Question: To pot or not to pot my Les Paul's PAFs?

[cvogue]

So I think my 1985 Les Paul's pickups are pretty microphonic... I tap on them with a pick and it comes through really loud and clear. Worst of all when I kick in my OCD for a gain boost I get a pretty heinous squeal. My PRS does this a little bit but it's livable, it's much worse on my Les Paul.

I've had them potted once before (took it to a local tech) and I'm wondering if I should take it back to him. He said at the time that when he put it in the wax it bubbled like crazy... and it was better afterwards but not perfect, still squealed a little but like the PRS, at that point it was usable.

I'm wondering if the tech did a "light" potting (i.e. used less wax), I've heard if you overdo it you can change the tone of the pickup. These are the original pickups in the guitar and they aren't the coveted PAF's that fetch loads of dough but they do have the Pat Applied For sticker on the pickup rings.

I'm wondering if I should deal with the squeal or get them potted... what kind of risk is there?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[mongooz]

or replace the pups with ones that don't squeal.
how loud are you playing and how close are you to the amp?
at some point, with enough volume and proximity to the amp.....nothing is going to stop the squeal.

 

[gtrjunior]

Yeah man...just replace them. There are sooo many killer pickups on the market now....just start YouTube-ing and you'll run across tons of videos

 

[smurfco]

Potting is fairly easy to do. I've done it at home myself with great results, and I'm a moron. You have to be a little bit careful to keep from burning your house down but if I can do it anyone can.

 

[PunkKitty]

They have already been potted. If they are squealing and don't work for you, it's time to replace them.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

Potting is fairly easy to do. I've done it at home myself with great results, and I'm a moron. You have to be a little bit careful to keep from burning your house down but if I can do it anyone can.

Don't sell yourself short, Judge. You're a tremendous slouch.

 

[cvogue]

Don't sell yourself short, Judge. You're a tremendous slouch.

Ahh Caddyshack... been a long time, gonna have to watch it again. :thumbup:

 

[cvogue]

OK, problem at least partially solved... I took a closer look and it's the bridge pickup that has the problem for the most part. I only have my practice amp at home and I cranked the gain and still got immediate squeal. The bridge pickup does rock back and forth a little bit but it was also very high. I lowered it and it made quite a difference in the feedback. Still sounds good backed down a little and the feedback is better.

I'll bring a screwdriver and the LP to practice next weekend and give it the acid test. Feel a lot better about this now.

If you saw my other thread I'll still replace the volume pots with audio taper, but I can do that myself. Was more nervous about potting pickups.

 

[Virtual Pariah]

I have to ask.
How much gain are you using? Getting a PRS (non hollobody) to squeal might be something more than the pickups.
Even a LP from 85 would have pretty well wired pups. (Shaws I think).

You may want to check the whole circuit between the guitar amp and the wall just to see if there isn't an electrical issue.
Just for safety's sake.

 

[PunkKitty]

OK, problem at least partially solved... I took a closer look and it's the bridge pickup that has the problem for the most part. I only have my practice amp at home and I cranked the gain and still got immediate squeal. The bridge pickup does rock back and forth a little bit but it was also very high. I lowered it and it made quite a difference in the feedback. Still sounds good backed down a little and the feedback is better.

I'll bring a screwdriver and the LP to practice next weekend and give it the acid test. Feel a lot better about this now.

If you saw my other thread I'll still replace the volume pots with audio taper, but I can do that myself. Was more nervous about potting pickups.

Potting pickups is easy. I use a small crock pot with a combination of paraffin and beeswax. You just heat the wax, soak the pickups until you don't see bubbles, and then pull them out and let them cool. Wipe off the excess wax while the pickups are still warm.

 

[cvogue]

I have to ask.
How much gain are you using? Getting a PRS (non hollobody) to squeal might be something more than the pickups.
Even a LP from 85 would have pretty well wired pups. (Shaws I think).

You may want to check the whole circuit between the guitar amp and the wall just to see if there isn't an electrical issue.
Just for safety's sake.

It's mainly a problem when I kick in an OCD in front of the amp as a gain boost. There's a good amount but it's not insane.

In the interest of full disclosure, when it happens I am standing pretty close in front of the amp and it's worse with an amp stand of course.

 

[gtrjunior]

It's mainly a problem when I kick in an OCD in front of the amp as a gain boost. There's a good amount but it's not insane.

In the interest of full disclosure, when it happens I am standing pretty close in front of the amp and it's worse with an amp stand of course.

Just to back you up here. I use a healthy amount of gain as well and don't have those issues you describe. Will I get feedback if I don't control it? Of course, but I don't get that high pitches microphonic variety. I also run a noise gate in my Fx loop. Not to control feedback but to control gain hiss, but still it helps to squash unwanted feedback as well.

 

[gtrjunior]

Just to back you up here. I use a healthy amount of gain as well and don't have those issues you describe. Will I get feedback if I don't control it? Of course, but I don't get that high pitched microphonic variety. I also run a noise gate in my Fx loop. Not to control feedback but to control gain hiss, but still it helps to squash unwanted feedback as well.

 

[Wyatt]

The only thorough way to pot pickups is to vacuum pot.

But if they have already been potting, that may not be the problem.

 

[jp_nyc]

Personally I’d just replace the pickups and move on. Otherwise you’ll just end up in a rabbit hole of internet fixes and probably end up replacing the pickups anyway.

 

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

If it's a Les Paul you really like playing and it feels good in your hands, you owe it to it, to give it some good pickups.

They don't have to be Throbaks or stupid price replacements, but there are a lot of good winders making some great pickups for not a lot of money

 

[smurfco]

I did my Casino pickups over the weekend. It worked great and killed microphonic pickup noise and squeala!