Pickup covers?

Hello, I am relatively new to electric guitars and I recently bought an LP 100. I'm aware its not up to par with the les paul standards, but it gets the job done for me, and I love the cherry sunburst finish. My question is about les paul standard pickups. I notice they have covers on them - silver, or gold, or whatever, rather than the exposed look on the 100. So is there a way to buy covers that match the Standard for asthetic purposes? Or is the only way to get that look to swap out my pickups for some better les paul ones? Thanks for any help!

You can buy the covers, not sure about any websites that have them though, i've just seen them in a few guitar hardware catalogues. Go down to your local music shop and see if they can order some for you.

- J

okay, I was able to locate where I could buy some covers. Now my question is are they diffilcult to install? Do you have to take the strings off, or can you slip them under? Anyone who might know, please help. Thanks.

You have to remove the strings and the pickups to install them. Metal covers should be soldered to the pickup base plate to create a shield around the coils for protection against interference from outside noise sources. Plastic covers don't give any electrical benefits, but they do protect the coils from damage.