Guitar Slugs

I decided that I would sort out my Westbury Deluxe recently.


The pickups had become very microphonic, even on moderate gain levels. There was also a dreadful hum on anything but clean channels, that would only go away when touching the strings – most probably a bad ground, I thought.


Anyway, it seemed a good excuse to pull the thing apart and to also sort out a pot that I had replaced ages ago; it was much stiffer to turn than the others and was just annoying me….


I decided that I would wax pot the original gnarled Dimarzios, remove the wiring loom to replace the pot with an old, easy turning, one I had lying round from an old Vantage of the same era. And whilst I was at it, why not shield the controls cavity with some self-adhesive copper tape that I bought a while ago.


So, I pulled out the pickups and dipped them for 20 minutes each in 150^o wax.


I removed the wiring loom and checked all the earths, but all seemed fine, at about 0.6ohms between any points I checked. Then I checked the earth to the bridge. I had unsoldered the cable when I removed the harness. This was about 10ohms – way higher than the others. When I removed the bridge insert and pulled out the earth wire, I found it had snapped at the bridge socket. An odd fault to come across, but a new piece of wire inserted and the insert put back.


Then, all I had left to do was the shielding with the copper tape.



It was whilst I was doing this that the Mrs. walked in. She saw all the copper tape, and, being a keen gardener asked if I was having trouble with slugs getting inside my guitar….


Anyway, I didn’t. It’s all back together now, the annoying hum is gone and so too it appears have the microphonics. I’ll give it a go at higher volumes in the New Year when next band practice night is scheduled…


I also won’t have to worry about slugs in future either.

That's great, I've potted quite a few sets of pups.   However... I'm starting to understand how potting affects the sound.   However the loss of zest in the pickup is worth the trade for being able to actually use it live.

This is my first go at wax potting.

It took a bit longer than I thought. Mostly down to getting the wax melted. I had it way too hot to start with, so had to wait for it to cool down.

I haven't noticed any real changes to the tone though.

She saw all the copper tape, and, being a keen gardener asked if I was having trouble with slugs getting inside my guitar….