Inner shielding of guitars.

B2D

SDUGF Riffologist Supremö
I'd like to sheild the inside of my guitars.

I know you can do this with aluminum foil, but how do you get the foil to stick to the inside of the cavity? I did see some copper sheilding tape sold at radioshack to use, can I go that route as well?
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

There's also graphite-spray available... The one I know is from Warwick... sounds like the easiest way to me and I'm thinking about getting some...
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

B2D said:
I'd like to sheild the inside of my guitars.

I know you can do this with aluminum foil, but how do you get the foil to stick to the inside of the cavity? I did see some copper sheilding tape sold at radioshack to use, can I go that route as well?

You can use both. Once I've seen a shielded telecaster, they used the copper to shield the pickup and control cavities and the aluminiun foil to shield the pickguard. Main problem about the aluminium is that is very fragile...

Wheter you use copper or aluminium be sure to conect the shielding material to ground.

Good luck!!! :)
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

Kommerzbassist said:
Do you? Where do you get that?


Look for "Graphit 33" from "Kontakt Chemie" at stores like Conrads.

I mean it is the same as from Warwick, but a lot much cheaper.
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

Inge Malmstein said:
Look for "Graphit 33" from "Kontakt Chemie" at stores like Conrads.

I mean it is the same as from Warwick, but a lot much cheaper.

Never used that stuff, btu supposedly it´s very similar.

THe paint I use is simply called "Leitlack", it´s silver laced, and usually used for repairing pc boards, window defrosters and stuff. You can get it at any decent electronics store ;)
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

I use the paint and the copper foil from Stew-Mac. The real advantage of the foil from Stew-Mac is that the adhesive is also conductive so you don't need to solder all of the pieces together to get your conductivity.

I did my strats like this. 1st, three heavy coats of the Stewmac shielding paint. This both gave me a nice shield on its own as well as provide a conductive base to apply the foil over. Complete over kill, probably but it looked and worked fantastic.
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

MikeRocker said:
Get this:http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding/Conductive_Shielding_Paint.html
It is MUCH easier to work with than adhesive foil. You have to put on several coats, waiting for it to dry between each, but it works great and the results are much, much neater than the foil.

I asked this question a while back, looking for an alternative to the Stew-Mac paint. $30.00 + s/h for a 1/2 pint seems a little overboard.

I haven't looked at the automotive stores yet, but Zerb told me about the silver shielding stuff. I'm gonna check out the auto parts & electronics stores locally before going to Stew-Mac.

Let me know what you guys find & I'll do the same.
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

I would go for the copper foil over any of the other methods. The paint is good for rear-routed guitars with one or two small to medium cavities, but I don't like using it for top-routed guitars. The paint is very messy and it gets all over everything. Even when it's dry, your whole hand will be black if you put it on an area of shielding paint. For top-routed guitars, I much prefer copper foil. Unlike paint, it's easily reversible. It's not as easy as painting and being done with it, but I think it provides slightly better results than the paint, unless you can find a paint with a very high metallic content. I know I tend to be in the minority on this one, but I would recommend the copper foil.

Ryan
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

Breogan said:
Wheter you use copper or aluminium be sure to conect the shielding material to ground.

How do I do that? Do I take a peice of it and solder it to the ground wrie comin' off the volume pot?
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

B2D said:
How do I do that? Do I take a peice of it and solder it to the ground wrie comin' off the volume pot?

If you use copper foil, just solder a ground wire from the foil to your main ground point. If you use aluminum foil or paint, drill a small screw into the cavity, making sure that the head of the screw sits flush with the wood so that it's touching the shielding. Then solder a ground wire from the screw head to ground.

You didn't say what type of guitar it was, but if it's rear-routed, you don't need to drill for a screw if you use paint. The chasis of the pots/switches will come into contact with paint, so as long as you solder a ground wire from each casing to your main ground point, you'll be fine. That's how Hamer does it and that's how I did it when I shielded my Wolfgang.

Ryan
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

rspst14 said:
I would go for the copper foil over any of the other methods. The paint is good for rear-routed guitars with one or two small to medium cavities, but I don't like using it for top-routed guitars. The paint is very messy and it gets all over everything. Even when it's dry, your whole hand will be black if you put it on an area of shielding paint. For top-routed guitars, I much prefer copper foil. Unlike paint, it's easily reversible. It's not as easy as painting and being done with it, but I think it provides slightly better results than the paint, unless you can find a paint with a very high metallic content. I know I tend to be in the minority on this one, but I would recommend the copper foil.

Ryan
LOL, then you may want to try the silver Paint I use. It´s essentially clear lacquer with so much silver in it that it drys to a matte sheen, and the "black hands" problem is also a thing of the past :)

Mash off the area and go to town w/ a small brush. I actually find it easier to work with than foil (which i DO prefer for cover plates), and cleanup is assy: Lacquer thinner over the brush, let dry.

Different strokes for different folks ;)
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

I did a shielding project a few weeks ago.

For the body cavity I used what is essentially "Nickel In A Spray Can."

http://www.youdoitelectronics.com/id226_m.htm

It ran me a whole 25 bucks and after three coats in a few hours and 24 hours to cure There was PLENTY left over; you could probably get at elast a few bodies out of one can.

The hardest part was using newspaper and masking tape to cover the body. But that did allow me to really be able to customize the coverage area.

I checked it with a multimeter and was VERY impressed with the results. I didn't go too think with the coats and expected to probably use the whole can. Boy was I wrong!

For the back of the pickguard I used standard hobby-grade photo-mounting paint ina spray can and put aluminuim foil over it. I did the whole pickguard and used a knife to cut 1/2 inch in from the sides.

The results were pretty dramatic. I wouldn't take this guitar to an open jam or gig with it because it was so noisy. Certianly not the case now!
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

Zerberus said:
LOL, then you may want to try the silver Paint I use. It´s essentially clear lacquer with so much silver in it that it drys to a matte sheen, and the "black hands" problem is also a thing of the past :)

Mash off the area and go to town w/ a small brush. I actually find it easier to work with than foil (which i DO prefer for cover plates), and cleanup is assy: Lacquer thinner over the brush, let dry.

Different strokes for different folks ;)

Where do you get the silver paint at? Hamer uses something similar, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere in the states. All I've found is the Stewmac stuff. Thanks.

Ryan
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

rspst14 said:
You didn't say what type of guitar it was...

They're all Strats. think I'm gonna go with the copper tape at this point.
 
Re: Inner shielding of guitars.

rspst14 said:
Where do you get the silver paint at? Hamer uses something similar, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere in the states. All I've found is the Stewmac stuff. Thanks.

Ryan

Zerberus said:
.....THe paint I use is simply called "Leitlack", it´s silver laced, and usually used for repairing pc boards, window defrosters and stuff. You can get it at any decent electronics store ;)

;)
 
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