Anyone make their own pickup covers?

[Greg Martin]

Id like to make my own ebony and ziriciote floating pickup covers. How thick is the material for the top, if you want a signature cnc router on it and what thickness is best for the sides to keep it from cracking. Anyone have pics of their routing jigs for this? love to see them.

[Bob Francis]

I would too. At least know the thickness others are using.

[David King]

I make them on a milling machine now but I used to template-rout the inside and then trim the outside with a very sharp table saw blade. The corners get rounded with a roundover bit on a table router. Top can be anywhere for .050" (1.2mm) to .1" (2.5mm). The sides are 2- 3mm.
A typical engraving cutter will run at .015" depth but on a light colored wood you might need to go .025" deep for it to show up.

[Greg Martin]

Thanks Those numbers are close to what I had imagined having never done it or tested.
does the thickness change the tone of the pick at all ? so if I make the top say .075 and etch .025 am I affecting tone of the pickup? are the yops held in place with double sided tapes? which one works best?

[Eldon Howe]

I have a Fishman double Humbucker for a sound hole, I'd like to do this as well.

[David King]

Greg,

Wood isn't ferromagnetic so it has no effect on the pickup other than the distance between the magnets/poles and the strings. Ideally you would pot the pickup right into the wood with epoxy but you'll want to seal the inside of the cover first if you don't want epoxy oozing through the endgrain. Once it's potted there is no going back in and fixing things so make sure you are firing on all cylinders before you commit.
Making covers and finishing them with something tough enough to hold up over time is a time consuming endeavor. Plastic covers cost a few pennies each while a wood cover can take several hours making them prohibitive.

[Mark Swanson]

You can use wax as well to pot wood pickup covers. It's a different process but it works. That way it is possible to reheat it and take it apart.

[David King]

Mark, the problem with wax is that it shrinks a great deal as it cools and that could damage the coil wire connections if they aren't tacked down in place first. It's not a problem when you dip a coil in hot wax, only when there is a considerable volume. The same can happen with epoxies that are allowed to thermoset.

[Greg Martin]

I like the tip about sealing the endgrain before epoxy potting.Now If Im making a wood cover for a pickup that has a metal cover removed like a mini bucker or firebird pickup and has been potted already,would I hold the wood cover on with double side tape and re wax pot ?

[David King]

The metal covers were wax potted to tops of the bobbins to avoid microphonics of the cover vibrating and feeding back into the pickup. Microphonics can be a problem in wood covers but that's less likely. Double stick tape works well as does hot-melt glue. You just want something that can be reversed if necessary.