Sheilding - Worth it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Monsoon
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Monsoon

Monsoon

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Has anyone gone through the exercise of shielding the guitar cavity? Are there measurable results? Is it worth it?
 
It depends on if you are having a problem. If you are, then it may well help. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, but the only way to find out is to try. It's not like it is all that expensive.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I have 2 guitars I shielded with the paint from stew mac. I also have one that I spent 8 hours shielding with copper foil. I can't tell the difference, but they are different guitars (but all strat-type guitars). I have heard that the paint is no good, but 8 hours is a long time to be fooling around with a soldering iron.

My '62 RI strat (circa 1988) came with no sheilding aside from a metal pickguard under the white plastic one. Kinda surprising that a $1000 list guitar had no shielding.

Boo
http://boocephus.blogspot.com
 
cephus said:
I have heard that the paint is no good, but 8 hours is a long time to be fooling around with a soldering iron.
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Who ever told you that doesn't have a clue what they are talking about. It works fine, and though it also takes a fair bit of time (it takes at least two coats, and I prefer three), it is my preference, as I can use it to shield areas the tape can not get, such as inside the raceways for the pickup cavities to the control cavity, or the hole for the output jack.

Also, you do not need to use the (very expensive) copper foil. I use extra heavy-duty aluminum foil from the grocery store for the inside of my control cavity cover plates, which works every bit as well, and is much more resistant to corrosion. I use 3M 77 spray adhesive to glue it on.

As for why Fender doesn't shield their guitars, the answer is easy. They don't have to. People buy them wither they shield them or not, so why bother. This was particularly true back in the `50's and `60's, before people really understood where the hums and buzzes were coming from. And of course, in 1962, they didn't shield the guitars, so they couldn't POSSIBLY do so on a 1962 reissue.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
what benefits comes from shielding the guitar cavity?
and what is this exactly?
 
i second the post above....is it hard to do? how much does it cost? my single coils like to hum sometimes depending on where i am, will it help a good deal with that?
 
astoebe said:
my single coils like to hum sometimes depending on where i am, will it help a good deal with that?
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Maybe. It will not eliminate it, as that is just the nature of a single coil pickup, but it may improve things.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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