Shielding Strat scratchplate

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    @ICBM in terms of grounding do I literally just need to solder a piece of wire between the main cavity and the jack cavity? Anything else needed?
    If you use a piece of shielded cable it will make the ground connection as well.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    @ICBM if my Strat scratchplate has existing shielding just under the pots and switch, if I put copper shielding in the rest of the scratchplate do I just go round the existing or try and remove it first?
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  • WolfetoneWolfetone Frets: 1479
    @ICBM if my Strat scratchplate has existing shielding just under the pots and switch, if I put copper shielding in the rest of the scratchplate do I just go round the existing or try and remove it first?
    Just shield on top. As long as you create a Faraday cage, that's all you need to do. My guitar is absolutely silent now I have shielded.
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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    Wolfetone said:
    @ICBM if my Strat scratchplate has existing shielding just under the pots and switch, if I put copper shielding in the rest of the scratchplate do I just go round the existing or try and remove it first?
    Just shield on top. As long as you create a Faraday cage, that's all you need to do. My guitar is absolutely silent now I have shielded.

    Thanks. I understand it's worth, when doing the cavities, to  put some shielding just to cover one screw hole of the scratchplate too?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    lincolnblue said:

    I understand it's worth, when doing the cavities, to  put some shielding just to cover one screw hole of the scratchplate too?
    Yes, or as many as you want - at least of the ones that are close to the edges. All you're doing is creating a good contact between the two. There's no issue with doing more than one.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    lincolnblue said:

    I understand it's worth, when doing the cavities, to  put some shielding just to cover one screw hole of the scratchplate too?
    Yes, or as many as you want - at least of the ones that are close to the edges. All you're doing is creating a good contact between the two. There's no issue with doing more than one.


    How neat Should the cavity shielding be??!
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    It doesn’t really matter as long as it can’t touch any of the wiring, but I have seen it done like a scrunched up crisp packet before now! :)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    It doesn’t really matter as long as it can’t touch any of the wiring, but I have seen it done like a scrunched up crisp packet before now! :)

    It's like this so far


    It's one big pickup cavity but finding the copper stuff hard to shape. Also found out the hard way via my finger that it's very sharp!!
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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    I'm putting bits of solder between joints in the shielding bit I don't think my multimeter has a continuity mode?! Using the 200 ohm setting it reads figures but no beep
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    I'm putting bits of solder between joints in the shielding bit I don't think my multimeter has a continuity mode?! Using the 200 ohm setting it reads figures but no beep
    If it reads anything in the 1 ohm region it's fine. Some multimeters have a zero error because of the lead resistance, so don't always read right down to zero even when there's perfect continuity, but anything significantly over 1 ohm indicates a bad contact.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    I'm putting bits of solder between joints in the shielding bit I don't think my multimeter has a continuity mode?! Using the 200 ohm setting it reads figures but no beep
    If it reads anything in the 1 ohm region it's fine. Some multimeters have a zero error because of the lead resistance, so don't always read right down to zero even when there's perfect continuity, but anything significantly over 1 ohm indicates a bad contact.

    Thanks. So either -1 or something like 0.2 is ok?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    lincolnblue said:

    So either -1 or something like 0.2 is ok?
    -1 is not OK, that's what the meter displays when there's an open circuit. 0.2 is fine.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    lincolnblue said:

    So either -1 or something like 0.2 is ok?
    -1 is not OK, that's what the meter displays when there's an open circuit. 0.2 is fine.
    Ok.

    I've done more tests and it seems to start on -1 as soon as the terminals touch and then almost all over it goes to 0.2 after about 1 second 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    lincolnblue said:

    I've done more tests and it seems to start on -1 as soon as the terminals touch and then almost all over it goes to 0.2 after about 1 second 
    That's fine.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    lincolnblue said:

    I've done more tests and it seems to start on -1 as soon as the terminals touch and then almost all over it goes to 0.2 after about 1 second 
    That's fine.

    It's all done fine. Switch is in place but I have a problem with the pots...the hole in the scratchplate is too small for the screw part of the pot.

    Any idea what size drill bit I'd need to drill the holes bigger? 
     


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    3/8”, or 9.5mm - but ideally, don’t use a drill, use a taper reamer.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    3/8”, or 9.5mm - but ideally, don’t use a drill, use a taper reamer.
    Not heard of them before so will have to look on Amazon.

    Out of interest my new pickups came with a rubber spacer...where does that go? Is it underneath the scratchplate between the pickup cover and pickup?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952

    Out of interest my new pickups came with a rubber spacer...where does that go? Is it underneath the scratchplate between the pickup cover and pickup?
    Between the pickup cover and the pickguard, where the spring was on the old pickups. Rubber is thought to be better since it tends to ‘self adjust’ less.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • lincolnbluelincolnblue Frets: 294
    ICBM said:
    3/8”, or 9.5mm - but ideally, don’t use a drill, use a taper reamer.
    Any tips for using a taper reamer. As it doesn't show on it where each different diamater is, is it just a case of turning the reamer in the hole gradually and use trial-and-error to get the right size? Or, is there a neat trick to getting the size right?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71952
    lincolnblue said:

    Any tips for using a taper reamer. As it doesn't show on it where each different diamater is, is it just a case of turning the reamer in the hole gradually and use trial-and-error to get the right size? Or, is there a neat trick to getting the size right?
    You can mark it with a bit of tape, if you already have a correct-size hole to try it in. Other than that it's really easy to do it by trial and error - just don't try to force it straight through all at once and it will only take off a tiny amount with each turn.

    It's a really useful tool to have for basic guitar work - there's also a really great unintended use which I find extremely handy... if you need to tighten a jack where you can't quickly or easily get at the back of it to hold, just jam the reamer lightly into the barrel and it will grip enough while you tighten the nut with a spanner.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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