Shielding a vintage guitar

Been recently playing a '67 SG Special, with P90s. The guitar belongs to my significant other who used to use it professionally, but can't play anymore due to a disability. So she's been encouraging me to play it and play it LOUD. And loud it is, though not always in a good way. What would people think about adding some proper shielding to it?

Now, before everyone goes all mental about desecrating a classic instrument, let me point out that is NOT all original: The headstock has been replaced (not repaired... actually REPLACED with one off a different instrument), it has Sperzels, and the original bridge and patented Gibson 'Crapola' tailpiece have been replaced with a Schaller BadAss-style combo bridge/tailpiece. It's been a working guitar, not a museum piece.

That said, my approach would be to build the shielding out of copper sheet, rather than using tape or (horrors!) paint, since I think that would be easier to UNDO, if anybody ever did find original components and wanted to restore it to 'stockish' condition.

So, how 'bout it? Would I still be committing a crime against guitarmanity?

Thoughts appreciated.

ddk

If the headstock has been replaced I don't see it being put back to stock without a complete restoration & refinish. That said, get some phucking shielding paint & go to it.

Shield it with the copper tape from stewmac. It's easy to work with and you can rip it out if you need to. Or, your copper sheet could work, though will be a lot more difficult to fit accurately and mount.

Or copper tape from craft stores/ebay. It's sold in square foot sheets, and is cheaper than the stuff marketed for guitar companies.

I've also used aluminum foil & double back tape with good results. I just like the shielding paint. Personal preference.

How did you ensure reliable continuity with out the conductive adhesive?

The stew-mac copper supposedly has a conductive adhesive on the back of it. I use the copper foil for snail control from a garden store. It is much cheaper. I put a drop of solder on each strip to ensure conductivity throughout the entire layout. Adhesives have a tendency to dry out over time. You can also roll the copper into a tube around the appropriate sized drill bit to insert into the tunnels for the wiring. Also you can trace paper patterns for the various sized holes in the guitar. When you cut the copper, cut it a little larger than the pattern. When you are finished, check all copper parts for continuity.

If the guitar is a player, shield it. If it is an investment, put it in a good case and think about insurance.

I have an old Teisco that had flat wound springs the wire was fed through and grounded at pots and jacks etc. Pretty cool idea, plus its flexable.

I've done the copper tubes before. It sucked using alluminum foil. Alluminum is a pretty poor blocker of EMF. The metalic paint does a real decent job.

Dont forget about a thing called shielded wire. If you dont use any reverse phasing, Replacingthe straight wires on strat pups with good quality shielded wire and the hum is gone. Same thing goes for P90 pups. The metal plate the bobin gets mounted on also gets grounded.

You used to be able to buy the shielding you see on Gibson type wire. You can fairly easily feed single wire through itthen when you pull it lengthwise it tightens around the core wire. Its woven like a chineese finger torture toy.

Copper's great because you can solder the seams and it really ensures things are gonna stay put. I do that even when I use the conductive adhesive stuff.

Just go up on the top of the guitar. Do the pickguard with spray adhesive & aluminum foil. Make sure the pieces contact all the way around. Done. Of course this was on a strat. I did work well, but I later redid the cavity with the paint. I may be a cheap b@$t@%d but sometimes I spend the money I saved on more important things. Like titties & beer.

I have an old place with aluminum wiring. I had nothing but problems with the electric wiring. I called in a friend who was an electrician. Heo said that aluminum forms a non conductive oxide quite readily and that was the problem. I had to pull the ends of the wires, shine them up and apply some sort of black goop to them to keep them from re-oxidizing. It was a lot of work but I have had no problems since.

Copper is the way to go with DIY Beer and titties:love:

I suppose copper tape is better for shielding. But you aren't really using the shielding as a conductor per se. The idea is to stop the humming (hey who shielded my girlfriend?).

ddk, I see nothing at all wrong with modifying your guitar. It's yours, right? Unless it's a priceless guitar that's only one of five left in the world, then okay, I can see keeping it original, but the headstock was changed before, so to me it's fair game, especially when it comes to something hidden, such as shielding.

You can get copper sheeting at stained glass supply shops for those who live in cities large enough to support such a thing. I used to be able to buy copper sheet by the square foot at Michael's but I haven't been by there for a while.

I'll leave the DIY beer to others, but I did grow my own titties.

I'll leave the DIY beer to others, but I did grow my own titties.

But what did you use for fertilizer?:poke:

None. Organic, FTW =)

No orgasmic fertilizer?

ha hahahahahahahahahahaha heh. hah. You so funny

Where did you get EMI shielding paint? Just curious. I have plenty of copper foil (conductive adhesive stuff even) but I like keeping things for reference. And now that I'm backing up my computer (and settings) once a week, hopefully I won't go through the horror of losing bookmarks again, should I again encounter a nasty trojan that even the best can't get rid of. *shudder*

"If using a thin aluminum sheet between the pickguard and guitar body is good enough for Fender, I reckon it's good enough for me on the back of one of my pickguards".

Its just my first hand experience that alluminum foil doesnt work very well. If you've had decent results then thats cool. I'm all for using what you got.

As for the foul put on pickguards, Its used for additional grounding continuity between the switch and pot cans of the components screwed to the pickguard, It has very littel effect on actually shielding the interior of the instrument from emf.

I wonder if anyone ever tried cutting up beer cans for shielding?

The trouble with using beer cans, and yes I tried, is you first have to drink the beer. For a strat it takes 6 pack. By the time you're finished you really don't feel like working on a guitar.

Yeah I know what you mean. My problem was after the first sip. I

Ha, so true. Thats why I do most of my work during the caffine hours of the day. No sence in ruining a good beer buzz. You'd probibly rather be playing it in that case then fixing it.

Is paint shielding any less effective than tape? Is there any reason to speak of to use tape rather than paint?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guitar-Conductive-Shielding-Paint-Acheson-Electrodag_W0QQitemZ330373523752QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item4cebcbe928

I think the paint is more effective. But it aint cheap. 13 bucks + shipping gives you enough to do a strat with enough left for a tele or LP. But I find it easy to work with. Aluminum foil on the p/g with some paint going over the edge of the cavity to contact the foil. Make sure you have good ground & you end up with a very quiet guitar. I like the foil on the p/g because I haven't seen copper tape thin enough to hide under the p/g. Makes it stand up too much & looks like fecal material.

Just from my experience I think the paint is 10x easier to deal with than the shielding tape... of which I have like 3 rolls laying around and just rather use the paint. I don't know if my rolls are just retarded but they tear easy as hell and stick right and love to crease and make just a damn mess of everything.... I stick to the paint personally.

Hobby Lobby, the crafts store sells paint in a spray can used for those adhesive refrifgerator magnets. Its got a high iron content and it works as good as that copper paint thats really expensive. Its about $6 a can and can do 20 guitars with a standard rattle paint can size. It is is as good as foil and looks a hell of a lot better when you're done. I believe the only color it comes in is black though. The toughest part is taping off the areas you dont want sprayed, but thats no big deal with some tape and alluminum foil to protect the outside finish. You just want to be sure to out a ground contact first, Use some bare wire and maybe a small screw into the body so the wire doesnt come loose then spray over it.