How To Shield Your Guitar - Myths Busted

[@timesurfingalien]

I built tv and cell towers. Ive had lots of engineers explain this. You have done the best job of explaining.

[@mghumphrey]

I'm an electrical engineer, and someone that earlier in my career did a bunch of RF stuff. And I just wanted to say that you did a great job of presenting the important information in a way that is simple enough for everyone to follow.

[@timwilson032]

It’s very refreshing to hear people that are super knowledgeable explain things in an understandable way without being pretentious. Thank you for this!

[@gregsmyk542]

Thank you for the clarification! I have a roll of copper tape with conductive adhesive to put in the pickup cavities, and pick guard. Staying out of the control area is really great news! Eliminating possible shorting issues, with low to no benefit, will save a little sanity! ...I just have to remember, “Stay grounded!”

[@Randy-ul5hy]

I am a guitar player that has been completing my own hardware modifications for years. Changing tuners, relicing/aging, set-ups, etc.. but I have always been intimidated with the electronics part and therefore have avoided. After watching this, and a few of your other vids, my confidence has definitely grown. I recently completed a pick up swap on my Gibson Explorer which is something that I never would have attempted a year ago. I have always wondered about shielding, and whether there were any actual benefits in completing it. This video has explained it so well that I am now going to attempt a shielding project on my Classic Vibe Tele. That grounding part is gold. I wonder how many out there have been shielding but not grounding. Thank you so much for this...and all your other videos!

[@tjkeeling]

my tele kit is delivering today, call it divine intervention or what ever, but found you today and this saved me a ton of time. I was planning to install the tape in all cavities, connect them via 24ga wire and claim victory. Now pick guard to control screw ground, boom done. thank you sooo much. great job

[@waruorel869]

Hello, could you please tell me how it worked out for you? Shielded just the pickguard, and connected it to ground via control plate? Thank you!

[@randyt04]

Glad to find this video, you just saved me a bunch of wasted time and effort. I've got a Squier CV '50s Telecaster coming and have been watching a few videos on shielding a guitar. Now I know I don't need to tape and connect every cavity I can possibly find on the guitar. Thanks, Dylan!

[@grievouserror]

Once upon a time, I was awarded a degree in electrical engineering from an accredited university, so I've met the kind of people you're talking about, Dylan). For the record, I thought you did a great job of explaining the general ideas without dragging non-technical types into the weeds. For practical purposes and simplicity's sake we often neglect those higher-order effects, meaning that engineers usually deal with approximations of varying precision. Enough to get the desired results while still making the math possible. Looked to me like you walked that line very well with this video.

[@Leo9ine]

Hey Dylan! Big fan. Couple very important practical things. This isn't academic or pedantic, this is all practical - You can't solve a *magnetic* field (guitar noise) problem by treating it like an electrical field (radio antenna) problem. Using the "pickups are radio antennas" analogy is great, until you try to solve problems like noise. Pickups are not RF antennas. And yes, this difference matters! A 60hz EMI or RF wave is not 18 feet. A 60hz SOUND wave is 18 feet. A 60hz electromagnetic wave is 16,400,000 feet because it's *moving at the speed of light, not the speed of sound.* For your guitar to be a even a quarter wave antenna, the wiring would have to be about *790 miles long.* Further, all of the discussion of a guitar acting as an antenna is assuming it's in the "far field", as radio antennas are. Far field doesn't start until about 2x the wavelength. For 60hz, far field is about 6,000 miles away from the source of the noise. Meaning - *You'd have to be 6,000 miles away from the source of 60hz hum for RF shielding like copper tape to work.* These insane distances mean guitars are strictly in the "near field", which behave incredibly different from far field objects like radio antennas. RF shielding does not work on a problem that is not in the RF far field range. TLDR: Your guitar is not an antenna. You need to shield against magnetic fields, not electrical fields, which are very different, unless your pickup happens to be 6,000 miles long. Thanks for reading, if anyone did.

[@ajb625]

I read it! And now my head hurts, and I'm further confused at to what do with my guitar! Maybe I'll just learn the harpsichord.

[@danedearmond4905]

@@ajb625 - Get an acoustic. ;-)

[@aarontkacheve4595]

So how do you shield against magnetic fields then?

[@ant1sokolow]

I was about to do the same kind of comment about the wavelength. Also there is a mention of 'skin effect', and i don't really see the point when talking about guitar shielding. In any case , in the audio spectrum and for an object the size of a guitar the Skin Effect is absolutly negligible. To me the 'shielding' in guitar is a way to establish a good ground. Not more than that. Jazz Boxes and ES-33x guitars are not shielded and not more noise prone than solidbodies..

[@ant1sokolow]

@@roardog6451 38

[@Olibertau]

Thank you so much, Dylan. I had a lot of annoying static electricity on my G&L Asat classic. I've just shielded the pickguard the way you explain with conductive copper tape and it works fantastic. Have a nice day and happy new year. 🙂

[@jasonhuber4089]

I have used aluminum foil tape for HVAC use on a budget build for my seven year old. It had real shotty single coils and when you combine a 7 year old with little skills and a loud hum along with a cranked combo amp... It can be hard to keep your sanity.. Lol All I had on hand was my HVAC tape.. It worked pretty good..!

[@flyingbeaver57]

For my sins, I spent 2-1/2 years working on building cryogenic-soaked receivers for radio telescopes. The "cage" was about 10' x 10' x 7'. The contact setup around the door was really interesting and really complicated. As you say, people REALLY don't need to go there. I'm all in favour of proper shielding, but that's a whole other thing, and much easier. Glad to see this explained in straightforward layman's language. Thanks, Dylan.

[@kudzuvine1]

Just found this guy .. Love the videos.. Practical science without getting lost in the theory.. Thank you sir !

[@jakopet]

Hi Dylan. I enjoy your videos, so thank you for making them. I thought i would chip in with my experience here, specifically shielding of the electronics compartment. Not to disproof you at all, because i think that you are correct in what you are saying, just to share my personal experience. I have this Tokai strat that i really love playing, but i found myself using other guitars more because the buzz/hum from the guitar annoyed me. I have a godin session, which i had installed Mojotone quiet coil pickups in, and the thing was dead quiet. So i thought i would put the quiet coils in my Tokai and all would be good. So i swapped the pickups and to my surprise the Tokai was still quite noisy when i did not touch the strings. The only thing that was different on the two guitars was the shielding. The Tokai was shielded in the pickup routing and on the pickguard. Because i ran out of cobber tape, the electronics compartment did not get shielded. The Godin Session was shielded all over also in the electronics compartment. I thought to myself i had to try shielding the electronics compartment of the Tokai to see if this would change anything, and sure enough it made the Tokai i dead quiet aswell. I do agree with you that shielding the electronics compartment can lead to some issues, but if you look at the components and your space in the compartment,you can tell where you might run into trouble. I just put some vinyl electrical tape in the two areas i saw as potential issues. This is just my experience, shielding the electronics compartment did make a pretty big difference in my Tokai.

[@MrMushbo]

This is the best video I’ve seen in a long time! I have an Epiphone Les Paul I was redoing and wanted to do it right. I shielded everything, and lo and behold, it didn’t work. I hadn’t touched it for a couple months, until I watched this video, the second you said to not shield the control cavity, I jumped, a half hour later, I was playing! Thanks bro!

[@smccheese]

Thank you! I did a Strat copper shielding project this weekend - including the output jack bc the other youtube examples did NOT mention to avoid jack cavity shielding. Shielding made a huge difference, but I started having some popping sounds when moving around. So I swapped the jack for a new one. Then I had NO sound after screwing jack into cavity w cover, but it did work w/o cover. Noticed that jack plug was just touching shielding, and had watched this vid, so I removed. Problem solved. And the guitar is still quiet w all of the other copper foil treatment and groundings.

[@ilemraz]

did you shield the portion with the tone knobs etc

[@agateenchantmentrockwizard5969]

Truly an inspiration Dylan busted some of my myths for sure. I posted this in several "guitar" groups on fb.

[@stephenbrooks1692]

Thanks for this video - I was about to take my Harley Benton to pieces to put copper tape in all the cavities and back of pick guard.. Now I going to get the tape advise and just do the pick gaurd. It a Harley Benton SBK shorty P Bass, it was bought brand new 4 months ago for young teenager who got fed up with it and I bought it from the parent for £55 UKmoney. Thanks for saving me all that work.😉

[@timothypotter2137]

Copper tape for me too. Thanks for the tip on the control cavity, I didn't know that. I always learn some good info from you.

[@ShawnCothran]

I am always thankful for your logical approach to guitars. Thanks for the download of good solid info. I'll use these shielding (or not shielding) principles in my builds and mods going forward, for sure!

[@245rocks]

Thank you! Cool and explaining video

[@martgryfny]

Hey Dylan! Great vieo! You said that shielding controll cavity would not change much. I have old Framus guitar, with Bill Lawrence LTS pickups. I decided to change wires in cavity, which were old and degraded. I didn't want to mess with shielded pickup wires which were fine. Cavity wires were also of shielded type. I changed them to regular wires and instantly i got massive noise. Then i shielded that cavity with tin foil and averything was back to normal.

[@spidermancereal]

Ive experienced similar. I reshielded my guitar from stock and it is much much quieter. It is especially noticeable when using high gain. Its a day and night difference. It was unbearably noisy before.

[@chazzer56]

Spot on! if you're looking for info describing how to shield your guitar from electrostatic interference, it's all here in this video.

[@SirVicc]

Put an aluminum pickguard plate under my AmStd Strat pickguard. Looks cool, really made a huge difference in noise, and did effect the tone a bit. Positively in my opinion.

[@m.g.kroger]

Thanks you, I did follow your advices and It worked perfectly.

[@TANTRUMGASM]

excellent presentation. I like the "here is why" and " this is how shielding works" instead of just, "stick tape here and here now it's quiet because science" Cheers

[@johnvolk995]

I shielded my Tele pickguard & grounded exactly as you specified (nothing else). For all practical purposes, it eliminated a very noticeable 'hands-off' hum. Thanks so much!!!

[@DylanTalksTone]

Excellent!

[@truckmonkey68]

@@DylanTalksToneGood day sir. Are you saying that I do NOT have to shield the cavity on a Stratocaster build?

[@truckmonkey68]

Building my first guitar and I am confused with all the info on the net. I trust you from watching your videos so thought I would ask you.

[@brandondaigle2496]

Great explanation, very informative. Subscribed

[@chicoern]

Funny thing is, I rewired my guitar completely yesterday. A strat. Went online, looked for tips, instructions and aaaaaaall the major names (and forums) tells you to shield the whole thing. And I did. And my guitar, although quieter, still noisy. AND, I had to remediate it cause I shielded the jack hole as well and I grounded the whole thing. Good to come online and seeing a video of a dude saying what actually works, with facts, data. Awesome, thanks! Oh, first time using the copper tape, and love it. It's clean, easy, and works (being conductive)

[@chuckhodgskin7429]

Thanks Dylan for a very informative video. I'm definitely going to use copper sheeting that I have bought to shield my D.I.Y. Strat kit that I built, using your method. I'm glad that I looked this up and found your video.

[@frankentronics]

This is one of your best videos.

[@aradondarmelious5819]

Thanks for this video. This is going to be very useful info as I build my new kits and repair/upgrade some of my older projects

[@gkoriski]

Between you "guns n' guitars" and Highline guitars, I'm building a killer bass, thanks man, knowledge that comes with experience is powerful and you got it.

[@64cousins]

this is the most helpful video on this subject. I've got my tape, I got a Tele, let's see how this goes

[@danedearmond4905]

I copper-shielded my Fender strat and it helped to a noticeable degree. I did the same with my Franken-Squier (with new Fender pickups) and while it helped, it was much less noticeable. But with the Fender it was absolutely worth the 30 min. and $4 of copper-tape. If you have the materials, I don't see why NOT to do it. It may help, it may not, but so long as you don't short something out it surely can't hurt...

[@ColocasiaCorm]

Why if theres only minimal flux through the pickup itself does shielding around it so wide make any differemce

[@jr4233]

Shielded my tele per this video and it sounds soooooo quiet! Thank you very much brother!!!

[@brocluno01]

You asked - I use conductive paint in cavities, always have. I use foil on pickguards. Nice review : -)

[@alejandrowyss4783]

Yet another excellent tech video! I think you are right about trying to simplify the theory behind and focus more on the practical application. Thank you Dylan

[@MichaelBethke-ni6zb]

Thanks for your shielding information. St. Augustine,Fl Michael

[@JonsterMonster]

I have DIY project without a pickguard. HSH-Configuration. 3 pupcavities + controls backside. How am i gonna shield n ground successfully the neck-H through middle-S & bridge-H with also controls cavity? The wireholes thru Hum-S-Hum are already ridiculously little and no way i can extend the copperline thru first neck pup to controls cavity.

[@billyboyd418]

You just saved me a bunch of time and tape. I was planning on putting tape everywhere like some recommend.

[@lrbrinkley]

Great video, Thanks for taking the time to explain.

[@1rgam3r]

Had to have a custom pickguard made (a surprisingly difficult venture) and they offered a copper foil option so I figured why not. One single piece of copper on the back of a Strat-ish pick guard. Thanks for the vid. Satisfyingly geeky. 😊

[@flwrs23]

Awesome content!! 🎉 greeting from mexico 🇲🇽

[@patrickstevenson9527]

Great - Really liked the video. Thank you for your time.

[@Gilgamesh_One]

You're the best Dylan. You've saved me quite a bit of money by just being as straightforward and honest as you are. I seriously appreciate what you do man. Thanks. Rock on man

[@johnstitt2615]

Great video. Used your method of a tiny strip of shielding to have continuity between control plate and the pick-guard. Super- Genius Level. Wyle E Coyote....Super Genius.

[@charlesb7831]

I did my 89 Kramer Nightswan a few years after I bought it. I use copper foil and I did solder the joints between each strip. Now my volume pot is a push/pull as it's my pick up selector switch, I have a Seymour Duncan JB pickup in the neck (passive) and a Seymour Duncan heavy metal live wire (active) in the bridge. The guitar is completely silent with the volume cranked until I hit the strings and it's full sound. I wish all my guitars were like this. It's a guitar with pass and active and works wonderful. Anyone who knows those pick ups, knows how hot and loud the Heavy metal live wire is, 18volt , lots of jam lol. Probably the most versatile guitar I have, the JB has a coil tap, so the guitar goes mild to wild. Each pickup cavity has copper tape and the control cavity with a wire soldered to each joining them. Lots of work, but well worth it for me. Also did my Epiphone Zakk Wylde model and changed the 9volt setup to 18 volt on it and works just as well.

[@farko63]

So...in a Stratocaster the pickguard is the only part that need to shield as all strat or we can improve to shield other parts ?

[@donp11]

Thanks very informative and time saving !

[@illsharpminor]

Great Video. This method helped so much and saved me so much time and headache from having to remove everything.

[@TheMarc52]

Thank you for this. You saved me a lot of work, and it all makes perfect sense.

[@jonallen5280]

Love these kinds of videos when you do them! Realistic technical information with practical application was what drew me to your channel in the first place.

[@brunolussier3143]

Super informative!! Thank you!

[@brCharlieNagy]

A lotta knowledge, expertise and well-explained to the details - thank you , sir. :-)

[@johndotson920]

This makes so much sense thanks

[@pmd7914]

you immediately answered my question at about 3:30 , any need to keep watching? Edit - okay, so I did. I understand the idea of shielding the rear of the pickguard only. But I believe it is not necessary to run a ground jumper from the pickguard. The pickup mounting screws & springs are grounded to the pickup, so the copper shield will ground via the springs. You can test the pickup mounting screws are grounded by touching them, hum reduces or goes away completely.

[@andreabattagliaphoto]

THANK YOU ! Fine!... My new Vintera 2 it had a bizarre buzz when I touched the pickguard, after making the aluminum shield and placing the little strip from the potentiometer cavity it disappeared. Cheers from Paris.

[@AggaCityGang]

This was such a great video, thanks man

[@Bean.Footage]

For EMG pickups that don’t require a ground, how do I ensure the shield is connected to ground?

[@divebomb99]

Excellent, excellent, excellent. Does the back of the metal control plate (mounting plate for the pots and switch) need to have shielding tape applied to the back of it as well? Or will the metal itself shield once it comes into contact with a strip of the copper tape?

[@LuisHernandez-dy1rq]

Great video! Clarification is great. .So you don’t put the copper tape inside the pickups cavities?

[@黎致宇]

I did it! it’s work 🎉 Thanks 🙏

[@RuXTaR]

Been waiting for this since last year.. ha ha.. yeah..

[@learningguitar7948]

I have seen people run wires between the cavities and solder to the foil. If the pickguard is shielded and you have overlapping shielding (for example as you have from control cavity to body), then doesn't the pickguard tie them all together and you don't need wire between the cavities?

[@sdburrows]

Thank you for saving me time, money, and and breath with people who don't know what their talking about.

[@alanlevin167]

The cheapest easy to shield plastic face plate: Use contact cement and kitchen grade aluminum foil. I put the face plate on a piece of newspaper--upside down. I read the directions on the cement, spray it on the faceplate. Once it is ready (read the directions, I put ONE PIECE of foil over the whole face plate, let it hang off the edges, and let it dry-it dries in a few minutes. I then lift the faceplate off of the newspaper and throw away the paper. I let this sit overnight and then trim off the edges with a knife and then attach to the guitar, being certain that the foil connects to ground, of course.

[@DylanTalksTone]

If you are that challenged economically…. Just deal with the hum…. If you are just cheap…. That’s a wierd way to live

[@chuckHart70]

Thank you for sharing tips and saving time subscribed..thumbs up! Had to edit most important thing you said is you're trying to minimize the hum no way to eliminate it

[@bluesman354]

Why does my 50s Epi Les paul with 50s wiring hum but not my 60s Epi with normal wiring. When I use a 5.8 wireless system ( Amoon) it still hums. But when I use the legato UHF wireless system on either there is no hum.

[@jonhidharma7543]

thank you!...I'll give it a try.

[@kevintlchen8176]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanations, now I got a hold on dos and do'nts about how to properly shielding my telecaster. :)

[@MOZOGuitars]

Learned a ton from this video. Thank you!!!

[@GabrielSkolderblad]

hm my ibanez S621 did come with a backplate covering all the electronic that has some kind of aluminum foil on the inside but i cant see that its connected to ground. So this will not do anything?

[@cristiangongola8138]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video and explain how it works!

[@scobi9887]

I'm sure its been said before, but I wanna say it again; who bothers to click through to this video and then give it a thumbs down. Were they displeased with you simple and effective message, or are they people who say "no" before the question is asked. I am totally befuddled about these folks, and have made a mental note not to go out of my way to meet them anytime this century or next. They need to take a long hard look at themselves.

[@mikebob7184]

Dylan, Even being buzzed,... You did a great job on this one!

[@DylanTalksTone]

I don’t get buzzed … ever

[@jimwade4093]

Thank you very much 👍 .Great explanation and can't wait to do it . Thank again

[@tonymccormick21]

thanks for this. One bit I am not clear on....do I have to connect the earth of the jack to the copper shielding tape?

[@SergeiVlassov]

control cavity plate is made from metal and grounded pots are in direct contact with it, so that small strip will connect shielding to the plate that is already connected to the ground to the jack (in case of proper wiring of coarse). So no, separate additional connection is not needed.

[@heikojakob6491]

For the shielding: wood glue, standard tin foil, desoldering copper mesh as a ground wire, small wood screws to fix the copper mesh in a few points and to have good ground to the tin foil, the bridge and the pickguard. For the wiring: twisted pair wires from an old ethernet cable and shrink tubes over all terminals, so i don't have to worry about anything making shorts, therefor I shield all cavities and don't have problems with shorts. I also use a TRS jack to keep GND and low side of the signal separated. With classic TS cables the GND the low side of the signal will get connected when the guitar is plugged in. With a TRS cable and amps with balanced inputs, i can reduce hum even more, because now i have a balanced signal and shielding to the amp.

[@jasonpitre1249]

Okay, so I’ve watched a couple of videos and feel like I have gained valuable, knowledge. Well explained, without frills or bias. Thank you Dylan! Subscribed!

[@raymondruiz1843]

Hi! There, Can copper sheild can be applied over the aluminum sheild on the pickguard ?

[@geralddoyle5131]

Nice and simple!

[@wafdaddyrocks7028]

the graphite paint does seem to help. but if a pot feels loose,don't turn it till the body moves cause one of the solder lugs could ground out. so tighten it pronto. Every little bit helps.

[@randywarren6925]

Thank you sir. Nice and simple.👍😎😇🇺🇸

[@danielbarbieri8199]

I have already shielded several guitars with copper foil (single coil pickups), in the best possible way, and star-grounded everything possible. I noticed a clear improvement. However, I have the impression that certain very high treble frequencies are a little lost. I'm not 100% sure because I didn't record the sound before/after to compare. It's just an impression, perhaps due to the fact that there was no more buzz...? What is certain is that it is very appreciable to have less buzz when you use gain pedals or play loudly. The buzz is not 100% eliminated with the gain pedals, but in clear sound yes.

[@AA-MusicVideos-zs1nu]

Another great vid, Dylan. Would using metal pickup covers on a strat help (on a shielded guitar)? Or would that mess up the sound?

[@timharrington4470]

Thank you for your information, very well explained & to the point.

[@ilovejapanesemusic3858]

Thank you for making this video! you cleared up a lot of confusion for me👍🏻 the video made the whole process a lot simpler. I ordered the tape it'll be here tomorrow great video!

[@solkinar]

Great video glad I found it. The most important thing that you mentioned is it's about location. I never had a problem until I moved. Cell tower, hydro towers and transformers all within sight.

[@comeback1827]

Same for me !!! New techno became cancer for old techno !

[@claudiajay8291]

Hi Dylan, I use the conductive copper tape too. I tried the paint but it takes two coats and takes too long to dry . Guitars still hum but not as bad . It would be cool if pickups had covers that were emi resistant

[@Charles75N]

Thx Dylan. I came back for the parts I missed.

[@d3w4yn3]

CAPTAIN MARVELOUS TONEICUS AND THE FORTRESS OF IMPERMEABILITY!!! All joking aside, you, my friend, are a mad genius!!!

[@omegahiker]

Would i only shield the pickup cavities on a bass with an internal preamp as well, or does that situation require control cavity shielding?

[@blazelandproductions]

I am super grateful to find this video. Doing home recording I cannot stand the noise. I’ve purchased noise eliminators, gates etc. I probably have more of them than I do FX pedals. I could care less about all the science, and all the nerd stuff. I find people on KZbin, and the Internet tend to beat there chest to seem more intelligent than they actually are. There’s an old adage keep it simple stupid. I really appreciate this more than you know. I’m going to order the tape and follow everything that you said and I really hope it works. Thank you for putting this up!

[@Terry_Williams]

Thanks for the video

[@noneofyourbusiness2766]

I have lace Golds on a SSS Strat. Cam I shield those to reduce hum?1

[@Lordofmrak]

Would a brushed aluminium pickguard on strat do some good here?

[@1dimtim]

QUESTION i once saw shielding round a pickup, cant remember the make i think it was yamaha, what is it suppose to do??? does it do anything?

[@chesterchow1]

What's the best way to ground the shielding? A jumper wire to the ground point on the pot? Or is the control plate already grounded?