Shielding

[horsehead]

I've just taken the scratchplate off my strat for the first time ever today ready to drop the MM into it, but I've now seen that there's no shielding inside the cavity or the back of the scratch plate. Will it be a major problem if I put the pickups in without sheilding, or would you guys recommend that I do it?

[sgmypod]

is there any sheilding paint usually black in the cavity or aluminium shielding on back of scratchplate only around control area?

[horsehead]

none whatsoever

[sgmypod]

how noisy is it at mo..if it is quite and your added soldering is good, no need but if picks up lots of noise...visit axesrus buy some copper tape for the cavity not too hard to do. could also buy a sheet(copper) for the scratplate

[Ted]

You only need shielding for the scratchplate... like below...

You do not need to sheild the cavities.

[horsehead]

thanks guys

[Tellboy]

This might help:-
http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/shield3.php

[Drac]

You can make an enormous difference in ambient noise with most any Fender product-
 With a strat, best results come from shielding the inside of the plastic single coil pickups covers, the cavities the pickups/pots, etc. sit in themselves, good solid sting/bridge ground, and the underside of the pickguard-all of these should test for continuity on a multi meter.

 the inside of the plastic pickup covers works great!-
if yours are original/vintage, set them aside , and shield some replacement covers-do it with shielding paint, and don't make a mess...use electrical tape to protect the coil wires from shorting-make sure to connect the now shielded covers to the grounded shielding circuit-I use a thin piece of copper shielding tape.

When shielding with tape on the backside of the pickguard, make sure you have a connection with the rest of your ground circuit, or it will not work!
-easiest to run shielding paint up and over the edge of the cavity to make physical contact with the foil on the backside of the pickguard.

Be careful with shielding around the output jack-
 when the cable is inserted, the jack must have room to expand without shorting...

 remember that shielding works like a sonic raingutter...
trapping ambient interference, and draining it to earth...
more like a lightning rod, than 'armor'
-any part of your circuit -foil, shielding paint, strings, metal hardware, etc.- that is not part of a universally grounded shield is at risk of receiving & creating noise than collecting & channeling it away from your coveted tone.
 cheers from Drac

[Philly Q]

Be careful with shielding around the output jack-
 when the cable is inserted, the jack must have room to expand without shorting...

Yeah, I learned that one by experience!  :D  I've noticed some manufacturers leave the hole around the jack itself unshielded, but doesn't that compromise the effectiveness of the overall shielding job?

If the jack's close to the shielding I sometimes wrap a bit of tape round the "tall" contact so it won't touch the shielding paint.

[ToneMonkey]

You can make an enormous difference in ambient noise with most any Fender product-
 With a strat, best results come from shielding the inside of the plastic single coil pickups covers,

Well you sound like you know far more about this than me, but wouldn't that alter the shape of the magnetic field around the pup, effictively altering the sound?  Does the metal HB covers affect sound?

[Drac]

Hello again-
 when you use shielding paint inside a strat's PUp covers, it does have a minute effect on tone-remember that the shielding paint must also be physically connected to earth to function as a shield!
-The paint itself is water based and a mixture of nickel and carbon-not magnetic, but it is conductive ( same with copper tape).
 Like a nickel cover on a Humbucker, or the can around a tele neck pickup, the covers eat a little power. They also slightly darken the sound.
 the polepieces are uncovered in the any case,strat, or single coil...if shielding and noise reduction are your goal, the cans are good...

I have noticed that Tim compensated the winding/DC res. on uncovered Warpigs he made for me...the covered PUps measured higher on the multimeter.

it's common for people to remove pickup covers in hope that they will get a brighter &  more powerful sound. It does have a minute effect, but I think the best thing to do is put the right PUp for the job/sound the first time around...

I like the covers-I like the effect of good shielding versus naked single coil buzz, and if you have your shielding together, you don't have to sacrifice the single coil twang to silence the buzzing and popping.
 cheers from Drac

[ToneMonkey]

See, I knew you know more about it than me.  :lol:

That's prety much as I thought, has a little impact but not a lot.  As with most things then, there's pro's and cons....... but more pro's than cons in this case.

Just in case anyone is interested, the copper tape shielding that Drac mentions is fairly expensive.  I found some at the garden centre that's much cheaper.  It's designed to go round the bottom of plant pots to stop snails and slugs climbing up them.... didn't really work as something else eat my veg instead  :roll:   Now if only I could stick it on with it creasing (going to try sticking it to card next time and glueing the card in place).