Shielding

From today's fun and games in the dMac bunker:


Do you use adhesive copper on your guitar to shield against interference?

Do you ground that shielding?

In a shielded pickup rout or control cavity, do you put a bit of solder between the pieces of shielding to make a clean electrical contact? (a shielding - adhesive - shielding sandwich may not have good connectivity.)

If you have shielded the scratch plate, do you leave a piece of shielding from the on top of the body from the pickup or control rout in "a position of tight fit", so there is an electrical contact between the two?

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you don't give the interference you're shielding against somewhere to go, it will go where it wants to, and the job is only half done.

Doing this little bit of extra work has cured more problems than it's created.

[pablopepper]

Hey Dmac,

I've been considering using conductive shielding paint over the copper tape method. Do you have any experience with that?

I'm finding it quite difficult to obtain, but my pickup routs don't have much play and I can foresee a lot of swearing and sliced fingertips if I use adhesive copper.

Cheers.

Quote from pablopepper on October 24, 2012, 07:24
Hey Dmac,

I've been considering using conductive shielding paint over the copper tape method. Do you have any experience with that?

I'm finding it quite difficult to obtain, but my pickup routs don't have much play and I can foresee a lot of swearing and sliced fingertips if I use adhesive copper.

Cheers.

I agree with you, Pablo- it's almost impossible to find here. I understand it's considered a paint, and like most paints it's not on the safe goods list for air freight. Places like StewMac don't ship it. And to get enough by sea, you need to buy a container load. Sometimes it's not good being in Austalia...

I used it when I was in the States (on a non-musical mission), and found that to be 100% effective it still had to be grounded in one way or another.

As my old mentor said- remember that interference is some sort of electrical interference (radio being electrical too) so it needs to be bled off. If the choice is between missing a bit and proper grounding...

I manage in pickup routes with my little finger which isn't so little, and being gentle and not rushing. We're talking about adhesive copper, and it's more like sticky tape than a sheet of copper, and I've never had an injury.

[dingobass]

Hi dMac and Pablo.

You can get shielding paint fron Australian Luthiers Supplies in Brisbane. http://luthierssupplies.com.au

Also I seem to remember there being no problems getting it from Stewmac, (at least they don't say you can't get it sent by airmail, unlike other paint products they sell which all have cannot be shipped by air statements) and I am certain a mate of mine here in Perth got his from Stewmac recently, but I will check with him to confirm or deny.

There is no question that a complete sheilding job makes all the difference. I do it to every build and never get any of those annoying hums.
I also apply a dab of solder to all the joins just to make sure!

[pablopepper]

Thanks Dingobass,

I ended up finding a seller on eBay from the UK who has sent it to Australia before with no dramas, so I went with him. I did originally check out Australian Luthier Supplies, but as I'm not in a hurry, they would only supply a fairly large amount and were significantly more expensive I found an alternative. Same with Stewmac, cheaper, but minimum 1/2 pint.

As it stands, with the 60ml I got ($25ish incl. shipping), I'm hoping to have enough to do both guitars (my TL-1 kit and my Gibson which came with zero shielding and hums like a beehive) with some left over for future projects.

This looks interesting.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GUITAR-SH...24dc2b55<br />
And I really have to work out how to put in a text description of the link.

[Gavin1393]

I purchased Conductive Shielding paint from Stewmac 4 weeks ago. Arrived 4-5 days later!

Quote from Gavin1393 on October 27, 2012, 20:23
I purchased Conductive Shielding paint from Stewmac 4 weeks ago. Arrived 4-5 days later!

(If I'm honest, Gavin, I'm not a fan- I prefer copper... Thanks for the info, tho! )

[dingobass]

Quote from Gavin1393 on October 27, 2012, 20:23
I purchased Conductive Shielding paint from Stewmac 4 weeks ago. Arrived 4-5 days later!

(If I'm honest, Gavin, I'm not a fan- I prefer copper... Thanks for the info, tho! )[/quote]

I am with Dmac on this one. Copper all the way. And it looks pretty too!

[Gavin1393]

I prefer copper too, was merely confirming that it (shielding paint) can be acquired from StewMac!