Wax pot

To immerse a pickup in melted wax so that the wax penetrates the coil and fills the gaps between the windings, done as a treatment rather than as a component.

The purpose is to stop the coil from vibrating: a coil that can move against itself becomes microphonic, picking up handling noise and squealing at high gain. Wax also protects the wire from moisture. The downside is that the wax adds a small amount of capacitance and mass, and heavily potted pickups are sometimes described as slightly less open than unpotted ones, which is why some makers leave their lower-output designs untreated.

Example: an unpotted humbucker under heavy gain will often squeal at volume until it has been wax potted.

Wax pot

See also