tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

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Hey,

for a nickle covered p/u, what are the tonal differences between using tape and getting the p/u wax potted? Will was potting 'dull' the p/u more than using tape?
 
Re: tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

The tape is used under the cover to remove any vibration so the pickup wont be squeeling. Its alot different than potting. When a pickup is potted, the wax penetrates things like the gap between the magnet and base plate to relive squeeling. When a pickup is potted, wax fills the area where the coil and the cover meet to relive squeeling. If you just cant slap a peice of tape under the cover and expect the pickup to be as silent as a pickup that has been fully potted. Its just not going to happen. BTW, potted pickups do have a slightly different tone than unpotted pickups. I dont remember exactly how it differs though!
 
Re: tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

Som guys argue that there is little to no difference at all...to my ears a non potted pickup has a slightly hollow midrange charactrer and a deeper more 3D like bass...
 
Re: tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

I'd love to test two identical pickups: one wax potted and one not and see for myself if I hear any diff.

Lew
 
Re: tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

thanks, so there's basically no or extremely little recognisable tonal difference?
 
Re: tonal differences betweeen wax potted and tape?

There's a tiny bit more 'clang' and ring when the covers aren't potted.
If you tap on the pickup or the body, the potted one will sound blunt and dead.
If you tap on the unpotted pickup, it'll have a metallic ring. When actually listening to the tone, it's hard to tell, but the potted one is usually the drier sounding of the two.
 
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