To Pot, or Not to Pot?

[kevinT]

I think wax is going to be the ticket for me, I tried it tonite, its relatively easy to do, I can't plug in the guitar tonite, too late, but just tapping on the slug side of the cover I can hear its solidified...

How did you do it....did you drip wax from a burning candle? Shavings?

[jonson]

Possoms waxing lyrical.

Probably best way to go Possom, seems like a tried and tested method to me.
Has anyone ever tried Dental Wax. Bought in small sheets about a mill thick and can be cut to width and length. If you only needed to wax the outer coils,then, wrap it round the bobbin and warm it with a heat gun low setting just to hold the whole lot together.

[EtLa]

just tapping on the slug side of the cover I can hear its solidified...

That's the way I check the cover when I pot then if it doesn't tambourine then I'm pretty sure it won't squeal.

[Possum]

...

I just dip the cover in a vat of melted wax, upside down let it fill in and melt, swirl it around make sure the cover gets hot to keep it melted for awhile, then let most of it drain out but tilt the cover so the slug side has a tiny pool of wax, then pull it out and quickly push the pickup in, while tilted so the wax favors the slug side, let cool then solder it shut, then clean it up, I used a heat gun to reheat the cover to make it easier to clean wax off.

Dental wax or jeweler's waxes could be good but just dipping is real simple. Downside is you'll get some wax probably into the small hole in the bobbin where the coil shows through but you're not really potting and when the pickup hits the wax it solidifies pretty quickly anyway. To take it all apart just unsolder, heat the cover with heat gun and pull apart.

[PoorMan]

You pirates hijacked my thread!!!

...but I'll get on board.

I mask the holes on the top of the cover with blue painters masking tape, flip it, put some wax shavings in it and heat it up with my wife's hair dryer. Then I let the wax cloud up, remove the tape and install it on the pickup...no mess on the top of the cover that way.

[Possum]

...

So you're the guy! Well, you're missing one point, you should be reheating the pickup when the cover is on so the wax will remelt and form itself into the voids and that should be done before you solder it closed. Maybe the wax is still soft when you're doing it your way, dunno, if it works thats all that matters. I'm doing it with the wax still liquid, the clean up isn't too bad, but still gott a do that part....

[Possum]

results...

well I tried the pickups out and it got rid of most of the squeal but left just enough microphonics to sound good, at real loud volumes right in front of the amp it squeals, so this is what I was looking for. cool....

[Joe Gwinn]

Seriously, what do you think about electrician's (or plumber's) putty...the stuff that electrians use to seal the opening around an electrical cable like the one going into a residence? I have a block of it that i bought years ago and it is still pliable. Even the putty on the exterior, after years in the elements, has retained it's pliability. I wouldn't think it would have any detrimental effects. I've seen it sealing holes in vinyl siding and it does't look as if it reacts with the siding.

Another possibility is the tape electricians used to pad mechanical splices before taping. For wiring, I use "Scotch 130C Linerless Rubber Splicing tape" made by 3M and available at Home Depot. It is very stretchy, one side is tacky, and will weld to itself where overlapped.

The range of such products from 3M are here: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...be70Q1MK7N3Ngl

The traditional alternative is "Rubber Mastic Tape" (Scotch 2228) which comes with a liner (wax paper) in the roll, to prevent premature self-welding. This is electricians' putty in tape form. http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...be70Q1MK7N3Ngl.

These tapes are intended to remain rubbery for decades, are compatible with a wide range of plastics, are cheap, and are easily cut into small enough pieces for use in pickups.

I would check for compatibility with hot wax, as the materials from which these tapes are made are sensitive to oil. Wax has bigger molecules than oil, but I would put a bit of tape in hot wax and keep it warm for a few days, to see if anything bad happens. (I know that normally the wax isn't hot for days. This intent is to accelerate any bad interaction.)

[PoorMan]

So you're the guy! Well, you're missing one point, you should be reheating the pickup when the cover is on so the wax will remelt and form itself into the voids and that should be done before you solder it closed. Maybe the wax is still soft when you're doing it your way, dunno, if it works thats all that matters. I'm doing it with the wax still liquid, the clean up isn't too bad, but still gott a do that part....

The wax is still soft enough I suspect it would be ok without reheating...but I reheat it anyway for good measure...I failed to mention that in my post.

[mick]

I don't wax my covers on , but I replaced a chrome one for someone else so I placed the pickup upside down on a rag that had been soaked in hot water , well wrung out of course..this was enough to keep the wax pliant enough to get the cover on securely , it worked really well , not sure I would try it will gold covers though.

Mick

[Spence]

Used beeswax to stop the squeeling but now I've got a buzzing sound.
Can't win.

[Possum]

bzzzzzz...

Spence you should talk that up as a selling point and call them the STinger Set. "These Stingers buzz like a bee and sting like wasp, they buzz at a calibrated 60 cycle sine wave I have custom engineered into the quantum molecules of the pickups themselves in a secret metallurgic process I found in an old alchemical book several hundreds of years old, hidden in a secret recess in an old well in a nearby castle. Imagine the face of your audience when you plug your guitar in and you get an instant loud humming, buzzing tone that will set the stage for your sologing fireworks to follow. Yes these are five times the price of my regular pickups but very few players can afford the killer buzz saw STINGERS!!!!!!!"

[chevalij]

Are they going to be made with 40 year old special wire and imported Italian magnets? If not, I don't want any.

[kevinT]

Used beeswax to stop the squeeling but now I've got a buzzing sound.
Can't win.

so you got pigs and bees dancing and flying around in your pickups spence? You can always be sure you'll have plenty of grunt and sting to your tone.

I swear with the wax (parafin and bee's wax) that i purchased from a wax manufacturer and using my secret ratio (not the 80/20 mix), i can't tell that my pickups are potted...and they are quiet as a church mouse. The wax doesn't affect the tone whatsoever.

I'm not using grocery store canning wax. I purchased the two types directly from a industrial wax manufacturer and have had excellent results...using my deep fryer.

[Possum]

....

probably that micrcrystalline stuff, I think DiMarzio uses something like that, its kind of sticky/gooey if you have to work on one of those things. yuk...
bees wax is cool 'cause it smells like honey.......