Gibson ES-175 pickup covers

[vinnyv1k]

This whole VOS relic fad is complete nonsense IMO. Who would buy a brand new car or motorcycle all beat up looking ?
This fad is for kids that want to pretend they are seasoned players. I like new to be shiney.

Some guys had no choice buying the VOS 175's as they did not offer regular 175's for 3 years.

The fake checking Gibson is doing now on their new Walnut 335's is beyond belief for me.

[Max405]

The fake checking Gibson is doing now on their new Walnut 335's is beyond belief for me.

Yeah, its also a waste of money. If UPS ships it, you will have all the relic'ing and finish damage you could ever want..
JD

[Stringswinger]

I am pretty sure that I will not go the Throbak route. Those are aftermarket covers and any tonal difference would probably require canine ears to discern.

There are no vintage covers on the market at present (and I would want some very good evidence of originality before paying for them) and I am not sure that the extra cost would be justified in any case. So I will probably just go for new Gibson replacements.

I like relicing my guitars the old fashioned way. By gigging with them.

Thanks for the comments guys.

[Ray175]

A couple of years ago A friend of mine in Scotland bought "aged" covers from Crazyparts in Germany (about 23€ per cover) after buying a 1962 175 with no covers.
He swore he couldn't hear any difference between "with" and "without"..... Sadly he died last year, otherwise I would have asked him to send me his "before" and "after" sound files to upload

Pickupcovers Aged

[sgosnell]

Anyone who says they can hear the difference between pickup covers is a potential bridge buyer, and I have some waterfront property south of Miami I'd like to sell. And as noted above, any collector with more dollars than sense will choke at any pickup cover you install, because it's not original. The original covers are gone, and that's unfixable. I would just put some decent covers on, disclose that they're not original, and get on with life.

[SamBooka]

If throwbacks versus modern Gibson equivalence sound the same thing go with the cheaper of the two.
I don't abuse my nickel parts but I do get the patina going by leaving them in a closed container with a quarter cup of vinegar for a couple of hours. Don't put vinegar on them just let the fumes float around inside the closed container.

It's been my experience that vintage correct replacement parts are still replacement parts and don't add the equivalent value to the guitar. $200 worth of upgrades will not bring the value up by $200. That might've been the case years ago when people didn't know better but now that everyone's flipping bumblebee caps out of anything they can find and charging an arm and a leg for them it's just not worth it anymore…

[Stringswinger]

If throwbacks versus modern Gibson equivalence sound the same thing go with the cheaper of the two.
I don't abuse my nickel parts but I do get the patina going by leaving them in a closed container with a quarter cup of vinegar for a couple of hours. Don't put vinegar on them just let the fumes float around inside the closed container.

It's been my experience that vintage correct replacement parts are still replacement parts and don't add the equivalent value to the guitar. $200 worth of upgrades will not bring the value up by $200. That might've been the case years ago when people didn't know better but now that everyone's flipping bumblebee caps out of anything they can find and charging an arm and a leg for them it's just not worth it anymore…

I think the crazy values on old Gibson parts are all about Les Pauls. The 50's Les Pauls are worth so much that spending $600 on 50's pickup covers may add that much value or more on a 50's Lester. I do not think on a 175 it is wise. On a more nefarious note, I suspect that some of these old parts are used to create counterfeit vintage Les Pauls.

I am guessing that my ears could tell no difference between the Throbaks and the new Gibson covers, so for me it is a double win. I pay less, and I can still represent the guitar as 100 percent Gibson. (I will disclose that the PUP covers are modern replacements and that it has been refretted. IMO, new frets and new PUP covers are due course maintenance, like tires and brakes on a car)