VanDerchuck
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Is it worth the time and effort to shield the cavity on my SG? And how will it effect the sound?
Shielding the cavity.
- Thread starter VanDerchuck
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donepearce
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It won't affect the sound at all, but do it thoroughly and you will reduce the buzz - not under normal playing circumstances really, but in a situation where there is a lot of electrical interference around, yours will be the guitar that keeps playing noise-free.
Hi as above , it won't effect the sound but any buzz will be gone . I had a problem with buzzing with my sg , i replaced the pots , then the wiring , the switch and jack and still the buzz was there (just a wee quiet buzz) so i replaced the ground wire as well , still bloody buzzing , so i got some copper tape and shielded the control cavity , and it worked a treat , the buzz was gone , cheers
Alan
Alan
Col Mustard
Well-Known Member
Gibson guitars with 'Humbucking' pickups are more resistant to hum
than other instruments with single coil pickups. Fender quietly wired some
of their instruments to be 'Humbucking' but could not use that term
because Gibson had patented it.
The only reason to put shielding into your guitar is if you are hearing it
humming. Or if you are planning to go on tour with a band that's going to
be playing onstage with hugely powerful amps and p.a. etc... Most Gibsons
are adequately shielded in the wiring at the factory. That's what those
'braided' wires are supposed to do.
Copper tape works perfectly as stated above, and many famous guitarists
who tour with huge stage setups have their guitars completely shielded by
their on-staff guitar techs. It just solves problems for them. The rest of us
who play at lower volumes, gain and power amp levels might not need it.
On a recent project, I removed everything from an orphaned Squire bass,
intending to replace it all with good quality parts and bring the instrument
back to service. While I had all the guts out of it, I shielded the pickup
compartment and the control cavity with Nashua tape, which works just
as well as copper and costs only a fraction of what they charge for copper
or for the shielding paint, which also works perfectly. Get Nashua tape
at a hardware store.
If you think of any electrical wiring as having an (invisible) magnetic field, you'll
understand that most of us live for most of our lives in the midst of a
truly awe inspiring wilderness of magnetic interferences, from so many wires
surrounding us, in the walls, in the ceilings, in every appliance and gizmo,
and all pulsing with alternating current at 60 cycles per second. Not to mention
overhead power lines, underground cables etc...
Now that I've got your attention, don't you think it's a miracle that our electric
guitars work as well as they do? With sensitive pickups designed to respond to
the nuances of pick dynamics but not to register all that other pulsation going
on all around? I think the engineers at Gibson and Fender etc. have done pretty
well, and if you go to the trouble of adding shielding, it might help.
But if your guitar doesn't hum, don't take it all apart. you could break something
else... (that's what I'd be likely to do).
than other instruments with single coil pickups. Fender quietly wired some
of their instruments to be 'Humbucking' but could not use that term
because Gibson had patented it.
The only reason to put shielding into your guitar is if you are hearing it
humming. Or if you are planning to go on tour with a band that's going to
be playing onstage with hugely powerful amps and p.a. etc... Most Gibsons
are adequately shielded in the wiring at the factory. That's what those
'braided' wires are supposed to do.
Copper tape works perfectly as stated above, and many famous guitarists
who tour with huge stage setups have their guitars completely shielded by
their on-staff guitar techs. It just solves problems for them. The rest of us
who play at lower volumes, gain and power amp levels might not need it.
On a recent project, I removed everything from an orphaned Squire bass,
intending to replace it all with good quality parts and bring the instrument
back to service. While I had all the guts out of it, I shielded the pickup
compartment and the control cavity with Nashua tape, which works just
as well as copper and costs only a fraction of what they charge for copper
or for the shielding paint, which also works perfectly. Get Nashua tape
at a hardware store.
If you think of any electrical wiring as having an (invisible) magnetic field, you'll
understand that most of us live for most of our lives in the midst of a
truly awe inspiring wilderness of magnetic interferences, from so many wires
surrounding us, in the walls, in the ceilings, in every appliance and gizmo,
and all pulsing with alternating current at 60 cycles per second. Not to mention
overhead power lines, underground cables etc...
Now that I've got your attention, don't you think it's a miracle that our electric
guitars work as well as they do? With sensitive pickups designed to respond to
the nuances of pick dynamics but not to register all that other pulsation going
on all around? I think the engineers at Gibson and Fender etc. have done pretty
well, and if you go to the trouble of adding shielding, it might help.
But if your guitar doesn't hum, don't take it all apart. you could break something
else... (that's what I'd be likely to do).
Attachments
Susihukkanen
Well-Known Member
This is how it was made back in the old days.. 
donepearce
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If your pickups have metal cans they are pretty well shielded already. You can't actually shield the pickup cavity itself because the front face has to be open for the pickups to face the strings.
There are subtle things that can produce sounds though. The pickguard will make little rustling noises through the amp if you rub your fingertips gently across it. This is static-induced (like rubbing a balloon on a sweater). The way to cure this is to coat the underside with copper foil and fit a gounding wire into the control cavity. SGs are particularly prone to this for some reason.
VanDerchuck
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Thanks for the info guys. My house is incredibly susceptible to noise. Which can be good, in the one case where my 3yo turns on his bedroom light after bed time. I can hear that in the basement. But the problem is a scratchy crackling sound. Only with the SG. Both pickups. Not sure why, I've checked all the grounds and solder joints. I'm hoping some shielding will help.
Hi Vanderchuck , thats the same problem i had , you dont need to unsolder anything , just undo the pots , switch and jack and lift the lot out and lay it on a cloth - towel on the back of the guitar and shield away , do the inside of the control panel rear cover as well , cheers
Alan
Alan
Last edited:
Very respectfully
If your pickups have metal cans they are pretty well shielded already.This statement is true.
You can't actually shield the pickup cavity itself because the front face has to be open for the pickups to face the strings. Requires reconsideration.
Feel free to shield the PU cavity. The PU electrical property is inductance. String vibration is converted by the PU into electrical AC signal, when the magnetic field is disrupted or alter by the string vibrating.
Col Mustard
Well-Known Member
you'll also need to be sure your shielding is grounded.
otherwise it might make things worse. ground the shielding to the other
ground wiring. It's good to leave a tab of the tape in contact with the shielding
on the control cavity cover also... which will connect that to ground. I believe
that the pots outer casing is grounded and that is connected to the shielding
tape when the pot is tightened into place.
once the instrument is shielded, you'll need to make sure that none of your
hot wires touch that... it will short out your guitar and you'll get no sound.
So if you put everything back together and plug it in and there's no sound,
that's likely due to something touching all that shielding. find what's doing
it, and put a piece of black electrical tape over the shield in that spot.
it's an easy fix. good luck.
otherwise it might make things worse. ground the shielding to the other
ground wiring. It's good to leave a tab of the tape in contact with the shielding
on the control cavity cover also... which will connect that to ground. I believe
that the pots outer casing is grounded and that is connected to the shielding
tape when the pot is tightened into place.
once the instrument is shielded, you'll need to make sure that none of your
hot wires touch that... it will short out your guitar and you'll get no sound.
So if you put everything back together and plug it in and there's no sound,
that's likely due to something touching all that shielding. find what's doing
it, and put a piece of black electrical tape over the shield in that spot.
it's an easy fix. good luck.
donepearce
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No, I got that right. The best you can achieve is some copper behind the pickup. That isn't a shield. A shield has to go all the way round to work. Sure the pickup mechanism is inductive, but that has nothing to do with the effect of shielding which eliminates electrical fields, not magnetic fields.
Kris Ford
Well-Known Member
Then turned into this style..This is how it was made back in the old days..
Funny thing, they had strips of electrical tape under the pot lugs as well..when I replaced the pots, I replicated the tape strips exactly, as the old ones lost their stickiness..
Also, what is that cap that connects from bridge and neck pickup pots? A treble tamer or treble bleed mod?? I have never seen that stock..the EB0 has a .010 cap similar to that, but connects from ground to the lower lug...
(This is a legitimate reason to quote BTW, please don't be angry at me..
)
Susihukkanen
Well-Known Member
Also, what is that cap that connects from bridge and neck pickup pots? A treble tamer or treble bleed mod?? I have never seen that stock..the EB0 has a .010 cap similar to that, but connects from ground to the lower lug...
When I bought this guitar, the previous owner said that the previous owner made here a master volume mod so that the neck pick up volume pot functions as a master volume and the bridge pu vol has some kind of tone adjusting capability. I took the guitar to my luthier and asked him to restore the normal wiring so that each pick ups has their own volume control. After that restoring, there were one capacitor away, but since I don't know about the wiring, I can't say more if there is still some part of that prepre owners mod left (like that treble bleed mod you mentioned). Here are the pics before and after (but which way it was...).. Ok, now I found it out. The pic I posted earlier on this thread was the wiring with the master vol mod and here is also the restored wiring. Sorry about the wrong pic.
Master vol modified:
Restored wiring:
iblive
Well-Known Member
The good "Col" laying wisdom on us. I learn something just about every time I read your posts. Keep it coming. That's the kind of stuff that make ETSG a special place to visit. Thank you.
Col Mustard
Well-Known Member
I learn stuff too:
>Originally Posted by Kris Ford "Also, what is that cap that connects from bridge and neck pickup pots? A treble tamer or treble bleed mod?? I have never seen that stock..the EB0 has a .010 cap similar to that, but connects from ground to the lower lug..."
>Susihukkanen: "Ok, now I found it out. The pic I posted earlier on this thread was the wiring with the master vol mod and here is also the restored wiring. Sorry about the wrong pic."
This is great, and great photos to, showing everything in gory detail.
>Originally Posted by Kris Ford "Also, what is that cap that connects from bridge and neck pickup pots? A treble tamer or treble bleed mod?? I have never seen that stock..the EB0 has a .010 cap similar to that, but connects from ground to the lower lug..."
>Susihukkanen: "Ok, now I found it out. The pic I posted earlier on this thread was the wiring with the master vol mod and here is also the restored wiring. Sorry about the wrong pic."
This is great, and great photos to, showing everything in gory detail.
Chubbles
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I know it's an old post but: Amazon has some great deals on "copper tape" with "conductinve adhesive" (when you overlap pieces of tape, they are electrically connected). I got 2 inches by 22 yards for about $13.00. I pasted the link below, but links get old. You can just google the words above in quotes along with "Amazon". Cheap, but works well for shielding. Also you can solder copper to a wire to connect to ground if needed.
Have fun!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01E...0_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=T91H5TW1TV3H1VNC9J1S
Have fun!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01E...0_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=T91H5TW1TV3H1VNC9J1S
Col Mustard
Well-Known Member
Welcome to ETSG!
And thanks for the tip. That shielding stuff is too expensive.
And thanks for the tip. That shielding stuff is too expensive.
jvin248
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.
Hardware store Aluminum Roof Flashing tape works too, about $8 for a roll that will shield a couple of dozen guitars.
It's heavy foil with adhesive backing. Wrinkle the edges to ensure contact, check continuity with a meter. Also make sure to use a shielded cable from the volume pot to the output jack, some guitars use 'vintage' unshielded wires and get that 'vintage' hum even though they shielded the cavities.
.
Hardware store Aluminum Roof Flashing tape works too, about $8 for a roll that will shield a couple of dozen guitars.
It's heavy foil with adhesive backing. Wrinkle the edges to ensure contact, check continuity with a meter. Also make sure to use a shielded cable from the volume pot to the output jack, some guitars use 'vintage' unshielded wires and get that 'vintage' hum even though they shielded the cavities.
.
