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pick-up potting

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Started by ctrlaltdelete (chris) in Musicians (Gear, Tabs & Lyrics)

anyone know how to do this? or any tips?…From what Ive read its a bit tricky…?

Posted on Fri, 22 July 2005 at 18:21

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#1

Misanthropologist (d) wrote:

I’ve never tried it, but I’m not sure it’s tricky so much as messy… Why are you doing it? Have you got a hum you want rid of?

Posted on Fri, 22 July 2005 at 20:22

#2

ctrlaltdelete (chris) wrote:

yeah, and a few squeels as well.Theres a bit of an earth buzz.I cant really figure it out.But i thought if I potted the pick-ups, it might eliminate some of it.It is a very old guitar(about 30years+) I’ve totally restored it, apart from these pick-ups.(pics up soon)It might be the pots, but Im not sure.I replaced the the capacitors today…and its still screams.maybe I should replace all the wiring? hmmmmm

Posted on Fri, 22 July 2005 at 21:37

#3

Misanthropologist (d) wrote:

Replacing the wiring might help with th eearth buzz, but I think the squeal would likely be microphonic feedback, which does point to your pickups. Thing is I’ve heard some people have tried potting them but it’s not been effective enough to cancel it out. As I understand it (though I’m by no means an expert), potting a pickup is a cheap solution to cheap and/or old pickups. New pickups would likely solve the squeal, but possibly not the earth buzz. Have you shielded all the cavities? That made a HUGE difference to the earth hum that I had trouble with.

Posted on Fri, 22 July 2005 at 21:52

#4

Misanthropologist (d) wrote:

This is quite good for identifying problems:
http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/trouble/index.php

And if it comes to it, this may help for actually potting:
http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/index.php

Posted on Fri, 22 July 2005 at 22:10

#5

ctrlaltdelete (chris) wrote:

sheilding the cavities?…explain

Posted on Sat, 23 July 2005 at 10:07

#6

Misanthropologist (d) wrote:

WEll, there’s different ways to do it, but basically it just means coating the inside of your guitar with tinfoil… You’re best off with a metal electrical tape, though. You need to coat as much of the insides as you can, because any gap in the shielding will let in electrical interference, which is obviously a cause of hum. Strictly speaking, once you’ve coated the whole inside with the metal tape, you’re supposed to add blobs of solder to the edges of each strip to make a solid connection (even if the tape overlaps, the thickness of the tape can be enough to prevent a connection), and then you connect the whole ‘box’ that you’ve just made to earth. But I personally had trouble with hum (a slight hum when touching the strings that got much worse when I took my hands away), so I coated the cavities with this metal tape, but didn’t bother trying to solder each strip together, and that has _completely_ stopped any hum at all.

But I’m pretty sure that won’t do anything for the squealing.

Posted on Sat, 23 July 2005 at 11:58

#7

Lector wrote:

waxing (or potting, whatever) will most likely do the trick. If the pickup coil is too loose it´ll start resonate and will squeal. The wax “glues” the coil and it stays still and quiet.
The operation ain´t that hard as one may think. I´ve done some single coil strat PUs myself and waxed them all.
Wax is melt in a jar that lies in boiling water. When the wax is liquid then simply dip the pickup and leave it there for a while. The only risk is that if the pickup lies too long in the hot wax it may melt the insulation on the coil wire.
Also the cavity shieldings should be done as Misanthropologist said. One can use the metal tape or conductive paint.
All the accessories one might need should be found at

http://www.stewmac.com

Posted on Tue, 26 July 2005 at 10:49

#8

ctrlaltdelete (chris) wrote:

so I put the entire pick up in the wax cover it all…im guessing I should take the metal covering off-These are humbuckers too, does this make a difference?

(also Lector did you see my other post-rose moris guitars…know anything?)

Posted on Tue, 26 July 2005 at 15:43

#9

Lector wrote:

Yeah. Metal covers off. and if theres some tape or something covering the coil itself you should try to take it off too. And dip the whole thing all the way.
There´s a lot of instructions in the net about this but one can´t learn it properly until one has done this in practise. So you might want to run a test waxing first with a pickup that doesn´t matter if it goes fucked.
But read some articles about this first. It will surely help. I think that Lindy Fralin might have some tips? Check that site.

http://www.fralinpickups.com

Stewmac can also have something. Even books or DVDs?
I´m not familiar with those rose morris guitars. But I have no reason to doubt that they´re no other but very good guitars. If they´re handmade and produced in quite small number series they can´t be that bad.

Posted on Wed, 27 July 2005 at 06:43

#10

ctrlaltdelete (chris) wrote:

Well I potted the pick-ups…and… well…it worked!
sort of

I connected everything again and the neck pick-up didnt seem to be picking up anything.So I replaced it with a better Humbucker and replaced the 3-way switch, as well as all the wiring(haven’t I been a busy boy).The buzzing and humming both tottally dissappeared! and sounds great-BUT

when I switch the pick-ups to rythm( just the neckpick-up) theres nothing at all, whereas when i run it with the bridge pick-up it works ok…

ok mr.lector any suggestions?(ps, whats your website address)

Posted on Sun, 7 August 2005 at 13:04

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