Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

[BloodRose]

Awhile back I bought a really nice Charvel model series bass in a pawn shop.. Got a great deal on it and its a great bass.. It came with Dimarzio pups in it and once I dialed in the set up a bit, its a monster. However, I was getting alittle crackling at the jack. So, I pull out the jack and tried to bend the tab in alittle. Well the wiring is so tight, apparently I pulled loose a connection when I pulled the jack out and now it shorting and giving me various problems...$!#$^!#@#$!$!!! Any how, Im gonna have to go thru and check for pulled connections.

Now for the heart of my post.. The bass when I got it, has the whole control cavity lined with aluminum foil. looks like they tried to do a full shielding on it. And, looks like a pretty decent job.. But, Im wondering, is it ok to use aluminum foil to shield? If so, Ill leave it when I try to find my wiring gremlins. If not, Ill redo it with some shielding tape. Thanks!!

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Aluminum foil actually works great as shielding! In some cases it works better than a lot of other things even. Of course, it tears and rips easily but it definitely works!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Hmm.. cool! I thought maybe it would be more of a conductor. Looks like they did a pretty good job with it.. Im just so ticked at myself for messing up the jack.. I just cant leave well enough alone..

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

If you are going to have shielding, do the job right. Get some copper tape with conductive adhesive.

Aluminum foil can work, but it's a rinky-dink approach. Copper is a better conductor, it adheres better, and you can solder to it.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Aluminum foil can work but it's a rinky-dink approach.

Agreed. Peavey used aluminium foil in the control cavities of their T-60 and T-40. :eek1:

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

The guitar came with foil in it.. I have copper shielding . however its not adhesive/ the bummer with the listing you posted is the stuff is only 1/2 inch.. would take forever

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Forever? It takes a bit longer to shield a large flat surface with the 1/2" tape, but it's a helluva lot easier to manipulate in the tighter spaces.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Google is your friend. Copper foil tape comes in various widths... how about 3/4 inch, would that help?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5D52R08868

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Forever? It takes a bit longer to shield a large flat surface with the 1/2" tape, but it's a helluva lot easier to manipulate in the tighter spaces.

you are prolly right.. brain fart

Google is your friend. Copper foil tape comes in various widths... how about 3/4 inch, would that help?

http://www.alliedelec.com/3m-1181-1-2x18/70113835/#tab=similar

Indeed. Id have found it.. just only have comp access at wk these days and have to limit personal use... Thanks amigo!

 

[ginormous]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Try the Newegg link, less pricey.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

thank you!

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Try the Newegg link, less pricey.

Less pricey than what? The Newegg linked copper tape costs $8 more than the eBay linked tape I posted earlier counting the price of the tape + shipping, and the eBay one has 6 times more copper surface area than the Newegg link.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Less pricey than what? The Newegg linked copper tape costs $8 more than the eBay linked tape I posted earlier counting the price of the tape + shipping, and the eBay one has 6 times more copper surface area than the Newegg link.

It was less pricey than the Allied Electronics link I removed, to replace with Newegg.

I have been bested... I bow to you, sir. :notworthy

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Ah, OK, I missed the previous reference. I wasn't trying to be snarky, just so you know.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

Im still sooo ticked at myself for screwing up the wiring... just pulled the jack out to try to bend the prong alil for better connection and I either pulled something loose or broke a wire cuz its making a ship ton of nasty noise now... gonna break it down in a day or so and go thru it...

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

While I don't blame you for being pissed at yourself, this represents a great opportunity to go in all the way and make sure everything is good -- shielding, bridge ground, wiring, pots, everything.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

yep, thats why I asked about the shielding. I was suprised when I bought it, the cavity is already completely lined with aluminum foil. Looks like they did a pretty good job of setting it all up that way. I should left it alone.. but figure Ill wire in a new jack and check it out top to bottom and hopefully all Ill have to do it rock it from there on out!!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Foil for shielding?? Plus a wiring screw up..

While I don't blame you for being pissed at yourself, this represents a great opportunity to go in all the way and make sure everything is good -- shielding, bridge ground, wiring, pots, everything.

Went through it tonight.. left the foil shielding on it as they did a pretty thorough job.. I did find a ground that came unsoldered, a pickup connection that was about to come apart and some grounds that were not attached real secure.. Looks like it was wired by a pro. I got all the connections resoldered bullet proof and cleaned up the input jack with electronics cleaner and thankfully, it works good and quiet again. thanks for the input everyone!