stuff is more my scene

Ill look into that though yeh. Didnt think of it.

after spraying them I guess a couple of coats of lacquer would do the trick to get them nice and glossy again but probably cheaper just to replace if you can find some that fit.

I agree with bowenjaybee, if it's possible remove the covers (they might be soldered to the p/up base plate) you could strip and re-paint them so they look original. I wouldn't try painting the covers on the pickups though, it could make a mess of the adjustable pole pieces.

There is an alternative, if you like the look of it you could leave the paint off, but only if the plating underneath it is any good!

DAN.

The paint on these covers, Prestige 227 are a satin black finish not gloss.
Just remove all the screws, plug the holes with a snib of tissue, spray away. Won't have to unsolder the covers then. A very fine flatting paper wouldn't go amiss. Could also leave the screws (pole pieces) in and spray the whole lot, couple of light coats should do it.
They are not a standard size, you won't get replacements.

I don't know these particular pups at all, but it seems strange for them to be painted at all. To have a painted surface in the highest activity area on the guitar makes little sense to me.

They certainly look bad when they start to wear. I would think removing the paint entirely and polishing the metal would give a more satisfying end result. And it would not need re-doing.

FWIW, I kinda like the way they look now. Makes 'em look "comfy". . .

Here's some piccys.

Westbone wrote:Here's some piccys.

http://img251.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=p9091222.jpg

Woo! Yes thats how I want mine to look. Thanks for the advice people.
So it seems replacement covers are not possible. I think I will first have a look at scraping off the paint as I suppose that is needed prior to a respray anyway.
Ill post up how I get on.

When you say "scrape" I'd stay away from anything metallic.
If you must remove the paint try a mild chemical stripper solution to soften it, then use a plastic edge to slide it off. Follow up buffing with #0000 steel wool. But afterward, pause awhile, and see if you don't prefer the metal look.
Then prep for repaint.

Barry wrote: But afterward, pause awhile, and see if you don't prefer the metal look. Then prep for repaint.

Yup... softly softly, catchee monkee...

Just a quick word of warning, go easy if you use steel wire wool, there is some very strong magnets in them pickups.

If the pickups end up with bits of metal magnetised to them, use some strong sticky tape or Blu tack to remove the debris.

DAN.

True enough Dan.
'Bin dere, done dat!
Cursed the mess I'd made.
Thanks for the reminder.

Just use very fine flatting paper 1200-+ grade. No magnetic problems. Patience is the key.

DuoFuzz wrote:Just a quick word of warning, go easy if you use steel wire wool, there is some very strong magnets in them pickups.

If the pickups end up with bits of metal magnetised to them, use some strong sticky tape or Blu tack to remove the debris.

DAN.

ha ha been there too, the first time I ever gave some frets a good going over with wire wool I covered the fretboard with masking tape carefully polished the frets with the wire wool, removed the masking tape, restrung the guitar and stood back to admire my handy work.............arrrgghh a 2mm thick collection of wire wool debris stuck all over the pickups...but hey you live and learn!

Dontcha hate when that happens?

Here's an easy way to get the paint off, but be careful that you only apply this to the painted surface you want to remove. Using lacquer thinner and a small fine point paintbrush, apply the lacquer thinner to the surface of the plates....30min later the paint should wipe off with a slightly damp rag. Afterwards the lacquer thinner will leave a slightly oily finish, just use a lightly gasoline-soaked rag to remove the oily substance....then use dish-soap to remove the gassy film. You will not have any scratches atall on the surface if you go that route, but like i said, be careful, because lacquer thinner makes any/all paint just magically unstick itself from whatever it's attached to, and it does that to any other coating...and gas well, it just ruins the gloss finish of any/all paint/clearcoat. Like I stated above, let the lacquer thinner sit atleast 30min, or until you see the paint start bubbling up and looking like rippled lay's chips. When I've stripped pickup plates, i've kept a bottle of liquid soap around incase my shakey hands accidentally drip some onto the wood, then i quickly spray the spot and quickly dab it up(wiping can spread the thinning agent).

To protect the stripped plates, I've used a hard clearcoat(a poor man's way is to use clear fingernail polish, virtually same thing).