pickup cover on or off on a 4003 bass?

[monoBEAR]

i recently bought a 2004 jetglo 4003 bass as you all know by now i'm sure. i've been raving about it. it didn't come with the p/u cover when i bought it so, i bought one directly from rickenbacker. i noticed that i play the bass right where the cover
would be and prolly wouldn't use it anyway but wanted to have one to complete my precious bass. i got it on fedex today
and put it on and i was exactly right. it was totally in the way.

do you play with yours on or off? your p/u cover not your pants. hehe.

love,
mono BEAR (jeremy)

[VRICKY63]

Off .

[rickaddict]

Don't let nothin' get between you and your strings no matter how shiny or "cool" anyone thinks it looks!

[monoBEAR]

i like that, jeff. nicely put. i agree wholeheartedly.

[jwr2]

OFF

[hieronymous]

Wow, nobody voting "on" yet?

I definitely prefer taking the cover off. It just gets in the way and reduces the usable playing area. And as cool as they look, when I found out that they are plastic any coolness factor wore off. Real shoes are cool, but the Lollar-equipped bass that I briefly owned was so sensitive - any contact with the shoes was amplified almost as much as the string signal! (YMMV of course)

[sloop_john_b]

Well, I like it on, but if it interferes with where you play, take the thing off!

[sloop_john_b]

Don't let nothin' get between you and your strings no matter how shiny or "cool" anyone thinks it looks!

I resent that, Jeff! Mine is on 100% for functionality purposes. I'm a pick player 50%-60% of the time and it is the ideal place to rest my hand when picking. When i'm playing fingerstyle, my thumb rests in the curved area of the pickguard above the neck pickup. So the cover stays, and it has nothing to do with shine.

[phlemmy]

I'm a pick player as well, but my pick hits right with the cover would be...so OFF (with their heads!).

[berth]

It makes a Perfect handrest.

[rickaddict]

Don't let nothin' get between you and your strings no matter how shiny or "cool" anyone thinks it looks!

I resent that, Jeff! Mine is on 100% for functionality purposes. I'm a pick player 50%-60% of the time and it is the ideal place to rest my hand when picking. When i'm playing fingerstyle, my thumb rests in the curved area of the pickguard above the neck pickup. So the cover stays, and it has nothing to do with shine.

I'm just bustin' on you people John. Its one of these friendly "flat wounds vs. round wounds" type discussions. I do see how pick players might prefer to keep the cover on and use it as a handrest. And although you aren't one of them, I do think that some people keep the cover on (even though it may diminish their own ability to play) because they like the way it looks.

And as cool as they look, when I found out that they are plastic any coolness factor wore off. (YMMV of course)

Not bustin' on you, Harry but you make an interesting point. What is it about plastic that so many of us don't like?! Plastic pickup covers are inferior to the "real" metal RI horseshoes? Metal toaster pickups are generally preferred to plastic hi-gain pickups? 70's tuners with the plastic tuner bushings are generally the least desirable RIC tuner.(Much less desirable than the self-exploding Wavy Grovers anyway!)

What's so wrong with plastic?!

Thread hijack alert. Thread hijack alert.

[sloop_john_b]

Just...one...word.

[rickaddict]

I love that film!

"I've got one word for you Ben...Plastics!"

[pacealot]

+1, John B! What would Mr. Robinson think of the covers?

Oddly, I've only ever had HS's in my two 4001s - my V63 and the '76 disaster which came to me with the RI HS. But I got used to the HS being there, and I sometimes use it to anchor my thumb for finger playing behind the p/u. More often when I play with my fingers, I anchor like John B. on the slope of the guard, or sometimes on the toaster for an Entwistle-ish playing position ("typewriter" style?). But I've seldom felt like the 'shoes get in the way for me. I often go back and forth from one side of it to the other mid-phrase for different tonal emphases (sometimes I get caught out though!). I can squeeze pick muting out in a Squire-ish way by cramming my hand on top of the bridge and curling it up, and holding the pick between my thumb and second and third fingers. I'm sure it'd be easier without something in the way, but I suppose my muscle memory has adapted to it.

If I were to get a Rick with a high-gain, it would be interesting to see how I'd play differently without the cover. Somehow I think I'd miss it, in a weird backwards way. So theoretically +1 for the cover for me.

[ben_brown]

Just...one...word.

LMMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!