Pot pickups with lacquer?

[senorblues]

I read a Lindy Fralin article that mentioned that Fender sometimes potted pickups with lacquer. I am thinking about dripping some nail polish into my SX P pickup since you can't get the covers off.
Worth a try? Won't do any damage, right?

[T-Bird]

Hi.

If the wire insulation material is compatible with the laquer (and its thinner) there should be no problems.

Not much help either I think, the laquer would need to be really thin to penetrate fully.

Paraffine and beeswax are much easier IMHO.

Regards
Sam

[line6man]

I remember when i had Curtis Novak build me a custom pickup, i asked him about wax potting and he was telling me that old Fender's were done with laquer. I am pretty sure that my pickup was done in laquer.

Nailpolish is acrylic. I am not sure if that's a bad thing or not, but i would much rather just use laquer rather than some amatuer nailpolish job.

[Pilgrim]

It might be a good idea to acquire a used pickup or two via Ebay and use them for test runs. Trying it with lacquer of any type is a one-time deal - it either works or you have a paper-weight..

Nail polish would not be my choice. You can buy cans of clear acrylic lacquer from Stew-Mac that would flow better and be less likely to attack the insulation on the wires.

BUT - since there must be plenty of sites on web showing you how to pot pickups with paraffin - and you KNOW that (1) it works, and (2) is less expensive, why not go that way???? Much less trouble, cheaper, and much better chance of a positive result.

[ddnidd1]

Originally Posted by senorblues

I read a Lindy Fralin article that mentioned that Fender sometimes potted pickups with lacquer. I am thinking about dripping some nail polish into my SX P pickup since you can't get the covers off.
Worth a try? Won't do any damage, right?

Why are you potting your pickup?

[senorblues]

This pickup doesn't feedback, but is noisy in that it picks up clicking finger noise and whatever. I'm not using, but now I am building another bass and thought I might try potting it and if it helps, use it in the new FrankenP. I understood that you shouldn't do the wax thing if you can't get the covers off, and it seems easier to just drip some paint in than go through all the trouble with a double boiler and watching the temp and all that. Thanks for the help. I thought Nail polish was lacquer.

[GlennW]

Get a quart of Sherwin-Williams clear sanding sealer for $7-8. Hang the pickup from the leads so it's completely submerged for a couple of hours; after about an hour shift the angle it's hanging at to give the trapped air a chance to escape. Remove, brush off excess sealer, let dry over night. It works, and won't make it a pain to work on the pickup later if necessary.

Don't mess with wax; it's expensive (the tools) and dangerous. If you must have them wax potted send them to a real pickup guy and pay him to do it.

[senorblues]

Will do, GlennW. Thanks.

[GlennW]

My pleasure. Here's the whole name:

Sherwin-Williams
Wood Classics
Interior Wood
Fast Dry Sanding Sealer
Clear
6403-15891

It's all I've ever used for potting pickups, and you can peel off some coil wire with no problems after potting if you want.