Which pickups do you pot?

[David Schwab]

I'd like to know if anyone notices any real difference between Unpotted and potted. Do people play pickups before potting and notice any difference afterwards?

Yes, unpotted pickups squeal and are microphonic.

I used to test pickups unpotted because I potted with polyurethane, and then I'd test them again after they were potted. I often have them in my guitars and basses for days before potting them. I don't hear any difference worth risking a squealing pickup for.

Maybe people playing by themselves at bedroom levels hear it.

[big_teee]

Ditto what David S says.
On Humbuckers I paper tape the coils good, when building.
Then after assembly I pot the whole pickup.
If It has a cover I pot with the cover on.
That IMO gives the best of both worlds.
A potted pickup that dampens all the metal and plastic parts, a taped coil that is not over potted, and does not squeal.
I have taken wire off of some of these taped bobbins, and very little wax penetrates a taped humbucker coil.
You may want to give that a try.
T

[big_teee]

I thought the results of this poll were interesting, and was worth bringing back up to the surface.
Anyone got any Wax Potting tricks or trivia they would like to share with this thread?
I wish I had a good way to clean my wax, cause I tend to put old pickups in the wax to soften them sometimes?
It works great, but gets my wax dirty.
Also if you never took the poll feel free to, I think it is still open.
T

[GunbarrelCustom]

I just voted and late to the party as usual lol. I'm using a paraffin and bees wax mix probably heavier on the bees wax than many others though I do not know if type of wax makes any difference. I will continue to pot Tele pickups due to the cover and baseplate, but I am going to try not potting some Strat & P-90s to see if there is a difference and I do not pot PAF types. I do wrap the coils with pickup tape or black masking tape for protection of the wires so I want to see how bad they squeal and if there is any tonal benefits skipping the wax bath.