Hi Gav, somehow I has missed this thread and glad that you decided to drop the chrome covers as they are a right proper PIA when playing, particularly that neck PUP cover. On my Ric the first thing I did was remove the bridge PUP cover as it was right it the spot where you want to play.

Whilst the chrome covers are very 50's retro I reckon it looks better naked. They play so much better that way too and string changing is much quicker and easier.