SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

W

WDeranged

New member
I've tried two Jazz pups in my SG and both of them had cover squeal. My JB and 57 classic don't have the issue and I also tried the Jazz in another guitar just to be sure it was the pup and not the guitar. Pressing my finger against the nickel cover immediately damps the feedback so I'm pretty sure this is the issue.

Anyway I've got myself some paraffin wax and the bits and bobs I need to safely do the job but I'm concerned (after reading various posts) that it's possible to 'over pot' the pup, how would I even be able to tell?
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

WDeranged said:
I don't really have the tools to do a proper job of opening and closing the cover. One thing I am wondering is whether I can 'reflow' the wax using a hair dryer, it's pretty clear that the top of the cover isn't being damped properly.
Click to expand...

Then I assume that you don't have a soldering station or iron. That's about the only specialty tool you would need. You don't need one to get the cover off (you can saw or Dremel it off) but you do need it to solder it back on. A hair dryer will melt the wax, just takes longer than a heat gun. I'm trying to think back on my magnet swap in a JB which was covered and I don't recall any wax under the cover. In other words, I don't think that Seymour Duncan specifically waxed the cover when they made the pickup. I think they potted the pickup and then installed the cover. If that's how they do it, there wouldn't be any wax under the cover for you to reflow with a blow dryer. And I don't think that heating up the entire pickup with a blow dryer or heat gun is going to work to flow wax from the coils to allow it to fill gaps between cover and top of bobbins.

I've never dip potted a pickup, never had a reason to. But I don't think I would want to do it with the cover on. Seems like that would end up holding way too much wax. My thinking is that the cover has to come off to do this right. But I'm sure that there are plenty of members here who have plenty of pickup potting experience so if they see this thread, they should have better advice.

Other than that ... If you don't have one, maybe this is a good excuse to get yourself a soldering station (or one of those butane soldering torches/pens). They have all kind of uses besides allowing you to solder a cover back on. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

Thanks for the info. I do have a soldering station but it's not going to be powerful enough. I could buy a new one but they cost more than the pickup itself so I'm a bit reluctant. I'm also lacking a decent clamp.

Another option would be to place wax pellets around the edge of the backplate and heat with a hair dryer until the wax (hopefully) runs down towards the cover. If it comes down to it I suppose I'll have to invest in tools, I'd just like to see if I can do a cowboy fix first.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

Have you checked to make sure that it's actually been soldered on?

Your iron will probably do the trick, with careful use and not rushing things, but "cowboying it" tends to run high in the "Oops" factor...

A clamp like that is $5-10 at any hardware shop.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

jtougas said:
Have you checked to make sure that it's actually been soldered on?

Your iron will probably do the trick, with careful use and not rushing things, but "cowboying it" tends to run high in the "Oops" factor...

A clamp like that is $5-10 at any hardware shop.
Click to expand...


Pretty sure the pup is solid and soldered but I'll check. I have to admit I'm curious to see inside it just to find out how they chose to damp the cover.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

So I went ahead and potted the pickup but it didn't damp the cover enough to stop the feedback. Second time around I didn't drain the cover, leaving a ton of wax inside just to see what happened; the feedback was greatly reduced but I'm pretty sure it's cost me some definition and bite.

I went and bought myself the proper tools so I'm going to crack it open and see what the naked pickup sounds like after I've re-potted to remove the excess wax.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

I cracked both pups from their covers and now they're sitting in my SG again. They seem to be functioning properly and all my cover related feedback woes have vanished :beerchug: Seems a drastic solution but at some point I guess I'll probably try and reattach the covers and use the methods kindly suggested in this thread to damp vibrations.

Dunno if anyone in future will find this helpful but I'll just dump some extra info here. I didn't find any damping material inside the covers, both pups were black but only the JB had the logo. They weren't wrapped in fabric tape but the coils had clear plastic tape tightly wrapped around them and one piece of black tape protecting the wiring on one side of the pickup.

Also the pickups sound slightly more aggressive and punchy without the covers; I wondered if that would be the case but it was good to scratch that mental itch.
 
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Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

I wax potted one of my pickups kind of in a ghetto way, but it worked. I have a ski wax iron, dripped some ski wax into the pickup cover (make sure you cover the holes with tape or something), put the pickup in there while it was still warm and gooey (not liquid), then flipped it right side up and hit it with a heat gun for a little while (not too long obviously), just long enough to make the wax melt and take shape on the pickup. It worked like a charm.
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

redline144 said:
I wax potted one of my pickups kind of in a ghetto way, but it worked. I have a ski wax iron, dripped some ski wax into the pickup cover (make sure you cover the holes with tape or something), put the pickup in there while it was still warm and gooey (not liquid), then flipped it right side up and hit it with a heat gun for a little while (not too long obviously), just long enough to make the wax melt and take shape on the pickup. It worked like a charm.
Click to expand...

Have you noticed any loss of definition after using so much wax? I'm reasonably sure packing my cover with wax slightly deadened the sound of my pups but I'll admit it could be psychological :crazy:
 
Re: SD Jazz cover squeal - Wax potting advice

WDeranged said:
Have you noticed any loss of definition after using so much wax? I'm reasonably sure packing my cover with wax slightly deadened the sound of my pups but I'll admit it could be psychological :crazy:
Click to expand...

Oh I didn't use a whole lot. Just enough for a thin, thin coating on the inside of the cover. No definition loss at all. I should have A/B'ed it before putting the cover on but didn't even think of it.
 
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