59B waxe potted?

[strangegrey]

I read somewhere that the 59 isn't potted? is this true?

-F

[dani]

59b off the rack are wax potted unless its a shop floor custom. also, specialty guitars stock non wax potted 59s too.

[BlueGuitar]

Dani:

Did I read somewhere (here?) that all of the production line SD full-sized humbuckers are potted except for the Seth Lover and the Antiquities?

FWIW I learned a great trick on another forum about eliminating the microphonics on a Seth Lover without sacrificing the tone: you pot JUST the magnet. Remove the cover (easier said than done! ) loosen the 4 brass screws and then slide the magnet out (marking which side is up). For the first one I dipped the magnet in melted wax (ouch!) and then slid it back in. But someone else mentioned that he uses rubber cement to pot the magnets, and that is what I used on the my second Seth Lover. (Yes, I like the Seth Lovers so much that I went back for a second helping. )

[dani]

you are right on the ants bucker and seth not being wax potted.

there are many factors to a microphonic pickup such as loose coils, resonating covers etc.

as for wax potting the magnet, i don't see how it helps in preventing a pickup from squealing. granted it will keep the magnet tightly snug against the bobbins, polepieces and baseplate but that alone does not guarantee against loose coils and resonating covers. (forum bros who think otherwise please chime in here.)

that said, does your seths squeal bad? how loud a volume are you playing with the seths? apparently, non-wax potted pickups are not very friendly for guitarists who uses high gain. even with medium gain, it is not recommended to stand in front of a high volume cab with seths (or other non-wax potted pickups) facing the speakers. they will probably squeal like pigs!

the whole non-wax potted hudbub is to recreate the slighly breaking up tone of a vintage paf through a vintage style amp (not a modern hi-gain amp). those vintage pafs were not wax potted back in the 50s as are the non-existence of hi-gain amps back then.

in a nutshell, non-wax potted pickups are not meant for high gain playing. if you do use multiple gain stages, i will suggest wax potting your seths. you should be able to do that via the duncan custom shop. iirc, scott peterson of harmonic design - www.harmonicdesign.net - provides wax potting service for $20. but that will probably change the tone somewhat.

hope that helps!

cheers!
dani

[dani]

oh yeah, removing covers can be quite a pita. i suggest using a dremel or any rotary tools with a flat sander and using the edge of the flat sander to sand through the solder joint.

[frankfalbo]

That's what I do. Then you have a nice clean surface when you're removing the cover. Any solder burrs can cut the tape, scrape the coil, etc. It's easy to ruin a pickup that way.

Wax potting a magnet can only help that aspect of feedback. It can't cure feeback within the coil windings.

[Zhangliqun]

A little bit of wax between the magnet and the baseplate WILL help reduce feedback because it insulates the coils from the vibrations of the baseplate. I tried this on the advice of a fellow winder and it's not a 100% substitute for true potting but it does help.

It really depends on how much volume and gain you use -- the more volume and gain, the more feedback suppression you need. For some folks, the wax between magnet and baseplate (and maybe some between magnet and coils) is enough. For superhighgain metalheads, there's no substitute for dipping the whole pickup.

[frankfalbo]

So are you saying that stabilizing the magnet/base/bobbin joint would influence whether the coil windings would feedback? Or are you just saying that it would stop things like baseplate howling? I could understand if you say it would suppress coil wire feedback sympathetically, by minimizing any extraneous chassis vibrations. But if a coil is going microphonic, usually no amount of external/chassis stabilizing can reduce it. Sorry to hijack.