1985 Gibson Double Cut XPL / Potting The Pickups

Ok, DON'T try this at home! Just kidding but really don't!


In my never ending quest for the perfect tone I couldn't just leave the guitar alone. I brought it to a friend’s house, Bill Carruth; he is THE best amp guy in the country. He tried the guitar and we both agreed the pickups were great but had a bit of microphonics to them (Microphonics is that squealing or knocking sound you hear when you tap on a pickup. ). So I asked him what I could do, he is my mentor as well. He suggested I pot them in wax. Well the idea of submerging my new pickups in wax wasn't very appealing to me at first. Well one quiet Sunday with not much else to do I decided what the hell! I did some research on the internet and it seemed I needed beeswax and paraffin.

"Mix canning paraffin and 20% beeswax by heating them in a pot. Paraffin expands and contracts with temperature changes, and the beeswax nullifies most of that. The heating is the dangerous part—never try heating your wax on the kitchen stove or in a microwave oven because hot paraffin, and especially paraffin vapors, can ignite." This came from the Stewart- MacDonald site: http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/instrument/Electric_guitar/Electronics/a-lindyfralin.html

Well I live in a rural town in Vermont and there was no beeswax close at hand. Someone suggested these ear wax candles that are made from 100% beeswax. I guess you light one end and put the other in your ear? NO THANKS! So I bought them and got them home only to find out they are cloth covered in wax, no help. I went back to the health food store and found a pure beeswax candle that worked great. My wife volunteered a small crock pot and off I went. It really was pretty easy just had to keep an eye on the temperature. Don't let it go over 150 degrees, try to keep it as constant as possible at the 150 degrees. There is a lot of information out there but basically just submerging them for a few minuets and do it a few times. Well it worked great and the pickups still work!

Believe me it doesn't always work out this well!