Wax potted vs unpotted guitar pickups - a back to back comparison with the same pickups

Featured in this video is a custom PAF style humbucker and a Cirrostratus Telecaster bridge pickup. Both available at https://www.alegree.co.uk/pages/alegr....

Wax potting pickups was adopted to prevent microphonic squealing at higher gain and volume levels. Some of the very first pickups were produced without wax potting, Gibson PAFs being one notable example. Debate has raged on since the adoption of this practice about if it has a sonic affect on the pickup, and if it's even audible. We aim to put this to the test to answer the question - can guitarists in general tell the difference between unpotted and potted pickups in a blind tone test?

We're using the very same pickups - not just the same model, like some other videos have done, to keep the test as accurate as possible. Every factor we can possibly control has been kept consistent to allow us the most scientifically accurate test we can put together to decide once and for all if wax potting makes an audible difference.

We'll be following up this video with a compilation of the opinions provided in the comments and from other sources and diving into the numbers to see the distribution of answers. We'll see if the general consensus is correct, and if so, by how much, in our follow up video where we reveal the answers.