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.
Comments
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.
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.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/99720/tele-deluxe-hum-and-shielding-now-solved#latest
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message