Whether or not you need to ground pickup covers depends on a few factors, including the type of guitar, the type of pickups, and the type of music you play.
Why ground pickup covers?
Grounding pickup covers helps to reduce noise and feedback. This is because the metal cover can act as an antenna, picking up electrical noise from the environment. Grounding the cover helps to drain this noise to ground, where it cannot be heard through the amplifier.
When to ground pickup covers
If you play a guitar with metal pickup covers and you are experiencing noise or feedback, grounding the covers may help. This is especially true if you play at high volumes or in noisy environments.
If you play a guitar with open-coil pickups, you do not need to ground the covers. In fact, doing so may actually degrade the sound of the pickups.
How to ground pickup covers
To ground pickup covers, you will need to connect them to the ground wire of your guitar. You can do this by soldering the ground wire to the metal cover, or by using a conductive adhesive.
If you are not comfortable soldering or using conductive adhesive, you can take your guitar to a qualified guitar technician and have them ground the pickup covers for you.
Additional things to consider
- The type of guitar: Some guitars, such as Stratocasters, have metal pickup covers that are already grounded.
- The type of pickups: Some pickups, such as humbuckers, have metal covers that are not grounded. This is because humbuckers are designed to cancel out noise, and grounding the cover can actually degrade the sound of the pickup.
- The type of music you play: If you play a genre of music that requires a lot of distortion, such as metal or hard rock, grounding the pickup covers may help to reduce noise and feedback. If you play a genre of music that requires a clean sound, such as jazz or country, grounding the pickup covers may not be necessary.
Ultimately, whether or not you need to ground your pickup covers is a matter of personal preference. If you are experiencing noise or feedback, grounding the covers may help. However, if you are happy with the sound of your guitar, there is no need to ground the covers.