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[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 22, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[hamfist]

Repotting your own pickups is a piece of cake. Here's a copy and paste of a recent description I posted elsewhere. I've done 3 or 4 pickups like this now. All with excellent results.

"I melted up a couple of big candles and some beeswax in a glass bowl. I had the glass bowl sitting in a large saucepan half full of water .... melted wax is flammable and you need to be careful how much heat you give it access to.
So melt the wax slowly in that type of setup. Only heat until all the wax is melted then turn the heat off. Most wax melts at about 60 degrees Centigrade, so you don't need to boil the water.
Suspend your pickup (not including the pickup cover ideally) by string and lower it into the wax. Leave it there for about 20 minutes. You will see lots of bubbles rising from it as wax replaces the air spaces in the pickup. Change the pickup's orientation once or twice during the process. When bubbles no longer rise, or after about 20 mins remove the pickup with the string and gently wipe it down and let it cool. Job done.
Another caution is to be fairly careful with the windings of the pickup as if you break them the pickup will become useless. "

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 22, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[hamfist]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1406743969' post='2514349']
I remember hearing about some special heater to keep the temp consistent or something, but it obviously isn't that big of a deal!
[/quote]

The key thing is to keep the wax away from any flame. A special electric heater to heat up the wax to a controlled 65 degrees, or whatever, and no more is ideal. However, I have found that using a large saucepan half full with water and heating that up on the hob (to about 60-70 degrees), then having your wax in a bowl resting in the water worked just fine. Just heat it up slowly. Overheating the wax will make it significantly more flammable. Take your time and all will be fine.

[Beer of the Bass]

I've potted pickups at home a few times, after dabbling in winding my own. I used about 80% paraffin wax in the form of white household candles and 20% beeswax in the form of those little sticks they stock in hardware shops. This was cheaper than buying bags of wax pellets for candle making. I put the wax in a plastic takeaway tub, which sat inside a metal oven dish of water with a rack to keep the tub off the bottom, heated with occasional bursts of a hob on its lowest setting. The temperature you want is hotter than a hot bath but cooler than a fresh cup of tea, where you can stick your fingers in without pain but not keep them there for a long time. A thermometer would have been a good idea, but really as long as it's hot enough to stay fully melted but not so hot as to cause a fire hazard it'll work.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Beer of the Bass

[mcnach]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1406731270' post='2514164']
I have a Kent Armstrong P-bass pickup with a single microphonic polepiece!

The reason I notice is because it is the one on the outside of the E string, so my thumbnail occasionally knocks it, putting out noise, or rests against it whilst plucking- I thought I might have a dodgy A string at first, as the noise produced was perfectly aligned with the attack of the note!

The simple, and most probable, solution is just to turn the pickup so that the pole is out of the way of any digits which might come into contact with it, as the pickup sounds great, and doesn't have any other other performance issues.

However, I'm interested in the whys and wherefores, and other possible ways to deal with it. Presumably the potting has failed around that pole, and should be re-melted. However, I'm not sure I have the equipment or experience to do it with the required precision. And for the cost of the pickup, I'm not sure it is worth the price of a re-pot. A new pickup would likely be a few quid more, and less hassle.

I think I may be answering my own queries here, and more's the point, making a mountain out of the molehill that is two wood screws and the loosening of a couple of strings. Regardless, any pointers or tips?

Cheers!
[/quote]


when you say that it puts out noise when you touch it... you mean a "thump" or buzz?
A thump would me indeed microphonic. If buzz... it just means the polepiece is not earthed. You could earth it or use a thin film of colorless nail varnish... that way you will not get buzz when touching it.

If it's really microphonic... then ignore me But it's unusual that it's microphonic only touching a polepiece, as in my experience microphonic pickups can pick pu noise by hitting the pickup anywhere, or even the body of the bass.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 22, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1407155305' post='2517818']
Is there any particular blend of waxes which is advisable, or is just plain candle wax acceptable?
[/quote]

80% paraffin wax to 20% beeswax is the standard mixture. The beeswax keeps it a bit softer and less brittle once set.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 22, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[cheddatom]

If my pickups are microphonic is this all I need to do? I thought I'd have to mess about with the winding?

[iiipopes]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1406886577' post='2515565']
The key thing is to keep the wax away from any flame. A special electric heater to heat up the wax to a controlled 65 degrees, or whatever, [b]and no more [/b]is ideal.[/quote]
And no more is the key so you don't risk any damage to the pickup.

Oh - and don't heat the wax in the microwave, either. - As stated above, the fumes are flammable, and the microwave can't keep a constant temperature. It will get hot spots that can damage the pickup.