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Wax potting is done for several reasons. It reduces unwanted mechanical vibration within the pickups components like screws, metal spacers, magnets etc. Another important reason is to keep the moisture from penetrating the coil and reduces moisture that could eventually cause the poles to rust on single coil pickups. Single coil pickups after time have…

If you are looking at Fender pickups from the top the coil will be wound either clockwise or counter clockwise. Depending how the bobbin is put on the winding machine the coil is wound either Top Coming or Top Going. When Top Coming, the top of the bobbin travels towards you. When Top Going, the…

There can be several factors that can give you different DC resistance in your pickups. Most likely you’re hand winding the coils where you guide the wire onto the bobbin being turned by some mechanical device such as a variable speed motor like a sewing machine motor with a foot pedal. Hand winding can cause…

You often hear the term series/parallel/split associated with humbucking and single coil pickups. It’s a way to change the character of your pickup by using different wiring that change the impedance and inductance of a pickup. In series, a combination of coils are put end to end and in parallel, one side of two or…

Magnet material: grade The magnet material comes in several grades and dimensions. Earlier articles in VGM show various grades of magnetic materials supplier Depending on what supplier the fabricator gets the raw stock before grinding and cutting will determine the quality and standards used in making the magnet. how magnetized Magnets can be magnetized by…

George W. Creighton Jr. who was the Material Engineer for the National Vulcanized Fibre Co. writes: Vulcanized fibre is produced in a number of different grades. The final grade depends upon the starting material. Saturating a grade of absorbent paper is the base material for Vulcanized fibre and may be made form cotton rags or…

Typical Fender style flatwork is punched out and pierced out of a material called Vulcanized Fibre. It is made by saturating paper with a chemical solution and compressing under heat. Many layers of paper can be used for the desired thickness and color. Typical colors are black, gray, red, bone and natural. It’s the most…

Pickup covers can be made several ways: Metal covers can be fabricated, bend and soldered to a desired shape. This is especially done when making prototypes and short runs. Metal covers should be made out of a nickel silver rather than brass, aluminum etc. Plastic covers can be injection molded using many types of commerical…

Years ago I pulled apart a Fender Telecaster pickup and saw string wrapped around the coil to protect the magnet wire that saturated with black wax to help reduce moisture from penetrating the pickup and used to eliminate microphonic feedback or squeal. The theory came from the transformer industry to coat the coil and keep…

I get many requests on wax potting guitar and bass pickups so I wanted to give you detailed information and procedures to carefully follow. Get familiar with all the procedures before beginning. POTTING PRECAUTIONS: Always wear eye protection when working on your instrument. When removing pickups and unsoldering it is important to make a schematic…