pickup cover on or off on a 4003 bass?

[johnallg]

Question, I just removed the horseshoes, but now I have a 3/16th gap between the bottom of the pickup and the plastic tray it sits on after fastening the pickup to it. what I mean is it's not snug.
should I use some washers?
Henry

The real question here is, do you want to sell the shoes?

[GATSBY]

Sorry man, I'll be hold'in on to them.

[Blackstar]

I played my '76 4001 for decades before realizing the cover was plastic! Guess I'm used to it, count me in the ON camp.
Bigger question: why did the Blackstars come with chrome covers and not black? So odd, considering all the other hardware is black. Still I leave that cover on too.

[rickenbrother]

I think the contrast of the chrome pickup cover against the black looks cool on the Blackstar.

[gbarchus]

My 4001v63 came with the cover in the case. As COOL as it looks on, it sure looks like a pain to reinstall so I'm leaving it OFF for now.

Gale

[bassduke49]

On the V63, the "cover" is actually two non-magnetic horse-shoe shaped pieces of metal that give the appearance of the original "horseshoe" pickup which had magnetized metal "shoes." On the V63, the shoes are more cosmetic than anything. The plastic "cover" used on the updated high-gain bridge pickups was designed to resemble the old horseshoe, and is said to contribute to shielding the pickup from outside interference.

[Paolo]

My cover came off as soon as i got my JG 4003 & the black bezel installed...It looks awesome & happy to say there's no interference/noise with it removed.

[rickaddict]

OFF!

[sloop_john_b]

WE KNOW!

[johnallg]

WE KNOW!

I took my first one off. Played it for months but never liked the look so I put it back on and never looked back. Three of my four 4001/3 basses have horseshoes.

[rickaddict]

I took my first one off. Played it for months but never liked the look so I put it back on and never looked back. Three of my four 4001/3 basses have horseshoes.

And there we have it. I know some people actually use the pickup cover/horseshoe as a handrest, but to those who keep the thing on because they're all concerned about how the bass looks...I don't get it!

I'm more concerned with how my bass plays, and the sounds that I can get out of my bass by playing right where that cover is than how it looks with or without the cover.

I think too many people concern themselves too much with how their instrument looks.

So there you go John. Now you need to drive to Chicago and beat me up...The ball is in your court!

[rickaddict]

WE KNOW!

How about it!

I think I need to go find and resurrect one of the flat wound vs. round wound threads or pick vs. finger-style threads!

[wim]

I 've played for years without the cover, then bought one and it hasn't come off since.
It's exactly what I wanted.
I rest my forearm on the body and my hand on the cover to play the strings right behind the neck pickup.
Like this I get a very sweet sound and the bass distinguishes itself more than with the more 'common' sound you get by playing over the treble pu.
Off course it looks better too.

[nov_1981]

WE KNOW!

How about it!

I think I need to go find and resurrect one of the flat wound vs. round wound threads or pick vs. finger-style threads!

[rickenbrother]

I need to get a pickup cover for my 4001S. Maybe a black one or make a chrome one black. Sort of give it a reverse Blackstar look.