Copper shield - solder or not?

[CarlosG]

Hi!
Copper shielding foils have a conductive adhesive on the back.
I was never sure if this adhesive would oxidize, so I always soldered each piece together.
​What are your experiences, do you solder or not?
Does anyone have a guitar with old shield without solder and still work with 0ohm?
Some people believe that should solder it, it seems more reliable to me, although less aesthetic.

 

[beaubrummels]

You have to solder it to ground to get a ground connection, which is the whole point of using it. People that don't are relying on just a 'pressure' connection between the pickguard and the shield in the body, or the contact of a pot that has it's back soldered to ground. That is not reliable.

 

[solspirit]

I just ground it to the claw, like everything else. I do not solder each individual piece that I lay down. Never had a problem in 30 years.

 

[MikeS]

I don't solder each piece together. For the pickguard, I have tried wiring it to ground as well as relying on body contact with the pickguard, though with the latter I usually make sure the contact point happens at a couple pickguard screws around the body rout so that it stays in contact with the cavity shielding. Shielding in the cavity does get wired, usually to the bridge ground, but not each sheet.

 

[ehdwuld]

commonly
I wait until I have a problem to find a solution

inventing theoretical ones to worry about is a fool's errand

 

[jeremy]

i dont usually shield things, but when i do, i solder the pieces to make sure there is a solid connection. does it matter? i dont know, but if im doing it, it wont hurt.

 

[GuitarStv]

It only takes a few minutes to solder so that's what I do. Over the years working on guitars I've found that I have the pickup cavity open very rarely, so would rather overdo things in terms of potential reliability than have to crack open everything and break out the iron again to fix problems later on down the road.

 

[beaubrummels]

Let me put it this way, if the shield is not connected to ground, somehow, it's not functioning as a shield. Whether you notice the difference is a separate issue and could involve other factors, like the room you are playing in, your orientation and distance from the amp, type of guitar, pickups, wiring, etc.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I don't solder. None of my guitars has ever had nor developed a problem related to not soldering the shield.