Do I need shielded wire?

[xDave]

Everywhere I look it says "at least use it for the lead to the jack which is the longest part". Maybe from the R/T switch on a standard LP, but from my tone knobs to the jack is only about 3". From the neck pickup to it's volume pot is at least 8" and that I assume (and hope) is going to be the lead that's on the pickup itself.
Pups are buckers btw.

 

[mayfly]

Use it if it makes you feel better, but you don't need it. 

 

[line6man]

What difference is it going to make? You already have an incomplete Faraday cage in the guitar. That would be like standing in front of a fire hose with an umbrella.

But there is no valid reason not to use shielded wire. The parasitic capacitance of a few inches of wire is not significant at the impedance of the signal, to reduce any noticeable treble.

 

[Cagey]

Everywhere I look it says "at least use it for the lead to the jack which is the longest part". Maybe from the R/T switch on a standard LP, but from my tone knobs to the jack is only about 3". From the neck pickup to it's volume pot is at least 8" and that I assume (and hope) is going to be the lead that's on the pickup itself.
Pups are buckers btw.

If they pickups were single coils, you wouldn't notice unshielded wire running to your switch or output jack, but with humbuckers you will.

 

[mayfly]

Everywhere I look it says "at least use it for the lead to the jack which is the longest part". Maybe from the R/T switch on a standard LP, but from my tone knobs to the jack is only about 3". From the neck pickup to it's volume pot is at least 8" and that I assume (and hope) is going to be the lead that's on the pickup itself.
Pups are buckers btw.

If they pickups were single coils, you wouldn't notice unshielded wire running to your switch or output jack, but with humbuckers you will.

I dunno - there are probably longer unshielded runs inside his amp.

 

[xDave]

Well considering the difference in price for the small amount I need, "no reason not to" seems pretty logical.  :sign13:

 

[line6man]

Everywhere I look it says "at least use it for the lead to the jack which is the longest part". Maybe from the R/T switch on a standard LP, but from my tone knobs to the jack is only about 3". From the neck pickup to it's volume pot is at least 8" and that I assume (and hope) is going to be the lead that's on the pickup itself.
Pups are buckers btw.

If they pickups were single coils, you wouldn't notice unshielded wire running to your switch or output jack, but with humbuckers you will.

I dunno - there are probably longer unshielded runs inside his amp.

Not really a valid argument.

An amp is likely to stay put in one specific place, where the proximity to sources of RFI/EMI can be accounted for in a permanent manner, while the guitar itself is subject to constant movement. Find the wrong way to hold your guitar and you might hear all sorts of irritating noises.

Also, depending on the amp design, remember that the impedance of the signal will change throughout the circuit. In some cases, you may end up with a low impedance from the input gain stage throughout the circuit to the speakers, which would mean there would be less of a need for shielding.

But it's worth noting, of course, that you're only as strong as your weakest link. Find one part of the circuit in which to introduce RFI/EMI, and you'll have to suffer with it.

 

[mayfly]

Inside an amp can be a pretty noisy place wrt emi. Also on many amp I've seen the runs between the input jack and the first gain stage is un shielded- and can be several inches long.

So sadly it is a valid argument. 

But to the original poster- sure what the hell.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

My EMG-equipped guitar has unshielded cable everywhere and unshielded control cavity, and there's basically no noise from it. Really the amount of noise induced in those bits of wire is really insignificant compared to what can happen in a single-coil pickup. I'd say if you've got humbuckers you don't need it - but I always use it now anyway as I have a few metres of it, and... why not? It's also quite convenient as the wire is thicker and you can stuff it through the holes a bit more easily!

 

[Cagey]

EMG pickups are generally low-impedance parts, so noise isn't an issue in those guitars.

 

[xDave]

I'm just a basement jammer. Mostly I play through guitar rig on my pc with an Audigy 2 ZS Pro card. I run it out to a nice old school 50w/channel analog pioneer receiver into 3 way bookshelf speakers. My Squire bullet's single coils get noisy near anything electrical, the humbucker is pretty quiet. My'91 plus deluxe has lace sensors and only have noise if I get too close to the space heater. I also have Crate TD35 combo amps with no shielded wire at all. I have to watch where I put them.

 

[line6man]

My EMG-equipped guitar has unshielded cable everywhere and unshielded control cavity, and there's basically no noise from it. Really the amount of noise induced in those bits of wire is really insignificant compared to what can happen in a single-coil pickup. I'd say if you've got humbuckers you don't need it - but I always use it now anyway as I have a few metres of it, and... why not? It's also quite convenient as the wire is thicker and you can stuff it through the holes a bit more easily!

Do you have active or passive EMGs? Like Cagey said, EMG's active pickups have a low impedance output. (To be specific, to my knowledge, the coils are wound to a rather high impedance, but the onboard differential buffers lower the output impedance.) This, of course, is a very good thing for so many reasons. Among them, as you have noted, is the fact that shielding becomes less important. That's why speaker cable is unshielded.