cavity shielding..

[deviltronix]

Hi all.. I noticed tonight that my 90' jackson is so much quiter than alot of my other guitars with the same pickups. Through an amp like my framus it makes a huge difference. The jackson is shielded with a metal (copper?) plate on the inside and of course the metal cavity covers so it makes sense that it would be quiter.

Will I be able to acheive the same success shielding other brands of guitars and still use the original (usually plastic) cavity covers? Is the shielding paint better than the metal sheets?

I Really appreciate this info..and Jackson for going the extra mile and covering all bases.

which leads me to ask, why don't more companies shield to this degree? Alot of them use nothing (BC Rich used to use metal electronics cavity covers on the gunslingers)yet are installing mega-output pickups in guitars.

Any success stories, tragic failures or caveats would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all,
Rich

[DonP]

Re: cavity shielding..

My 1977 LP Custom has factory shielding every where and it seems to work good. Very quite axe (7.5K pickups, however)

Why they don't do it now? I think the bean counters just like to get every penny they can.

[deviltronix]

Re: cavity shielding..

DonP,

Hey..how did they do it the les paul?... Cooper sheets cut and soldered together?

Rich

[Ace]

Re: cavity shielding..

The way to do it is with copper tape. I've shielded several of my guitars control cavities with copper tape and it works really well. You can also put copper tape on the backside of the pickup cavity cover. You have to make sure that the tape is wired to the ground, or it's not gonna do you any good.

A cheaper way that companies do it is to spray the inside of the control cavity with conductive paint, which helps shield the cavity, but not as well as copper tape.

[Zerberus]

Re: cavity shielding..

IMO (properly applied) the silver bearing shielding paint is more effective than foil shields....

[finnman]

Re: cavity shielding..

http://www.kinman.com/html/toneWorks...shieldingOlder

[Sharkfin]

I'm going to completely re do all the wiring and buy new pickups & hardware for my RR Concept. I am planning on shielding the control cavity with copper tape. Does anyone have some pictures showing good examples of this? I also assume I should shield the pickup cavity as well, right?

[DonP]

DonP,

Hey..how did they do it the les paul?... Cooper sheets cut and soldered together?

Rich

Better late than never LOL!

LP's from the 70s have a metal shield plate that the pots go through, then a metal "can" that most call a cigar box covering the pots and caps. It's shaped like a diamond like the control cavity.

The can is screwed to the plate with two long screws.

[Axewielder]

I am planning on shielding the control cavity with copper tape. Does anyone have some pictures showing good examples of this?

Here is the shielding that I did on my KV using shielding tape. There is also a brass control plate installed. For the pickup cavities, I prefer graphite paint. Under the paint is best with a pad exposed, but if that's not possible you can paint it over the paint/clear coat.

[Axewielder]

Here's a strat that I shielded. Graphite paint in the pickup and control cavities, and a copper pickguard shield. It's pretty quiet, although the pups are double-stacked (so I'm sort of cheating...)

[Sharkfin]

Axewielder, Thanks for the pics! The copper strip on the strat is where you have the ground soldered right? The RR plate is some type of metal, would I have to do the same shielding to the underside of the plate as you have to the strat pickguard?

[Axewielder]

Axewielder, Thanks for the pics! The copper strip on the strat is where you have the ground soldered right? The RR plate is some type of metal, would I have to do the same shielding to the underside of the plate as you have to the strat pickguard?

Yeah that tape is right over a pickguard screw, so it makes good contact with the pickguard shield and goes into the control cavity, where I have the bridge ground wire soldered to it. I'd say you shouldn't need anything with a metal pickguard. These plastic/bakelite/whatever they are pickguards on strats and teles are notorious for creating static crackling noises.

[Sharkfin]

I have a question, after taking out all the pickups there's this wire that I'm not sure where it originates. Any one know?

[Axewielder]

Looks like a bridge grounding wire. It goes to one of those bridge post inserts I'd say.

[Sharkfin]

Is this the wire I solder to the copper shielding?