Potted vs Non Potted Pups

[BigTimeOperator]

Can anyone fill me in on the tonal differences between potted and non potted pups? And in what kind of applications does noise/feedback become an issue with non potted pups. I have a vintage all tube amp rig, more along the lines of a JTM or SuperBass than say a Super Lead kind of tone. Very ballsy and smooth and with 120 watts, loud as hell when I want it.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Potted vs Non Potted Pups

Originally posted by BigTimeOperator
Can anyone fill me in on the tonal differences between potted and non potted pups? And in what kind of applications does noise/feedback become an issue with non potted pups. I have a vintage all tube amp rig, more along the lines of a JTM or SuperBass than say a Super Lead kind of tone. Very ballsy and smooth and with 120 watts, loud as hell when I want it.

Duncan's non-potted pickups don't suffer the microphonic problems of other non-potted pickups as long as you aren't standing directly in front of or in very close proximity to your loud amp..

The non-potted pickup has more "air" or "openess" of tone and some folks say they hear more harmonics in their tone...I've always pretty much have been a potted pickup user and I'll say that some of the things I Mention above wouldn't pertain to the potted pickup...I have use both though...With me,the pickup I use is more important than whether it's potted or not..

John

[dr.barlo]

I agree with John.

Finding out the exact answer is very difficult. You have to have a non-potted pickup, record it (either into your god given hardrive , or into some other media) and then do the wax-potting and compare.

I for one feel that there are more harmonics sent into the output signal with non-potted HB's. I have not done a very scientific comparison, rather, this opinion is based on the comparison between my potted and non-potted HB's overall characteristics.

B

[Gearjoneser]

I use nickel covered from everything from crystal clean to midgrind
to 120 watts of Chernobyl. It's gotta be potted, or it's uncontrollable squeals, but usually only when I hit a lead tone.

[captain cavman]

I mainly use Seths & Ants PUs with 4X12 cabs that I really crank and I never had microphonic problem with those PUs.

Perhaps in front of a wall of cranked Marshall you'll find differences between potted and non potted PUs but the above mentionned products don't show any weakness compared to, say, PGs or '59s.