Potted vs Unpotted in a hollowbody...?

[magillver]

Would it make more sense to use unpotted pups in a hollowbody guitar, to actually make use of the microphonics to pick up some of the acoustic properties of the instrument, as well as the magnetic properties?

 

[magillver]

*unpotted*...I hate autocorrect...

 

[GuitarStv]

I'd say just go with whatever pickups you like.

The good thing about using unpotted pickups in a hollowbody is that the guitar itself won't let you get volumes up to ridiculous levels . . . so the problem of uncontrollable feedback that can happen with unpotted pickups is naturally limited. It just depends on the sound you want though.

 

[Mincer]

I use unpotted in a semi hollow Gibson (Antiquities in a Howard Roberts Fusion), and I love them. Super touch-sensitive, and does tend to pick up the 'hollowness' of the body. Maybe not good for lots of volume and preamp gain, but that's never been an issue.

 

[Securb]

I have unpotted MHS pickups in my Les Paul Memphis and love them. I have no problem throwing gain or high volumes at the pickups. When I say gain I mean Led Zeppelin/Aerosmith level gain not Pantera.

 

[Chistopher]

Generally the more microphonic a pickup is in a guitar and the louder the acoustic volume of the instrument is, the more you hear of the wood in your final signal. If you like the sound of the guitar unplugged, microphonic pickups will let a tad bit of that color into the final sound. Granted, there are a million ways to get the sound you are looking for so don't beat yourself over it and just pick a set.

 

[magillver]

I was playing around with an A/B switch last night, 2 guitars into the same amp, going back and forth between a hollowbody PRS with Seth Lovers, and a solid body with P-rails... all while trying to figure out what I want to do with an Epi Dot I just picked up cheap, kind of halfway between the other 2 guitars. Feedback isn't an issue, I'm playing low-level winery jazz stuff. I really love the clarity of the Lovers, but I also love the versatility of the P-rails..... decisions, decisions...I guess that's the joy of this hobby!