Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

[jtougas]

Okay... I've got a Warmoth Strat body that was finished before the pickup routs were done (picked up from their Showcase).

I've got shielding paint to put in the control & pickup cavities, and I was wondering if I should seal the wood before painting with the shielding paint? Like, a coat or two of TruOil or shellac or something.

The body in question (not showing: the three single coil routs I had them add - also routed for Wilkinson Trem).

 

[Mincer]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I would think the shielding paint itself would seal the wood. That is an awesome color, btw. I love blue.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I've gone with sealed and unsealed. if it matters or not depends on how OCD you want to be. lol! if you have some TruOil, it can't hurt... maybe leave a bit of a rough surface for the shielding paint application. do you live in a humid area or some condition where unsealed wood would be a concern?

I've been going through all my guitars, so I got a 1/2 pint from stewmac. it's been going a long way, even when applying multiple coats. if it were just one guitar a 1/2 pint is WAY overkill.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

If you don't seal it you will use a heap more shielding paint trying to cover it.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

OMG! Gorgeous body!!! Ive been wanting to get some shielding paint and start doing up my axes... Wish Id have done it before I swapped pups on them and all. Hate to tear them down just to paint the cavities.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I ended doing a coat of TruOil - should be sufficient to paint over.

Yeah, I saw the body in the Showcase and said "I'm gonna die when this shows up at the house... it'll be worth it." It's chambered mahogany, with flamed maple, natural scraped binding, and the comfort heel contour.

Hardware will be all black; the pickups are Bartolini singles, with either a 3S-N or a 3X-R at the bridge (middle is the 3X-QS, for hum rejection at 2 & 4).

The neck is birdseye maple & ebony, Warmoth's standard thin.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

Dayum!!!

Looking forward to the progress!


:headbang:

 

[devastone]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

Just a PSA, if you don't need a pint, GFS has 1 oz bottles which is still enough to do quite a few guitars - http://www.guitarfetish.com/XGP-Flat-Black-Cavity-Shielding-paint-HIGHLY-conductive_p_18783.html

Oh, and amazing blue on the guitar, can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[jtougas]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

Hm. Wish I'd checked GFS... I got this: https://www.amazon.com/Conductive-Shielding-Paint-Strat-Guitars/dp/B00CFSJ8F8/

 

[Mincer]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I wanna see pics of this when it is finished!

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

+1 !!!

LOVE the top!!!

 

[regan]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I wouldn't use shielding paint,use some plain old kitchen foil & rubber glue.
It's cheaper & outperforms paint

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

Hm. Wish I'd checked GFS... I got this: https://www.amazon.com/Conductive-Shielding-Paint-Strat-Guitars/dp/B00CFSJ8F8/

I got a 2 or 3 ounce bottle off of ebay a while back. No name stuff, probably just a seller repacking some stuff he bought in bulk. At any rate, I don't know if one brand is better than another, but the stuff I got worked great. I did 2 coats. I'm sure that Amazon stuff will do the job.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

I wouldn't use shielding paint,use some plain old kitchen foil & rubber glue.
It's cheaper & outperforms paint

Definitely. Shielding paint will loose its connectivity characteristics in a few years. But the thing is that shielding overall has been shown to be a completely unnecessary on HB guitars while provide only marginally some protection against high freq radio EMI for SC (it does nothing against 60HZ hum).

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Shielding paint - seal first, or paint straight on?

Definitely. Shielding paint will loose its connectivity characteristics in a few years. But the thing is that shielding overall has been shown to be a completely unnecessary on HB guitars while provide only marginally some protection against high freq radio EMI for SC (it does nothing against 60HZ hum).

I have a Godin dual bucker guitar that had an annoying buzz that had to be dealt with. Went over all wiring, solder joints, double checked grounds etc etc. Original wiring wasn't shielded from switch to control cavity. I switched to shielded wire there. Even replaced pots (stock pots are mounted on individual PCBs). Finally broke down and tried the paint. I had my doubts but it worked like a charm. Night and day difference. Went back to the stock pots (liked the taper and feel) and still quiet. Have no idea how long it will last but I'm not sure where the carbon in the paint is going to disappear to. We'll see I guess.