BB_Bunny
Joined: Sep 13, 2020
Posts: 133
New York
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Posted on Sep 18 2021 05:26 AM
I pulled the trigger on buying one of the Fender Squier Baritone Cabronitas recently.
It's my first bari and I'm pretty excited! Despite being a Squier, I'm pretty happy with the playability and overall sound. I'll need to do some setup work to chase down a buzz on the low B string, but even out of the box, it's in pretty good shape!
Along with installing a Bigsby trem, I want to change the pickup covers which are made with a very cheap plastic that resembles a happy meal toy.
Similar to the Jazzmaster, the pickups are soapbar single coils. According to my handy dandy calipers, it seems like a lot of P90 pickup covers would fit. I'm interested in putting chrome covers on them (because it will look neat) but wonder if that would invite a bunch of noise issues. I've mostly seen metal pickup covers for P90's and Humbuckers and assume it has something to do with the fact that their construction cancels noise. I know some telecasters have a metal pickup cover for the neck pickup, but people seem to suggest removing it to fix noise issues. I can't help but feel like if it wasn't problematic, we'd see more Jazzmasters with metal pickup covers.
What do you think? Is this dumb?
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cirecc
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 292
seattle, wa
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Posted on Sep 18 2021 09:20 AM
Are they p90s or are they jazzmaster pickups? Those are very different pickups despite how they might look. I’m assuming that they’re p90s.
Either way, I would say go for it. You shouldn’t notice a difference in the sound assuming that you’re just putting a pickup cover on that has holes for the pole pieces. I wouldn’t necessarily expect less noise either though unless you get metal covers and wire the ground to them. I wouldn’t personally bother doing that, but I guess you could. It would also change the tone slightly. Just be aware that not all chrome covers are metal. Some are cheaper and are chrome over plastic which obviously wouldn’t make a difference. I’m not sure of the quality of pickups and electronics in the squier, but I would personally think about what p90s you might want to upgrade to in the future before buying covers if that’s a concern at all (or if you don’t think you’ll upgrade them, then that’s fine, too).
People sometimes suggest using a tele neck pickup without the cover for increased clarity on that pickup, not because of increased noise from the cover. If anything, the coverless pickup would be noisier.
— -Eric
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BB_Bunny
Joined: Sep 13, 2020
Posts: 133
New York
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Posted on Sep 18 2021 10:45 AM
According to fender, the pickups are “Fender® Designed Alnico Soapbar Single-Coils”. While they aren’t p90s, the placement of the pole pieces, mounting screws, and general dimensions are the same so p90 covers should fit. I mentioned the jazzmaster because they seem similar in that they are single coil despite looking like p90s though I’m under the impression the jazzmasters are mounted with screws on either side of the pickup instead of through.
I was expecting the Squier pickups to be trash, but oddly enough they sound pretty good to my ears! I plan on keeping them for now so this switch would be 100% cosmetic. I wouldn’t expect the covers to make anything sound better, I just want to make sure it wouldn’t make things worse.
I’m not ruling out swapping them entirely down the line, but would be a bit out of my depth. I’ve always played whatever stock pickups came in the various guitars I’ve owned and wouldn’t know where to start in the aftermarket pickup world. It seems fiddly (and expensive). I’m admittedly jealous of people who have strong opinions in those regards.
Ps, listening to The ‘Verb right now and loving it. Great tunes.
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Last edited: Sep 18, 2021 10:46:37
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cirecc
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 292
seattle, wa
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Posted on Sep 18 2021 04:06 PM
Gotcha. Yeah, jazzmaster pickups are more like flattened and widened strat pickups with rod magnets for pole pieces. P90s have bar magnets and use screws as pole pieces. The jazzmaster pickups will sound like a classic fender single coils with somewhat scooped mids while the p90 will sound more like a classic Gibson humbucker (which were designed to sound more like the p90s) with more mids and less highs. I think a p90 could make a baritone muddy in a band mix, but you can scoop some mids elsewhere (like your amp).
As for covers, just double check that the pole spacing is the same because fenders have a wider string spacing at the bridge and sometimes the bridge pickup is spaced accordingly. The typical Gibson spacing is narrower which is most likely what most covers would be. You said that you checked the spacing already, so you might be ok. I just know that fender has often used p90s and humbuckers with specific spacing in the past.
Also, thank you for the kind words about The ‘Verb. That band is mostly retired at this point. I will hopefully be releasing something within a week with my new group and then another in December.
— -Eric
New music!
https://thedesolatecoast.bandcamp.com/releases
Spotify
Also:
https://theverb.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theverbseattle/
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BB_Bunny
Joined: Sep 13, 2020
Posts: 133
New York
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Posted on Sep 18 2021 04:33 PM
cirecc wrote:
I will hopefully be releasing something within a week with my new group and then another in December.
Good! I'll keep my eyes open for it.
Re: pole spacing, that's good to know. I measured them with my calipers and they seem to be identical to some specs I looked up online, but I'm prepared for surprises. I already bought a pickguard that fits a typical MIM Cabronita with p90's, but WON'T fit the soapbars (my bad for not reading the listing closely enough). I've requested some more technical measurements from Fender but they basically threw their hands up and told me since it was made in China they don't have any specs so I'm flying blind and relying on my potentially incorrect measurements.
I'm also expecting to learn some lessons the hard way fitting this guitar with a vibramate for the Bigsby. Specs on the vibramate site seem incomplete as there are variations on plates that share the same model number but clearly have holes drilled in different places. I'm trying to tell myself that this is all part of the fun 
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BB_Bunny
Joined: Sep 13, 2020
Posts: 133
New York
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Posted on Sep 22 2021 08:40 PM
cirecc wrote:
P90s have bar magnets and use screws as pole pieces.
During a failed attempt to change the pickup covers, I did some light dismantling of the pickpups and discovered the construction sure as heck looks an awful lot like a p90 with two bar magnets and screws as poles. In fact, as far as I can tell it's identical to this image I found:
I'm curious if there's actually a difference in Fender's "Alnico Soapbar Single Coils" or if that's their coy marketing way of saying p90s.
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Last edited: Sep 22, 2021 22:03:08
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cirecc
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 292
seattle, wa
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Posted on Sep 22 2021 10:00 PM
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