Cavity Shielding

thegummy

I've seen that it's quite common to shield the cavities of guitars either with special paint or with copper foil to shield the electronics from interference.

But I've always wondered - isn't that a bit pointless when the most sensitive part of the pickup is completely exposed at the front and has to be in order to pick up the strings?

Isn't it like spending a lot of effort elaborately insulating tiny air vents in your house only to leave the front door wide open?

Can anyone explain why this isn't the case?

On another forum I was on, someone was talking about reducing noise in their guitar and it prompted me to mention this and wondered if any of the knowledgeable people here know.

TheBigDipper

I'm no technical expert on this, but I do shield my guitars (if they're noisy and need it) and it does work. I use adhesive, conductive copper tape. Anything that stops the wiring from picking up interference in the airwaves can only be a good thing. I can't tell you why it works even though, like you say,  the pickups are outside the shielded zone. I only know it does. 

As an example, my Tele FSR (wired like a Les Paul with 2 x WR pickups and very long cable runs underneath the scratch plate) was very noisy - including handling noise on the scratch plate itself if I brushed the scratch plate when playing. Shielding everything with copper tape stopped it all. 

Clashman

I use Aluminium tape works a treat..

thermionic

If you shield a Telecaster, the neck pickup cover will be connected to the ground, as will be the shielding, totally enclosing the coil. I did the copper tape thing to my Tele and can’t say I notice a difference between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup, which is “open” as you point out. 

Buzz and noise is of course very directional and dependent on how/where you stand. So I suspect if you shield a pickup but leave one side unshielded, it’s still much better than no shielding.

ICBM

The noise picked up by unshielded wiring and by single-coil pickups are not the same at all, so it’s not pointless dealing with one even if the other is still present.

5redlights

I thought it was rubbish until I did it with a P90 guitar. The difference is very noticeable. 

OilCityPickups

You can help shield uncovered humbuckers like this

Philly_Q

@TheGuitarWeasel ; is that something you routinely do on your pickups, or would you use it in particular circumstances?

NelsonP

I had great success shielding my tele deluxe...

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/99720/tele-deluxe-hum-and-shielding-now-solved#latest

OilCityPickups

Philly_Q said:

@TheGuitarWeasel ; is that something you routinely do on your pickups, or would you use it in particular circumstances?

Works best for high gain humbuckers likely to be played 'on tour' or in any demanding environments. It's overkill for most 'down the pub' gigs or bedroom noodling ... but helps when playing with very high gain amps/pedal chains. I do this for touring guitarists, as part of getting guitars 'stage ready'. 

Philly_Q

That's interesting, thanks!

OilCityPickups

Philly_Q said:

That's interesting, thanks!

It's certainly part of the SRV legend that his Strat single coils were shielded under the covers exactly this way.