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Curious why so many boutique compnies make unpotted pickups and apparently they allow a bigger/fatter tone? But, most modern pickups are potted! And some companies use some other special techniques. Many people express that it deadens the tone?

In my experience wax potting can be necessary in certain types of guitars. Semi hollow body guitar and Telecasters have a tendency to feed back or quot;howlquot;. Wax potting will eliminate much of this. I have a '52RI Tele that was unplayable with any volume or gain. I waxed dipped the PUPs and now it plays more the way it should. I personally did not notice any difference in tone, just the fact that the guitar was more usable. I am planning on upgrading the PUPS in this guitar as well. I have ordered a vintage '54 for the neck and a JD for the bridge. Not for any other reason than I am not happy with the overall tone of this guitar. Wax potting will definately help[.

Some say unpotted pups are a bit livlier... but you know... there are somethings which aren't proofed yet
Also, not way potting has more mojo cause it's vintage

Some quot;Vintagequot; or quot;Scatterwoundquot; or quot;Boutiquequot; manufacturers claim that if you wind a pickup right it doesn't need to be potted. I don't know about that?

A pickup that is unpotted or aged has a tendancy to be a bit warmer but they have less clarity. They are slightly microphonic so they are more sensitive to volume and distortion levels. They also feedback easier and have a subtle warble. But that sensitivity is random and not controlled. Potting controls a pickup. I have found that unpotted pickups are a double edged sword. They work well in a studio setting but don't work that well with stage volumes and high distortion. So you back off the volume and the distortion and you end up with a more vintage sound. Is that what your really after?

A good example is my experience with old Les Paul Deluxes and SG's with p90's. I love the sound of old mini humbuckers and p90's. They have a lot of random overtones that make them great at lower volumes and distortion for recording but they become uncontrolable at higher volumes and distortion like you find onstage. That's why many pro's use vintage gear in the studio. They can engineer out the undesirable elements in a studio. Live you don't have a net.

Snowdog

This is allo interesting stuff. I know some companies such as WCR use a special technique or substance that is apparenty better than wax in that it pots the pickup but doesn't have any of the negative effects, if in fact there are any.