Wax Potting Guitar Pickups

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

Why would you want to do this?

DB

[LtKojak]

Why would you want to do this?

DB

Normally, the p'up's maker does that... unless you specifically want it unpotted.

For the record, there's a change in the fundamental tone-footprint when a p'up in potted. Some hear it, others don't.

[dmorash]

Potting is supposed to help with squealling at high volumes - dunno. Might be my imagination but I think that unpotted pickups are noticeably more dynamic and responsive. Love Seth Lovers for that reason.

[John A.]

Why would you want to do this?

DB

It makes pickups less microphonic and reduces the tendency for squealing, high frequency feedback at loud volumes. But Gibson didn't start potting their PAF-style pickups until somewhere in the 80s, so there's endless debate about whether it's good or bad or or whether this or that pickup truly nails the PAF sound because it's potted. I have no knowledge or opinion on that.
John

[jzucker]

i wouldn't do it. The unpotted pickups pick up some of the acoustic sound of the pickup. At high gain and with fuzz the unpotted pickups squeal. Something tells me you're not a candidate for that use case.

[Stringswinger]

i wouldn't do it. The unpotted pickups pick up some of the acoustic sound of the pickup. At high gain and with fuzz the unpotted pickups squeal. Something tells me you're not a candidate for that use case.

+1

And even if you have a guitar that you may want to use in a high gain situation, there are other solutions.

[Jim Soloway]

Potted pickups make less noise when your fingers or pick makes contact with the pickup. For some people that's a significant benefit.

[archtopeddy]

Generally I agree with all of the above points. I have a few original mid-60s Teisco gold foil pickups that were just too microphonic. I like these pickups to be somewhat microphonic but not too microphonic. In this case, the slightest touch of a pick or fingertip rang through the guitar. I could "talk" in the pickups and it sounded like an announcer at a race track. Anyway, the pickups sounded good in that old gold foil way so I sent them to Jason Lollar who understands gold foils. He performed a "light" wax potting process using some sort of pressure cooker or crock pot as I recall. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but the results were great -- minimizing the microphonics without losing their 3-D charm. So as a general rule I would not wax pot pickups, kinda risky. But sometimes it's viable solution but you need to find someone who really knows what they're doing.

[KirkP]

Info on potting from a couple of revered pickup makers:

What is Wax Potting? | Lindy Fralin Pickups

If you don’t talk to your pickups about potting, who will…? | Lollar Pickups Blog

[wildschwein]

It does change the sound and I would say you lose something. They sound/feel tighter and you lose some high end response but if you play rock music at a decent volume with some gain it's pretty beneficial and it's the reason pickups are generally sold potted today (in most cases). In the '70s as guitarists sought more gain and sustain a trend towards potting with epoxy became more common especially with Gibson solid body guitars -- I guess some of this was due to Bill Lawrence who designed a few of their '70s pickups. I have potted about 3 or 4 sets with wax over the years mainly because of microphonic issues. I wouldn't bother for cleaner styles played at lower volumes -- you're better off leaving them alone if it/they came unpotted. Here's some information all about potting from Donald Brosnac's Guitar Electronics for Musicians (1983) which is well picking up for general reference: