Copper sheilding tape in a rear-route w/ EMG pickups?

[vikingred]

This is my first time actually building a guitar from scratch.  Here it is again:

Chambered black korina (is that front laminate cool or what??)  :cool01:.  Rear-route, Floyd Rose, and EMG 57/66's.  This thing should be a tone monster.  Considering 18v mod for EMGs, dunno yet.

QUESTION:  Is it prudent or necessary to do the copper sheilding tape thingy in the back cavity?  It just seems like a nice touch.  I don't do gigs and such, but I do have a lot of computers, TVs, and electronics in my house and playing area.  I ordered the copper tape so I'd have it in case, but not sure if it's really necessary for active humbuckers.  If not I'll save it for another build. 

Thoughts?

 

[Cagey]

It's never necessary, and particularly not with active pickups.

 

[Jesse]

Cagey curious what your feeling is on the copper tape vs the shielding paint?  The Stew Mac shielding paint I have is like 25 lifetime supplies worth so I've never looked into the tape, but it seems like the gold standard.

 

[vikingred]

Ok so not necessary.  Beneficial?  Somewhat desirable?  Waste of time/effort?  Where are we exactly on this?  And, what's the link to the shielding paint if you don't mind?

 

[Great Ape]

Cagey curious what your feeling is on the copper tape vs the shielding paint?  The Stew Mac shielding paint I have is like 25 lifetime supplies worth so I've never looked into the tape, but it seems like the gold standard.

The ''gold standard'' is something of a myth--not once in a lifetime of playing have I had an instrument with either tape or paint, and the only noise problem I've run into was the result of old, as
in REALLY old wiring in the venue...and of course the damn harmonica player! And we all know that the 'foil' backing on a fender pickguard is mostly a joke...

 

[Vallhagen]

Ok so not necessary.  Beneficial?  Somewhat desirable?  Waste of time/effort?  Where are we exactly on this?  And, what's the link to the shielding paint if you don't mind?

I'd say benefical, though i wont argue with the other guys' experience here. You have the tape, it takes minutes to apply, so why not. One (minor, but again: benefical) reason is to ground the switch and pot housing together. Grounding is good.

Cheers

 

[Cagey]

I would beg to differ with the "minutes to apply" observation. I just applied it to a Strat as a favor during a build, but the next person who asks for it is going to get charged a $250 adder. What an incredible pain in the ass. And for nothing! Damned thing is still as noisy as a Detroit jail.

If you're using single coil pickups, you can shield the hell out of the pickup and control cavities but the things that are picking up the noise (the pickups, duh!) are sticking out of the shield and happily absorbing all the stray EMI in the room. It's just an unavoidable law of physics. That's why everybody and their brother has been spending all sorts of R&D money on coming up with noiseless single coils. DiMarzio has their "Area" pickup series, Bill Lawrence has his trickery, GFS has their Neovins and TrueCoils, Fishman now has their "Fluence" parts, etc. and they all sound pretty damn good.

So, save your time and money trying to quiet down single coils. It's an exercise in futility. Although, I will say it won't hurt anything, so if the spirit moves you...

 

[Vallhagen]

I would beg to differ with the "minutes to apply" observation. I just applied it to a Strat as a favor during a build, but the next person who asks for it is going to get charged a $250 adder. What an incredible pain in the ass. And for nothing! ...

:icon_biggrin:

Ok! I will do this additional job for USD 25!

 

[line6man]

Cagey curious what your feeling is on the copper tape vs the shielding paint?

I'm not Cagey, but shielding paint is definitely inferior to copper tape. Because it is a paint with metallic particles in it,  it is not as conductive as a solid piece of metal. Shielding jobs with copper tape are more electrically-continuous than shielding jobs with paint.

 

[Hendrix]

need it or not is up to you liveing environment , not other people 's experience.

People said not need it , may happyily live in a place free of radio frequency interference.

But in crowded city, or with poorly build electricity infrastructure, it got it's functionality

 

[jmcecil]

Although, I will say it won't hurt anything, so if the spirit moves you...

I agree with every other word you said .. but the shielding to be effective has to go to ground.  So you've added a significant bleed area. And if you do it poorly (which most DIY people will) it will be worse not better. 

On some guitars (especially humbuckers and actives) it probably makes no difference since you are already getting some of that roll off and a bit of muddying just from the design of the pickup.  However, on low output single coils you can clearly hear the resulting roll off on the bridge pickup.  As a generalization the entire point of single coils is the bark/chime you get on attack.  And IMO by the time you've done your shielding you have impacted the tone negatively for that specific sound.  You just don't get the complete tail of the delayed attack that gives it "that" sound. Of course there are a zillion great players who do it on purpose, not because they want the shielding, but because they like the roll off.

Anyhow, like all things guitar .. strokes for folks.