Painting Pick-ups

[esseff]

Has anyone had any practical experience of painting pick-ups with enamel paint? I ask because I'm customising a Yamaha EG012 (more or less a Pacifica) as a 'Militar': finishing it in weathered Olive Drab with a few packing-case stencils on the headstock and body.
I'll be painting all the hardware with green enamel, which won't be a problem except for the two white single coil pick-ups and bridge humbucker. Will the paint have any adverse effect on the sound? I can't take the plastic covers off to paint them because they're sealed onto the pick-up proper with what appears to be silicone. I could sand the pole pieces easily enough but on the humbucker they're flush.
I can't see why there should be any fall-out but there again, there are a few million other things I don't know for sure.

 

[bchaffin72]

Considering that Fender used to lacquer dip their bobbins, poles and all, to seal and insulate them, and I've used spray lacquer on mine, I highly doubt a little enamel paint will interfere with the normal operation of the pickups. Magnetic fields don't much care about paint, plastic, or even having the pole pieces totally non-exposed.

 

[esseff]

That's good enough for me! Thanks, bchaffin.

 

[hopdybob]

with some humbrol paint that is used for plastic models off plains and cars etc i made the black base color, then used some deco wax color old gold to give it this result.
these are old Bill Lawrence l220 an L90 pickups that were original cream color

 

[esseff]

That's a very nice finish, hopdybob.

Your English is fine. The Dutch and Scandinavians speak it very well in my experience.

 

[the_lyall]

I can't help regarding painting plastic, but I did use some bronze Humbrol/AirFix model paint to 'relic' some Lace Chrome Dome pickups I had in a Strat a while ago. The reason I mention is that I used a technique of painting the pickups and then using kitchen towel to 'blot' the paint and remove most of it, and then gave it a light sand when it was dry. If you're going for a military type of look it might be worth a shot, as that way I was able to give the gloss paint I had a more 'matt' or rough type of edge. I think it would look good on humbuckers too (in your colour) as you wouldn't need to try and clear the top of the pole pieces.

Also, they sounded exactly the same before and after the paint, so I don't think you've got anything to worry about there (though they are covered pickups as opposed to exposed poles).

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[1955]

Shouldn't hurt, i painted a off brand black pup with silver Testors enamel one time.

 

[Ira7]

I used nail polish on a few of mine. Black on one guitar, white on another.

 

[hopdybob]

don't forget that you can buy a non high gloss clear hobby lacquer and mix a little with a little color you want ( has to be the same solvend) you than have a transparent color so the gloss chrome of a tele neck pup is still visible but has a color shine

 

[esseff]

I've gone ahead! Thanks, guys. Pictures next week when it's fnished.

 

[RodeoTex]

I did a Strat for my nephew and painted the pickup covers, pickguard and everything else in camo because ' that's his favorite color '.
No adverse effects at all that i could tell.

 

[11 Gauge]

I've gone ahead! Thanks, guys. Pictures next week when it's fnished.

Can't wait to see it.

But getting back to this topic, I've ended up painting more pickups than I almost care to admit. Oftentimes, it was just to make a white or cream bobbin black, but I think there may have been a few PAFs with crappy/cheap plating that I ended up painting black, too.

As long as the color or finish is free of metals, there should be zero change in tone. Even then, given how thin the paint layer is, I doubt it would affect things much.

Just for future reference, IMO there are some GREAT paints to use on a lot of pickups that weren't available just like a half a decade ago. There's stuff that is typically labeled as 2X thick and/or for applying directly to plastics - really great stuff compared to many quick and dirty alternatives (model paint, nail polish, lacquer w/clearcoat, etc.). If used on some type of fiber bobbin, the stuff adheres like crazy. If it's any kind of plastic or nylon cover or bobbin, just knocking a sheen off will make it hold like glue, too. No need to clearcoat it, and if it looks too shiny, it typically goes on thick enough that something higher grit (I like the non-steel wool stuff) is sufficient to give a matte finish.

In the case of using some color or finish like camo or whatever, the above 2X thick stuff comes in clear, and you usually have your choice of gloss, semigloss or flat/matte, and that can be put right on top of most enamels or acrylics. Provided they are applied so that they won't lift or chip off, the clearcoat behaves the same way as the colors do. So, you can shoot a couple of coats of clear and buff them up, or knock the sheen off if you want matte/flat with the gloss stuff, or use the satin/matte if you know up front that it's what you want.

These paints are great IMO, as I can basically grab pickups out of my junk drawer based on how I want/need them to SOUND, w/o having to worry about if they are chrome/nickel/gold/oxidized/white/black/cream/zebra/pink/nuclear green/etc.

 

[maxvintage]

I just today painted an unplated nickel silver p90 cover because it didn't match the guitar it was in Painted it with krylon high heat barbecue black and then some krylon clear gloss. Looks great, no effect on tone

 

[esseff]

Well, here it is two weeks after the repaint. I intentionally didn't make a 'shop' finish on it as it's supposed to resemble any military contraption that's been in service for a while. The green looks a little two-tone in some of the pictures I took with a mobile phone but it's really more or less the same colour except where polished to a shine where the fore-arm would rub. It didn't turn out too badly but my next 'militar' project will be better. A good learning exercise.

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