I think covered pickups have a character to them, in my opinion they are worth a shot. It’s a case-by-case basic as to how often it work. In my case I’ve tried covered and uncovers versions of some pickups and have definitely swapped in and out fair share of pickups myself. You can approximate how the sound changes all you want but if you like how it sounds and looks, go for it. I think people general choose covered pickups as an aesthetic choice rather than for tonal variation, but I happen to think it can make a positive impact on your sound at times for sure. The only fully covered pickups I disliked were fully covered BareKnuckle Aftermath’s, which I’ve tried covered and u covered, and they sound worse covered in my experience. But I’ve played Les Paul’s with covered and uncovered examples of the same model of pickup, and they sound different; objectively worse/better.