shielding paint

hannaugh

Master Member
Messages
4,230
I have some shielding paint.  There are no instructions on it.  All I gotta do is put on two coats inside the cavities and on the inside of the plates, right?  Is that it, or is there some other step I'm missing?
 
apply a coat to the body cavity and let dry for 24 hours. repeat two more times

I'd recommend copper foil for the backside of pickguards. metal control plates don't need shielding, but they do need grounding

all the best,

R
 
That said, you don't need shielding paint if you use humbuckers.  Only if you have true single coils.  I stopped using shielding a number of builds ago and have noticed no difference.
 
Good to know, I was also wondering if I needed it at all on this build.  I used it on my S/S/H guitar, I just couldn't remember how many coats I did.  Thanks guys!
 
Yea - you don't need it - the humbuckers are self-shielding and they even use shielded cable.  Make sure you use a shielded cable to the jack and you're all good.

Don't need to shield the bridge ground though :icon_jokercolor:
 
Every guitar should be shielded!

Is there ANY reason not to shield a guitar?
It takes me 2 or 3 hours of work to shield a guitar with copper foil, but if you have the paint on hand, that takes what? 15 minutes a day,,,
It is arguable just how much shielding does for hum and noise, but why not just play it safe?
And the cool thing with shielding is, you do it once and you never have to think about it again.
 
Another advantage to shielding paint is that it's a very simple way to have a nice clean look to the PU routs and the control cavity.
 
Here's a fine question.. for me who is dumb.. where would a swell guy like me purchase this paint?  :doh:
 
They sure do, thank you sir.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding/Conductive_Shielding_Paint.html
 
you can get an ounce on ebay for $17, I am not sure if it's any good though.
Copper foil works better than paint, because the paint can be resistive.
 
I have heard that the shielding paint is pretty toxic, so be careful.  I don't have any confirmation of this.

Also, I started a thread on the benefits of shielding here:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3583.0

I was curious because a respected luthier I know hates all of the shielding products.  He claimed it makes no difference.  Skim through the posts and you'll see jackthehack has a pretty good post in there about it.  That said, I still shield my basses but it is nothing more than a placebo effect for potential buyers.  I have had basses with pro shielding jobs and humbuckers that would buzz like crazy in some rooms and not at all in others, so I'm agreeing with jackthehack.

IMO the best ways to reduce noise on your instrument are 1) buy high-quality cables 2) get an amp with a ground lift 3) don't stand near neon lights and 4) EQ it out.
 
I noticed some bad static on the plastic plate over the pots - I wonder if copper tape would help it.
 
A point to consider is shielding when using a preamp.  Obviously the preamp can boost the volume, and in turn the noise that is already there.  But, if the preamp needs shielding (because the preamp isn't shielded) it is a potential source for a lot of noise.  This would be a case (preamp model) by case issue but worth considering.
Patrick

 
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