Guitar electronics shielding tip.

RoboCaster

RoboCaster

Victory is at hand.
Jan 7, 2005
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www.fenderforum.com
Okay here’s something that might interest you, yea I sheilded my guitars with tin foil, because the copper shielding is ridiculously costly, and it worked pretty well, cause I haven’t picked up any radio frequencies since, but check this out.

When you buy copper foil from guitar supply places its paper thin and cost a fortune, but I ran across rolls of copper foil at hardware store in the roofing supply section and they have copper flashing and it’s really thick and you get like lots of feet at like 12 inches wide for only like $20.00.

I think I will end up getting a roll myself.
 
Copper sheets are available in all sorts of places and in all sorts of thicknesses. In the Air Condition section of your hardware store, there is aluminum tape which is similar to the copper tapes you mention. You can also use brass to shield. The type of metal doesn't matter much as long as it is non-magnetic. What I usually do is line the outside edge with the aluminum tape (including tabs to connect to the control cover plate, which I also use the tape on) and I use a thicker piece for the flat surface where the controls go through. I use thicker metal there because it's what I was shown a few years ago, and really that is all you need, but I still use the tape just because I like a full shield.

Hobby shops also have smaller pieces if you didn't want to get a full roll, or there are places like Capital Metal (a chain here in PHX - but they are named something else in CA... same company though) that sell it too. Any places that sell aluminim and steel should have it. They even have "scrap" pieces of various type, size, and thickness.

Tin foil sucks, but the aluminium tape by itself does work well. Of course, you use those damn strats... the tape would work great for all of the hell you're gonna go through! Good luck and watch out for "paper cuts". :D
 
I knew I would get you excited..hee, oh yea, but I do agree tin foil is ugly, but effective, you know I just folded it over about six time or so and sprayed it with glue to make my own tape. I saw this craft store copper foil and it's thin, this crap from the hardware store is really thick, much better quantity for money. Crap you got to pay over $20.00 for a shielding kit from StewMac as it is. I figure get a big roll and do a buch of guitars.
 
If you can't find the foil tape at your local hardware store, try your local rv dealer. Every one I have ever worked at has the stuff. Good shit too, I use it for everything. Really sticky. I think we even have it in a 100' roll...
 
wow never thought about that - in the garden grove sound arena where we rehearse sometime i pick up the mic from a neighboring room thru the 2x12. that would help the monitor noise i get when i plug into my pod huh. did you line your pick guard too on your strat robo?
 
MiniMurray said:
wow never thought about that - in the garden grove sound arena where we rehearse sometime i pick up the mic from a neighboring room thru the 2x12. that would help the monitor noise i get when i plug into my pod huh. did you line your pick guard too on your strat robo?
Click to expand...


Yea, I used to pickup CB radios, and ship communications, but after shielding the cavity and the back of the pick guard, never happened again. One caution, be careful with the wiring or lugs contacting the shielding, because it will short and make it sound like crap but just make sure that the hot lugs don't touch the shield, because the ground already does. If you did a real clean job around the pots so they don't contact then that might okay too, but some pickup/pot combos can sound darker with the added resistance, but that never happened to me because the output is so high as it is.
 
Yea this weekend I can take a picture, but there are tons of examples on the net, and all you really need to know is to cover the inside of the cavity and the under side of the pick guard or cover.
 
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