Potting Pickups?

[muffinman]

Hi there,

I am new to this, so bear with me.

What is the use of potting pickups? Waxing them and so......

Can antone help?

[Robert_the_damned]

Potting a pickup prevents the windings from vibrating. This helps prevent the pickup being microphonic (and so prevents horrible feedback and squeeling pickups).

[biliousfrog]

it is also often used with humbuckers that have covers to stop them vibrating too.

[guitar2005]

Hi there,

I am new to this, so bear with me.

What is the use of potting pickups? Waxing them and so......

Can antone help?

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/index.php

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/seymo..._and_a_11.shtml

http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~evans/potting.htm

http://www.stewmac.com/wiring101/pickup_potting.html

I had two guitars where microphonics were a problem. I play heavy rock with a lot of distortion and when it gets loud, it becomes very hard to control microphonics, sometimes, its impossible.

The two guitars were a 1974 Les Paul Custom with the original T-Top humbuckers and a Flying V I made in which I installed a set of late '70s Dimarzio super distortion and PAF.

I potted the pickups using parrafin mixed with beeswax at a 8/2 ratio. The wax was slowly melted in a tin can that I put in a small water filled cooking pot with the tin can on 10-15 marbles so that the tin can does not directly touch the cooking pot.

The temperature is set so that it is just hot enogh to keep the wax melted.

Put the pickup in the hot wax. You'll see bubbles coming out of the pickups. After 10min, I change the pickup's position and tap the metal tabs 4-5 times to let more air bubbles out. After 20min, you can take the pickup out.

All my pickups are now microphonics free and sound great. I think they sound better now but that could be my mind playing tricks on me.