Shielding Pickups

[hamburder]

I've got a front routed body for use with a humbucker and p90. The pickguard I ordered from Warmoth has some insulation tape around the areas where knobs and switches will be. Should I be concerned with using foil across the whole pickguard? Or just use what's already there?

I was considering using paint, but are the font routes of a painted body also painted? If so, does painting on top of the paint work? Seems like it wouldn't be able to adhere to the finish.

Lastly, should I only worry about shielding the thin routes between the pickup cavities and the pots and switches? Or just the immediate routes where those are going to sit?

 

[ThisIsHuhWow404]

I recommend copper tape with conductive adhesive over paint in general.

You need all of the different cavities to be connected with the same shielding to create continuity, so you need to worry about creating continuity between the big cavities with the thin routes where you feed wires. This isn’t necessarily "shielding" the thin cavities, but just creating continuity.

What I do personally with the thin cavities is feed a piece of really thin bare copper wire (not enameled) and use a small piece of copper tape to tape it down on both sides. I use the thinnest gauge copper wire I can find that still feels sturdy, as to make sure I still have enough room to feed the electronics wire but still feel confident the copper wire won’t degrade or snap. A lot of people suggest soldering the wire down, but I haven’t had any problems just using the tape.

Putting copper tape over the insulation tape on the pick guard shouldn’t create an issue. Just as long as the tape somewhere on the guard touches a piece of copper tape that comes out of the cavity onto the body you should be fine (I like to put a thin piece over one of the screw holes).

Do you have an ohms reader? It’s really essential to do the shielding job right. Even a cheap one on Amazon for less than $10 can get the job done.

 

[hamburder]

Thanks for the response. I have a multimeter for doing electronics.

 

[Don O]

Following up on Ts response, I never solder to the copper foil. I use a solder lug on the wire screwed into the body/tape.

 

[Strat Avenger]

And......none of that is necessary. Single coils are gonna hum. Humbuckers will not.
All the copper tape in the world won't make any difference.
With that said; grounding the control cavity can prevent static electrical noise. You can screw ground wires directly into the wood. No, wood does not "conduct", but a static charge between the cavity and the pickguard can create noise.