Wax when changing pole pieces?

[John R]

I just bought a new set of pickups, including a DiMarzio Evo2 bridge. I know the blacked out pole pieces have a cool tricked out look, but I'm not trying to make this guitar look tricked out. I ordered a set of plain silver pole pieces from DiMarzio. I just pulled a few of the old pole pieces out and see that some of the wax potting comes out with each one.

Do I need to dip the new pole pieces in wax before threading them in to ensure I don't get microphonic feedback? Have I just totally screwed everything up and now the pickup needs to be completely re-potted (I don't think that's the case, but just checking)? What kind of wax should I be using?

Thanks!

[Timbaline]

http://projectguitar.com/tut/dip.htm
That should help.

[forest4]

I can't imagine you would need to replace what little wax you would lose just by changing pole pieces. Buy the way, I have a set of EVO's, there great!

[John R]

Timbaline: I think a full re-waxing of the entire pickup is probably overkill for these purposes. I'm really just concerned with making sure the pole pieces are well-seated and don't become microphonic.

Forest 4: I know it's just a small bit of wax, but if I understand wax potting correctly, I think the wax that holds the pole pieces steady is actually the most import part of the whole process. Having a 1/1000th of an inch of play around the pole piece (as opposed to being tightly waxed in place) seems to be exactly what would cause it to become micrphonic.

Right now, I'm thinking about heating up the new poles, dipping them in hot wax and putting a small drop in the holes before threading them in place. Thoughts? Will that be enough to sufficiently melt in with the existing wax and hold everything in place?

[John R]

I called DiMarzio. The tech on the phone basically said it's not a huge deal, but it would be a good idea to add some hot wax on the new pole pieces before installing. He said paraffin wax (surf board wax) is perfect. I told him I'd seen some people talk about adding beeswax. He said beeswax is really sticky, so it's a little harder to work with, but if I add a bit to the wax mixture, it would be good because it helps make sure the wax adheres to the poles for a longer time (he didn't specifically say, but it doesn't sound like they use beeswax during their manufacturing).