Potting PAF's

SGFanatic

SGFanatic

New member
I have a Gibson P.A.F. sticker pickup from the 60's and a T-Top from the 70's.
I love the sound but I would like to use them for some higher gain stuff.
However, they are un-potted and they squeal. I want to wax pot them, but I'm afraid potting them would reduce their re-sale value.
If there is anyone reading this that could chime in with some input, it would be appreciated...
...and I know this is the $65,000 question, what modern production pickups can hold there own against the vintage P.A.F.'s?
I think my question would be better phrased to say, without compromising the value of my P.A.F.'s, could I pot them to reduce the squeal or should I look for a high quality modern production pickup to use in place of them?
 
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Re: Potting PAF's

Potting will in most cases reduce resale value and it will affect the tone.

The real question is this...do you still have the covers on them? If they still have covers you can reduce and in some cases stop squeal w/o potting.

As for modern pickups that are close we'll need to know more...what year is the PAF? What about the T-Top?
 
Re: Potting PAF's

the guy who invented fire said:
Potting will in most cases reduce resale value and it will affect the tone.

The real question is this...do you still have the covers on them? If they still have covers you can reduce and in some cases stop squeal w/o potting.

As for modern pickups that are close we'll need to know more...what year is the PAF? What about the T-Top?
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Yes they both have covers, and from my research the PAF sticker pickup is a '67-'72 and the T-Top is a mid 70's. IMAG0200.jpgIMAG0216.jpg
 
Re: Potting PAF's

I'm really trying to capture the sound of the bridge hum, which would be the PAF sticker. It meters at 7.86k ohms. It sounds unbelievable. Super clear and jangly, but at the same time fat and warm, with a bunch of low end, and breaks up just in time, if you know what I mean.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

Alright.

Neither of those are PAF's which makes choices a bit harder to come by for a modern replacement. There are loads of PAF clones out there but far fewer Pat # clones and even fewer T-Top clones.

Both of those pickups are going to be alnico V magnets...I'd start with a Seymour Duncan 59 or maybe a Seth Lover with an Alnico 5 magnet.

The 59's come potted and are very quite even under high gain the Seths are not potted and will squeal if you push them hard enough but are likely less squealy than your 2 vintage pickups.

If you are willing you can try this...take the covers off your pickups and pit a strip of tape or even a small piece of a t-shirt on the top of the bobbin on the slug side then put the cover back on nice and tight.

I did that to the pickups in my 67 ES-335 (which look just like the Pat # pickup you posted on the left) as well as a early 70's T-Top (that looks like your pickup on the right) and it quietened them right up. Now, they will still squeal if I lean on 'em so it'll depend on other things but that's something you can try that will still leave the pick up stock and original and can be undone in the future...once you pot a pickup it's done.

Do you know the DC resistance of each of your pickups?
 
Re: Potting PAF's

the guy who invented fire said:
Alright.

Neither of those are PAF's which makes choices a bit harder to come by for a modern replacement. There are loads of PAF clones out there but far fewer Pat # clones and even fewer T-Top clones.

Both of those pickups are going to be alnico V magnets...I'd start with a Seymour Duncan 59 or maybe a Seth Lover with an Alnico 5 magnet.

The 59's come potted and are very quite even under high gain the Seths are not potted and will squeal if you push them hard enough but are likely less squealy than your 2 vintage pickups.

If you are willing you can try this...take the covers off your pickups and pit a strip of tape or even a small piece of a t-shirt on the top of the bobbin on the slug side then put the cover back on nice and tight.

I did that to the pickups in my 67 ES-335 (which look just like the Pat # pickup you posted on the left) as well as a early 70's T-Top (that looks like your pickup on the right) and it quietened them right up. Now, they will still squeal if I lean on 'em so it'll depend on other things but that's something you can try that will still leave the pick up stock and original and can be undone in the future...once you pot a pickup it's done.

Do you know the DC resistance of each of your pickups?
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I thought the DC resistance was the kohms number on my meter? If not, then i don't know and I don't know how to get it.
I thought of a 59, but I wanted to ask the SD community thier ideas on the subject.
I guess I'm looking for a Blues Breaker set, no?
I've owned a faulty 59b (bad ebay deal) so I can't really tell what a good one sounds like.
I don't like the idea of un-soldering the pickup. I think that might de-value it also.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

Yes, DC resistance is the ohm reading on a meter.

Taking the covers off would very slightly devalue a set of 50's PAF's but the value of those pickups would be just fine, they are not nearly as valuable or collectible as PAF's besides what good is having a valuable pickup if you can;t use it because it squeals?!

59's are great, I recently put a set in a guitar and it easily holds it's own with all my other humbucker guitars.

If you know the DC that can help find a pickup that's a little closer but i'd still start with a set of 59's or alnico 5 Seth Lovers and see where you land.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

the guy who invented fire said:
Yes, DC resistance is the ohm reading on a meter.

Taking the covers off would very slightly devalue a set of 50's PAF's but the value of those pickups would be just fine, they are not nearly as valuable or collectible as PAF's besides what good is having a valuable pickup if you can;t use it because it squeals?!

59's are great, I recently put a set in a guitar and it easily holds it's own with all my other humbucker guitars.

If you know the DC that can help find a pickup that's a little closer but I'd still start with a set of 59's or alnico 5 Seth Lovers and see where you land.
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Thank you. That's kind of my thoughts. I just wanted someone's insight. I like what I've heard out of 59's, I think they'll work well.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

SGFanatic said:
Thank you. That's kind of my thoughts. I just wanted someone's insight. I like what I've heard out of 59's, I think they'll work well.
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Well, speaking in very general terms the bridge will be a little stronger than a Pat # or T-Top bridge and the neck will be a little weaker. This results in a fuller more powerful bridge tone and a cleaner more clear neck tone and the potting in the 59's will kill some of that alive/about to feedback tone of the older non potted pickup but the basic vibe of the tone will be the same.

I think you'll like 'em and if not at least you'll have a starting point for fine tuning things a bit.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

If you're mainly concerned about the value of your pups, then don't modify them in any way...take them out and put them in your closet or sell them. Then buy a set of 59s to put in.

But if you are mainly concerned about using them to create great tone without squeel, then either pot them or take the covers off and put some tape (t shirt, or whatever) on the slug bobbin and play away.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

If you pot that PAF sticker pup, you just lost 90% of it's value- don't do it. If you must, do what was suggested before to dampen the covers, which is a large part of where the squealing usually comes from.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

lemonman said:
If you pot that PAF sticker pup, you just lost 90% of it's value- don't do it. If you must, do what was suggested before to dampen the covers, which is a large part of where the squealing usually comes from.
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It's not a PAF. It's patented.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

Are you sure it's the actual coils that squeal? Sometimes the whole pickup is loose (usually too short springs).
 
Re: Potting PAF's

It's a patented applied for sticker pickup (the one with the decal, the other one is definitely a T-Top). It's somewhat valuable. I've seen them go for $250+ on eBay and other forums. I don't want to devalue it. But at the same time, I want the thing to be able to play like I want to, so I'm at crossroads of sorts. It not the cover being loose, it's definitely because it's unpotted. I've heard the unpotted squeal and this is it. I don't want to sell them, because I know I'll regret it (unless it's for the right price). So I'm just going to look around for some vintage style pickups. I think I just wanted someone to tell tell me wax potting would be OK.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
 
Re: Potting PAF's

What they are saying is it is not a PAF, it is a Pat # sticker...PAF's were form 57 until about 60/61 then there was the Pat # pickups from 62ish until the late 60's.

You can reduce the squeal and likely stop it with the tape or t-shirt trick I mentioned but if the gain levels you are using are really high it'll still squeal.

As for the value the Pat # pickups are all over the map...I've bought and sold them for as little as $65 but I've seen them listed as high as $700 a set however they were not sold, just listed.

That said they are great pickups, I have a set in my ES-335 and like them a lot however I did have to tape the coils and put the covers back on but now, no worries!
 
Re: Potting PAF's

Right, the bottom one is what I got I realize the mistake I made. So anyway, I should just go ahead and pot it then? Considering it's not really worth that much...
 
Re: Potting PAF's

SGFanatic said:
Right, the bottom one is what I got I realize the mistake I made. So anyway, I should just go ahead and pot it then? Considering it's not really worth that much...
Click to expand...

If it was me I would try some tape over the slug coil first as this wont effect its value if it doesnt work and you dont care about its future value then pot away.
 
Re: Potting PAF's

When you do the tape/T-shirt under the cover trick, does it ever seem to affect the tone at volumes well below feedback levels?
 
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