The attached pic is me and my Brand X (1984 Yamaha SBG1000) guitar. z0s0_jp messed with my hair, but it's the guitar I want you to see. The pickups are a DiMarzio SCHB at the neck, and a DiMarzio Dual Sound at the bridge. The SCHB came from the factory with a cover on it, engraved with the DiMarzio eclipse trademark. :cool: I installed a plain chrome cover on the Dual Sound to match the look. Covers keep dirt from getting into the pickups, and also provide much better shielding to keep out elctrical noise. They do NOT change the sound! They're made of brass, which does not interfere with the magnetic interraction between the strings and the pickups. I didn't have to modify the pickups or the mounting rings to accept the covers. To get the best shielding effectiveness, they should be soldered to the frame of the pickups. You may want to get a tech to do that for you.