PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

[Jeff5]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

b :naughty:

omg!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

Here is my point...potting a pickup, even wiht just a little wax is done to stop microphonics....the microphonics is what makes the pickup sound alive, it's what gives it that quality...

How can you get rid of the microphonics but not have killed the microphonic quality?!

 

[JB6464]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

Here is my point...potting a pickup, even wiht just a little wax is done to stop microphonics....the microphonics is what makes the pickup sound alive, it's what gives it that quality...

How can you get rid of the microphonics but not have killed the microphonic quality?!

+1 ^
I have potted and unpotted 59's in my LPC guitars and it does make a big difference.
The unpotted 59's have a 3D kind of Alive sound when driven at band levels and you feel like your guitars on the edge of being out of control with the feedback.
The potted 59's still sound great but to me they have a very controlled not so alive sound. You can drive them to hell and back and i have to try and make them feedback with force.
They BOTH have THE 59 SOUND,but one offers some extra excitement to go with it.
My 2 cents worth.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

With any mix at all if you don't dip the pickup for a long enough time, then you will be scrapping off big chunks of wax that solidified on the cold pickup. You have to let the pickup reach the temperature of the melted wax. Then the wax itself is able to flow over the coil wire. I wait till the backplate wax remelts, then it's all up to melting temperature.

That's true, but about 3 to 3.5 minutes is plenty to avoid that. I doubt any of the major makers are leaving it in for less than 3 minutes, it's not long enough penetrate all the way through.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

Here is my point...potting a pickup, even wiht just a little wax is done to stop microphonics....the microphonics is what makes the pickup sound alive, it's what gives it that quality...

How can you get rid of the microphonics but not have killed the microphonic quality?!

You can pot it such that it doesn't penetrate all the way through necessarily, and with a mix thin enough that it doesn't expand or slightly push apart the coil wire.

 

[blueman335]

Re: PAF- Potted or Unpotted?

There is a kind of way to pot a pup lightly, but it is completly different to all things said here.
There are some points of a pickup that are prone to squealing:

First: the cover. This could be solved by a dab of silicone or tape inside the cover.
Second: the bar mag. Drop some wax on it and slide into the pickup and tighten the base screws. While heating the baseplate, tighten it more to glue the mag to the baseplate and the bobbins.

Third: the coils. I leave them alone to get the alive feeling at certain point of gain.

Interesting. What about the pole pieces? Do you put any wax in the holes?