Shielding a hollow body (ES335; Thinline Tele) to minimise EMI

jaymenon

Does using screened wiring inside a guitar truly eliminate buzz / electromagnetic interference (EMI)?  Like a comprehensive graphite paint / foil job does?

If so, then surely it would follow that the a Les Paul which has braided shielded wire throughout would not require graphite paint shielding...?

Or has anyone changed the hook up wire to shielded braided cable such as this - and noticed elimination of EMI?

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/M3rIdD6.gif)

So therefore is it a waste of time using shielded pickup, hookup and output wires on a 335 type guitar…?

I did however, find this amusing but effective device:

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/kdp2cbn.jpg)

"The best way to get your guitar quiet (even if you find yourself in a studio that has poor grounding) is to get a piece of wire aprox. 2' long. On one end solder an alligator clip. Keep this wire in your accessory bag, so that the next time buzz is a problem, attach the alligator clip to one of the strings behind the bridge or the bridge itself, and twist the other end around the baby finger of your right hand (like a ring) or the pinkie, it works every time."

ICBM

A fully shielded wiring loom makes additional shielding inside the body mostly unnecessary, but some parts of it - the switch, the tone caps and the ends of the wires to the pots - are unshielded, so lining the cavities with foil or paint can still make a difference.

You’ll have trouble doing that on a 335 though... spraying paint in through the f-hole is probably your best option.

In the 1970s Gibson used to fit metal shielding cans to the pots in 335s. It makes servicing a nightmare! They carried on using a full-size metal box in the Les Paul control cavity for a bit longer, but eventually just went to the metal plate under the controls which was originally part of it.

jaymenon

Actually mine is a Telecaster Thinline John. 
This one - that I bought from TTony. Lovely guitar,  if possible I would like to shield it as effectively as possible. 
 So it looks like you do recommend  using shielded cable as far as possible...

ICBM

On a Tele Thinline, the biggest source of noise is the long cable run to the neck pickup. Replace that with shielded cable first, or at the very least tightly twist the two wires. The second (on any guitar) is the run from the volume pot to the jack, which is effectively an extension of the guitar cable - do the same. The third one is the control cavity wiring, so it's worth shielding the cavity, at least front and back in the area around the controls. The cable run from the controls to the bridge pickup isn't as important if the cavity is also completely shielded since it's only a couple of inches. It may also be worth doing the floor and sides of the pickup cavities if you're being very thorough.

jaymenon

Thanks John - I’ll do that.