Stephens Design PIckups - Stop squeal the easy way!

You will need some paper drafting tape, some silicone acrylic caulk in a tube, or Elmer's white glue. I use a two way custom made clamp you see in the video. To solder the cover closed you need about a 40-60 watt soldering iron, I use 2 different ones, a big iron for UN-soldering the covers and a Weller soldering station WESD51 set to 850 degrees Farenheit for cleanly soldering the cover closed. HEAT THE JOINT, DON'T HEAT THE SOLDER. TIN the tip before you solder or unsolder. A single edge razor blade works best for removing covers because it won't bend the edge of the cover and ruin it. As you can see in the video this pickup has coils that are extremely full, yet the razor blade slices through the molten solder and doesn't cut into the coils. When the cover is pulled off though, the remaining solder tore the tape a little bit as you see at the end of the video, so you have to be really careful. Pull the paper tape out of the cover and clean up the glue by scraping it off with the razor blade, or use acetone, or lacquer thinner to clean it off.

The silicone caulk will stabilize the top of the cover from vibrating over the slugs and the paper tape protects the pickup and also dampens the squeal. If you play big venues with big loud amps, though, you will really need to pot your pickups fully. The silicone method is for general uses and is a quick easy procedure to stop cover squeal and isn't messy like melting some wax in the cover first and is easily removed if you don't want it.

Dave Stephens
SDPickups.com