Dean Guitars Now Making Their Own Pickups

[Possum]

tone seceret...

Actually I use a 1959 Zippo lighter on my heat shrink, the tone is awesome.

When I started I always used heat shrink, then I took apart another maker's pickup and saw he used paper tape on everything, later realizing thats how Gibson did it back then. Paper works better if you're stuffing the coil start connection leads between the coils so I use it there now, its really effective, try taking it back off sometimes after its set for awhile.

Dean bobbins look like Guitar Jones, or maybe Mojo stuff. I found that bobbins with air voids in it to save money on plastic had an unpleasant acoustic quality that I noticed. But I dunno maybe Dean making their own pickups is a step up from Korean mass produced stuff, but I bet it sounds about the same since all their parts are coming from there anyway. Kinda paradoxical when I think about it.....

[kevinT]

I just assumed that anybody pumping out the pickups in the qty they appear to be would have their processes a little more refined.

Have you seen Seymour Duncan's vacuum potting contraption? It is essentially a deep lasagne dish with a plexiglass top. Very primitive looking. Sometimes the simplest stuff works the best.

when the wax in the frying pan got set off by the bic lighter.

Paraffin is dangerous no doubt. I carefully monitor my potting area. I have a digital thermometer to show the temp of the wax and the deep fryer does a good job in maintaining the temp.... You can sure bet that I don't want to be a crispy critter.

[Possum]

Leo used one too....

At G&L when Leo was there they used a fryer, its what I use too, but I don't leave the house and leave it on, if the thermostat fails it will overheat and burn your house down. they work great though if you use a thermometer to check the wax temp...
Here's G&L's potting machine....

[David King]

I use an old percolator coffee/glue pot to melt my wax. Water goes in first and then the wax jar sits in the water. The wax never gets near the heating element which is down in a pocket at the bottom of the pot. It takes about an hour to melt the wax so you have to think ahead.

[chevalij]

I bought and really like a.... well it's a wax melter. They use them in cosmetic shops for melting the wax they use to torture women by yanking out their hair. Nice, compact, has a lid and max temp is 180F. Melts the wax in about an hour as well. So yeah, when I go down stairs to start winding, I turn it on.

[Possum]

...fried wax....

ONe of the nice things about the fry pans is they cost about $2 at the Goodwill stores, and they are FAST. Takes about 15 minutes to melt it all. If you're in a real hurry you can turn it all the way up and it will fry you up a good mess o' wax in nuthin' flat. Torturing women is good though :-)

[Joe Gwinn]

I use an old percolator coffee/glue pot to melt my wax. Water goes in first and then the wax jar sits in the water. The wax never gets near the heating element which is down in a pocket at the bottom of the pot. It takes about an hour to melt the wax so you have to think ahead.

I use an old aluminum double boiler I got from a thrift/goodwill store. No water in the wax, heats up quite fast on a hotplate, and won't burn the wax or set the house on fire if neglected. Though it would be a good idea to put the hotplate on a timer, so it will turn itself off if forgotten.

[black_labb]

I bought and really like a.... well it's a wax melter. They use them in cosmetic shops for melting the wax they use to torture women by yanking out their hair. Nice, compact, has a lid and max temp is 180F. Melts the wax in about an hour as well. So yeah, when I go down stairs to start winding, I turn it on.

thats what i will use (my girlfriend's job is to do the ripping), but i havent potted any of mine yet. im surprised i havent had any issues with microphonics.

[Possum]

...

I have a Fender strat pickup probably from about '67 or so that doesn't appear to be potted at all. Sometimes its not really necessery unless you're standing in front of a Marshall stack pushed to life sucking levels. If you're just playing blues in a small club with your deluxe reverb you don't have to pot and you'll get alot richer sounding pickups too...

[David Schwab]

I have a Fender strat pickup probably from about '67 or so that doesn't appear to be potted at all. Sometimes its not really necessery unless you're standing in front of a Marshall stack pushed to life sucking levels. If you're just playing blues in a small club with your deluxe reverb you don't have to pot and you'll get alot richer sounding pickups too...

I wonder why some Fender pickups were potted in some kind of lacquer. I have a '72 Mustang and had a '74 P bass, and those pickups were lacquered.

I have yet to pot any of the pickup in my personal instruments.