Sep 09
14

Electric Guitar Electronics Shielding

25 Comments

This is a short video of a recent shielding job I did on my G&L Legacy.

Duration : 0:1:16

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This entry was posted on September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in electric guitar by admin 25 Comments

25 Responses to "Electric Guitar Electronics Shielding"

  • klanreps says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    that’s exactly what …
    that’s exactly what sheilding prevents from..i think :) …and to think about many and i mean MANY expensive electric guitars don’t have not even a small clue of proper sheilding….

  • ymmashus94 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    what does shielding …
    what does shielding do? my guitar makes alot of buzz and makes a spark sound when i touch the string or any other metal part on the guitar

  • 100roberthenry says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    hi .i have been …
    hi .i have been building guitar fx..and am not sure about the shielding on the input part….can/do i use guitar type cable and just use the inner core to the input..or do i have to use the outer core to the ground on cirduit board or something…cheers..

  • straus001 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    get a noise gate!!! …
    get a noise gate!!!!!

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Having a few gaps …
    Having a few gaps is not a problem. Having the pots and switch in contact with the copper foil does not mean they are grounded. You have to confirm with a multimeter whether each earth pin does conduct through the copper foil. If not, you’ll have to solder a short piece of wire from each earth pin directly to the copper foil – also ensure that the earth lead of the output jack is also conducting through the copper.

  • Lavabug says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Thanks for the tip! …
    Thanks for the tip! The switch and pots already seem to touch the copper foil because they are mounted in the guitar(no pickguard), is that sufficient contact?

    Btw does it matter if the shielding doesn’t fill every square inch of the cavity? I ran out of tape and there are a few tiny spaces without it, it won’t have an adverse effect will it?

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Make sure you …
    Make sure you mention that earthing of the copper surface is essential otherwise you get the opposite effect. Also as important is to avoid ground loops – any redundant wire connection to earth is a source of persisting noise even when everything seems properly earthed.

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Lavabug: Make sure …
    Lavabug: Make sure the earth lead (the outer mesh of the output cable) is in good contact with the back of the pot and the pot should be in contact with the copper foil. Any other point that needs grounding (switch, bridge, even pickups) should be soldered straight to the copper foil (shortest path to ground) – make sure there are no redundant wires going to ground otherwise they create the effect known as “ground loop” (parallel paths to ground) and it is also a cause of persisting noise.

  • Lavabug says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Holy crap no wonder …
    Holy crap no wonder my guitar is noisier, thanks for that info. What ground should I connect the shielding to? The one on my pots, bridge, switch? I thought my copper tape was already grounded since it’s making contact with my pots and switch, guess that’s not enough?

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    ziajek00 – not …
    ziajek00 – not necessarily. I think he did a good job. I thought that shielding the coils would be beneficial but because the conductive surface is too close to the coils it brings the antenna effect even if it’s earthed. There has to be some distance between the shielding surface and the pickups in order to reproduce the Tesla cage effect.

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Hi vdjn55; yes it …
    Hi vdjn55; yes it will work as long as the aluminium is in contact with the ground of your guitar. Aluminium is hard to solder because it doesn’t bind to conventional tin and lead based electronics solder. The best way is to extend the shielding (ground) of the output jack and make contact as good as you can to the aluminium (a bare wire in close contact with the aluminium foil using stick tape maybe a solution).

  • dongpedroyi says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    It really works …
    It really works provided that the whole metallic surface is grounded (one very important thing that was not mentioned during the video) otherwise the whole thing will have the opposite effect magnifying the noise one wants to get rid off; simply because it will work as an antenna! The idea of grounding the copper foil is to send all unwanted signals to earth before it hits your wires. If it’s not grounded, there is no point in doing this.

  • CowardlyShoe69 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    shielding rapes the …
    shielding rapes the guitar’s resonance. makes it resonate like a block of lead.

  • vdjn55 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    hi
    ive got a strat …
    hi
    ive got a strat and ive put aluminum foil all over its insides…. theres only one problem: i dunno how to solder XD. would this work?: what if i take a piece of wire and connect the aluminum(from one of the walls) to the claw(in the trem cavity) using electrical tape at both ends…would it work?

  • petem1989 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    rnich: sounds like …
    rnich: sounds like a grounding problem to me- touching the various parts grounds them through you. Proper shielding and regrounding should be beneficial.

  • 1337p says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    are you being …
    are you being serious?

  • kovendre says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    I think aluminium …
    I think aluminium is perfect… my guitar is shielded with this

  • king666nothing says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    What’s better, …
    What’s better, aluminum or copper? I’m going to shield back cavity on my guitar (and I probably will shield pickups later), but I don’t know which material to use.

  • rnich35180 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    My guitar buzzes/ …
    My guitar buzzes/hums. When I touch the strings, bridge, or knobs, the buzz goes away. If I repeatedly tap the strings, bridge, or knobs with my finger, it makes a popping sound. Does anybody know what the problem is?

  • ziajek00 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    youre wrong. search …
    youre wrong. search for “audere audio noise and/or hum faq” thats perfect and very good shielding

  • ziajek00 says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    you did this …
    you did this shielding quite inpreopper way. i dont belive this gives good results – you wasted much copper tape and didnt shield most important things – coils!!!!!

  • ovocopter says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    hey man, nice …
    hey man, nice shielding, do this improvement can make troubles like electric damages to gear or to the guitar player?

  • fjferd says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    copper tape mate
    copper tape mate

  • vidividivicious says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    Hey man, how did …
    Hey man, how did you do that?
    I mean, is that aluminium foil or lead?

  • joethfc says:
    September 14, 2009 at 11:42 pm
    Reply

    i had the same …
    i had the same problem and it was nothing to do with the plug because it persisted when i used all wireless equipment
    noise reduction effects worked for me – if you have anything noise reduction wise then give it a try – if not then think about getting one

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