There are several steps you can use to wind a pickup. The bobbin can be magnetized first, wound and wax dipped or wound, wax dipped and then magnetized. When doing the second way it gives me better control when calibrating and measuring the gauss (magnetic strength) in the pickup. The coil and magnets can get very hot from the wax you will notice an increase in D.C. resistance in the pickup and the heat can change the gauss in the magnet. The weaker magnets are more susceptible to heat than the stronger Alnico V’s or Ceramics. I like magnetizing the pickups after their wound and potted in hot wax.

It’s hard to determine how hot your pickup can get and pay attention to what you are doing so the pickups do not melt or become deformed. Some plastic bobbins will warp even in low heat conditions. When potting you have to control the temperature of the wax and amount of time the pickup is potted. Some repairman use surfboard wax. When I talked to Mr. Zog’s, who manufactures surfboard wax south of Santa Barbara, I found out about some of their waxes. They said the “Tropical” is the hardest and I think would be best for pickups if you need to use it. It could be pretty expensive for doing many pickups. Other waxes are “Cold Water”, the softest (not recommended), “Tacky”, a sticky wax (not recommended) and “Quick Humps”, used on surfboards (not recommended).