Shielding single coils

[Blille]

You folks do this?

https://www.premierguitar.com/diy/mod-garage/shielding-single-coil-pickups

 

[hamerfan]

No, produces too much eddy currents.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Shield the cavity, not the pickup. Remember to ground the shielding.

 

[hamerfan]

There is a possibilty to shield a coil without inducing eddy currents. The shield has to be cut. Shortened just a small tiny bit, so the conductive ring is broken, but covers most of the coil.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Remember also, for some switching arrangements, you need to separate the pickup ground (black wire in the OP's picture) from the baseplate or shield ground (bare wire in the OP's picture).

A classic example would be a "lipstick" neck pickup in a Tele and a 4-way switch.

The baseplate or shield still needs to be grounded, but you should install a third wire, a separate ground, from the baseplate directly to a pot casing.

 

[solspirit]

There is a possibilty to shield a coil without inducing eddy currents. The shield has to be cut. Shortened just a small tiny bit, so the conductive ring is broken, but covers most of the coil.

Do you think this is the best way to go?

 

[Blille]

Shield the cavity, not the pickup. Remember to ground the shielding.

I’ve always done that, so I was wondering if this other method was popular and I just didn’t know about it.

 

[DonP]

From what I've read, Duncan Designed SSL-1 replacements have this shield and it made them "muddier" than Seymour Duncan SSL-1's.

It is "popular"? to remove the shield to get the DD pickups to sound more like the SD pickups.

 

[hamerfan]

You do not need to remove it completely. Just open the flaps, cut the shielding foil shorter so the the shielding ring is broken.