before you even think of "distressing" the pickup with covers on...
Remove the pickup from cover first and then burn, dip in acid, vinegar, ammonia, bleach, let your dog chew on it, tie it to your bike and ride around the whole block and whatever to the cover.
Remove the pickup cover!
Also when installing back... make sure you have a little pot of melted wax, be it candle, paraffin, beeswax etc. install the cover back, solder and then dip the whole mess into the melted wax until you see no more bubbles.
Details on how to pot a pickup...
www.google.com
Its not difficult to do but do practise some SAFETY common sense. Molten wax can BURN and cause bodily harm.
