potting humbuckers....

[SkinnyWire]

If you're potting them with covers on how do you keep the wax from running out where the pole screws are on top? a piece of tape over it to keep the wax in the pickups?

That's part of what the fan is for. When I pull a covered pickup out of the wax, I hold one of the mounting tabs and drain the pickup until it just drips a bit. Give it a quick wipe with a tissue and then over to the box fan with another tissue and wipe wile moving the pickup around in the air flow to set the outer surface of the wax. Within a couple of minutes, it will be set up enough that you can have the cover looking pretty squeaky. Once it's completely set, a final polish is all you need to get rid of any haze that might remain. The 91% alcohol works great here, or just moist breath and a cloth.

[kevinT]

oh one more thing....I usually pot the pickups outside or in my garage with the door open for fear of the fumes building up and causing a flash fire. It reminds me of those folks that deep fry turkeys and overfill the fryer with grease as they submerge it....spilling hot firery grease everywhere and burning down their house.... you hear it on the news every Thanksgiving

[SK66]

My tricks:
Any tape used has the finish end "tacked in place" with a small drop of super glue. Prevents the tape from unwinding.

I do not pot with the slugs or screw poles installed for an uncovered HB. I use the end screws for alignment during assembly but remove them before potting. This allows for overall easier cleanup.

When the pickup first comes out of the pot, I quickly drain it and wipe the whole thing down with a paper towel. It is then set aside to cool.

I follow with a wipe down with mineral spirits (real or the new replacement stuff) which cuts the remaining wax without harming anything. Then install the screws/slugs and finally buff with a reject t-shirt.

It probably sounds tedious, but might involve 5 more minutes than not.

[Billy Bones]

I was in a pickup factory in China a few years ago, and I was surprised to see them cleaning the wax off the pickups with Liquid Wrench from aerosol cans. Haven't tried it myself, but I was so used to seeing chinese products used for everything that seeing Liquid Wrench really stuck out in my mind.

Billy Bones

[David Schwab]

I was in a pickup factory in China a few years ago, and I was surprised to see them cleaning the wax off the pickups with Liquid Wrench from aerosol cans. Haven't tried it myself, but I was so used to seeing chinese products used for everything that seeing Liquid Wrench really stuck out in my mind.

Billy Bones

I recently used WD40 for pretty much the same thing. I had a cheap pickup just gobbed with wax, and it was getting everywhere, especially all over the guitar's pickguard. A little WD40 on a paper towel cleaned it all up.

[belwar]

I recently used WD40 for pretty much the same thing. I had a cheap pickup just gobbed with wax, and it was getting everywhere, especially all over the guitar's pickguard. A little WD40 on a paper towel cleaned it all up.

My favorite is Naphtha which you can get at pretty much any hardware store. I use it to clean off my covers if they get wax on them. It will remove the wax from anything without heavy oxidization. A little on a wipe-all will go a long way.

[David Schwab]

Naphtha is always a handy thing to have around. I happened to have used WD40 because I had a can, and didn't have any naphtha. Naphtha is my general degreaser.

[belwar]

I love the stuff and its all over my shop. Its great for removing un-cured pore filler, cleaning out nut slots.

Frankly im surprised they let me use it in california.

[bsmith]

Naptha Works great as well.

[David Schwab]

Frankly im surprised they let me use it in california.

Would that be "Naphtha Valley"?