Shielding Your Guitar Is Easy... You Are Making It Harder Than It Needs To Be

[@bradharris7746]

Great video. I made my own shielding paint using one ounce of acrylic craft paint and mixed in a few teaspoons of graphite powder. I painted a test stripe on a piece of scrap wood and tested it for continuity with a multimeter to ensure I had enough graphite in the mix, which I did. Very inexpensive, works great and doesn’t seem to flake off the way you say Stew Mac’s paint does.

[@alancosens3653]

Doesn’t the sanding sealer interrupt the ground connection, say where the pots are resting against the paint, for example?

[@lavh93]

Electrical engineer here, the reason you need conductivity is because conductivity is what is actually shielding your guitar

[@jeffjeff4477]

What about copper tape?

[@matt-fn9gr]

@@jeffjeff4477 copper tape is great but the adhesive needs to be conductive

[@ofershragay]

I use copper foil mostly because it looks badass

[@TexasToastGuitars]

As soon as someone plays the second cool card they get the thumbs up from me

[@sgwilly1722]

The conductive paint is still conductive when you paint over it with something else, you're just insulating it. It's the same thing as an insulated wire. The wire inside doesn't stop being conductive just because you covered it with something that insulates it. If you pierce through the top coat with your probes, it will still be conductive underneath. Also the guitar itself is an insulator, so if the shield works enclosed in the guitar, it'll also work under paint.

[@HighlineGuitars]

I dig the hum. Jimi's music wouldn't be the same without it. The crackle and buzz of electricity is like napalm in the morning.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I often say that "your favorite music, when you were in high school, was recorded wasn't recorded on SS frets and conical radius fretboards." Shielding paint would fall into that category

[@gusanson1134]

instaBlaster

[@patrolduty8715]

...

[@Nellil]

I use shielding paint in the cavity and copper tape on the bottom of the cavity lid. Works like a charm. 👍

[@TexasToastGuitars]

That is a hot set up amigo

[@markpell8979]

Matt, I've learned more about it in the last few days and A) I'm not as smart about shielding and interference as I thought, and B) I'm not as smart as I thought about many things. Ha! Thanks man, keep up the great work.

[@PhoenixUnlimited]

@@markpell8979 it’s wild that we know everything as teenagers and then reality hits. But hey, the lesson really sticks when you learn it the hard way.

[@markpell8979]

@@PhoenixUnlimited Absolutely. Hard to admit sometimes. It's really good to be able to say "I was wrong" or "I didn't really understand this." If you do that you can help others better too when it works the other way, without anyone feeling either high-and-mighty or embarrassed/humiliated. Two-way street.

[@danybreault8292]

before spraying the sealer you should tape a little corner to make contact with the foil on the rear cavity cover plate, So people with the theory of full contact cage will be happy! now let'a have a beer

[@TexasToastGuitars]

No matter what we do we won't be able to please everyone :)

[@SloverOfTeuth]

The problem is, you might be right. I've got one of those electronic engineering degree things, and we all understand how Faraday cages work. In intuitive terms, there are electric and magnetic fields passing through the "ether" (ahem) and the wiring acts like a radio antenna or the coil in a pickup and picks a signal up. Faraday cages "short circuit" the fields around the volume inside. To do that completely, they have to be completely closed, no holes, conductivity all round, and we all understand why that is, there's no issue. Unless you go on to spend time working in that specific area, that's probably all you are going to think about it. And then some (likeable, articulate, experienced) clown comes along and says holes don't matter in practice, in guitars. And like you say, they are called cages not boxes anyway. Either you can dismiss him, or you can ask yourself how that could be. Maybe it seems plausible that a single microscopically small hole might not have too big an impact, so then you ask yourself how big could that hole be before it would have a significant impact? Now you have to bear in mind that there is an enormous amount of amplification in the "signal chain", so even a very small leakage could have a significant effect, so you would have to do some calculations which are "quite tricky" to do. But there are a couple of points of reference in those calculations, because they are points of reference in the physics. One of those is the wavelength of the signal. FM radio has a wavelength of say 3 metres (in American units, that's about 3.3% of the length of a football field, or three quarters the length of a VW bug), AM radio is 2 or 3 football fields, and audible frequencies are tens to hundreds of km (no equivalent US unit, just "a very long way"). So potentially you could have rather a large hole on that score. In simple terms, it's harder for an electromagnetic signal to manouevre through (US: "get through") a hole a lot smaller than its wavelength in a surrounding conductor. Another point of reference is the size of the hole relative to the size of the box - I'll just say it might seem plausible that a small hole in a big box will have less effect than a big hole in a small box (or I might say solve Maxwell's equation to find out). Both of those act strongly in your favour to reduce the pickup, but remember the high gain signal chain counteracts that, so it's a numbers game. If experiments show that small gaps are not giving too much pickup, I'd be inclined to believe you. Also, think about these: 1. If the wiring in the guitar cavity needs to be in a Faraday cage, wouldn't the wiring at the input to the guitar (or a microphone) amp or at least pre-amp need to be in a Faraday cage too? Many pre-amps and amps are indeed in metal boxes, but those boxes often have gaps (e.g. if they are pressed metal rather than castings), and many are in plastic boxes. Some of those plastic boxes have bits of aluminium foil stuck on the inside of the control panel connected to ground, presumably to short out any electric fields from the user's fingers when they adjust the controls, but not on all surfaces. 2. Look at the gaps in the braiding in braided coaxial cable - you have to think the designer wasn't thinking "it's a Faraday cage, so it can't have any gaps", but rather "copper's expensive, how little copper can I use and it still work (i.e. how big can I make the gaps)?". Hmmm. It may be that some older amps would reproduce radio signals - this was a design problem is some early transistor amps due to lack of "high frequency bypass", you shouldn't be getting that with decent gear, and the guitar's tone control may well bypass it anyway. I'd _strongly_ advocate the use of screened cable everywhere inside the guitar, this is the first defence in audio. Also, avoid creating "ground loops" in the screens/grounds (i.e. "circular" ground routes, basically you want as far as possible to have all ground connections coming from a single point, a "star" configuration, or daisy-chained, but no loops, see e.g. Wikipedia). Subject to all that, I'd say you do want shielding in the cavity, you do want shielding on the scratchpad or cover, you do want your pots and switches etc) grounded, and you do want the scratchplate and cavity shielding grounded; but if that's what your experience says, it's very plausible that those only need to be single point connections, you don't need continuous connections between your shielding all the way round. My instincts say I'd prefer one "known good" connection to each piece of shielding rather than a questionable connection all the way along joints between shielding. As a final point, even a simple single-transistor buffer/pre-amp in an active guitar, if properly configured, should massively reduce electromagnetic pickup in the wiring beyond it, because it should have a much lower impedance at its output, and in a properly configured setup that "shorts out" any pickup in the wiring between it and the amp.

[@Dreamdancer11]

I ground my guitars with quality noiseless single coils and a shielded wire from the input jack..... as for the...rest all the methods are valid(this one is slick by the way) but i find myself either not doing it at all or if i do i use the cheap aluminum tape to make the cage by folding each piece at the edge to have conductivity with the next(not that sexy).....if i had shielding paint around i would use that as a first option....copper looks better than all the above but in the end the result is the same......choose whatever helps you sleep better at night... By the way...why is this channel only 30 thousand subs...one of the best guitar building channels out there....hope in the new year you ll double them...peace.

[@ERIC-65]

Good, but the shielding-Paint has got to be connected to Ground somewhere still ( and the sealer shouldnt avoid that ) ! And you gotta be certain to have this accomplished. Or not?

[@jonahguitarguy]

I do control cavities just because but the receivers of noise are the pickups so I paint SC pup cavities and don’t always do hummers. In theory hummers shouldn’t need shielding at all.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah, I think people just want it to look like what they think it should look like

[@dougcook7507]

I used copper in my Challenger build. Like you you mentioned, it is there to keep RF out of the electronics. Is only serves as an electrical reflector/absorber. People also get all worked up on this and then buy cheap cables. As for connectivity, most pots will touch the cavity shield by default anyways when installed.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Your guitar turned out pretty great man. Using good stuff is always the best answer

[@Magnulus76]

I'm guessing the paint is the same stuff they used on the stealth fighters and bombers radar-absorbing coating.

[@delbert9357]

Great video. I just put a set of EMG 81/85 active pickups in a cheap Firefly guitar. No shielding zero noise.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Very nice!

[@genegleckner2732]

A faraday cage can't be achieved, so all we try to do is catch as much interference as possible and direct it to ground , so the more shielding the better, conductivity would help make the square inches

[@rustyaxelrod]

I think a lot of people get mixed up about the RF shielding and the ground of the audio circuit because they are usually electrically connected but they have two different purposes. You’re on it. The shielding can bleed off Radio Frequency interference that is in the air through the ground of the audio circuit or reflect it. I don’t know the details of which is better or happens more but I believe it depends on the strength and frequency of the interference. The current generated by the pickups is significantly higher power than the RF in nearly all cases. A big power supply for a neon light can pump out some serious RF for a short distance for example. Anyway, I believe what you are saying is true and the shielding paint will work fine just like you are saying.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

It works great

[@simontwycross3449]

I've adopted the same method! So far works a treat!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah man, it won't let you down

[@leewarren]

A good looking cavity is always nice ... 😉

[@TexasToastGuitars]

People do dig that

[@jakeqwaninne8502]

it makes it look finished, and if your paying attention to shit like that , then you must be paying attention to the bigger stuff like fret work, and the such

[@j1shot2]

I see what you did there 👍

[@davidgover5187]

I was going to use the shielding paint the instructions required three coats with 24 hours between coats which is a 3 day process. I ended up using household aluminum foil and spray gorilla adhesive which took about 30 minutes and worked.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

That is not the way we use it. :)

[@DmaraGuitars]

I’ve found that if I brush on a good ole wet coat and let it dry, I get the same result as applying 2 or 3 coats. Those extra coats are a waste of time and material. But hey, that’s just my own opinion. 🤙🏻

[@samlelowitch]

You are correct that continuity throughout the cavity is not required no matter how much others may wish it were so.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

People love to obsess over little things

[@dr.crypto6891]

I have used various methods to shield. I concur that complete continuity is not mandatory. You did state that all the guitars you tested were sporting humbuckers. As the name implies, humbuckers are less likely to well, hum. Single coil pickups demand more attention to keep them quiet. Maybe you could do a side by side comparison of shielded vs. unshielded humbuckers, shielded vs. unshielded single coils, and shielded/unshielded humbuckers vs. shielded/unshielded single coils. Nice video...Cheers

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks Doc. that is a good idea... and we do have a few strats coming up

[@gregoryguitars6291]

Kent Armstrong is a neighbor of mine. He maintains that if you use shielded wire throughout, there is no need for anything extra. The paint has nickel filaments in it so, if theres not enough coats of it, the filaments may not form a complete circuit.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Kent Armstrong has probably forgotten more about electronics than I'll ever know. We don't worry about a complete circuit

[@blb2388]

I have only built five guitars so far, and the need for shielding paint is much greater with single coil guitars. Even then I tried both copper foil and shielding paint with two different tele-style guitars, and although it did help, neither were completely hum-free. Humbuckers of course were a silent as a grave whether I shielded the cavities or not. (Hence the term, "humbucker"?)

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Some guitars really benefit from shielding but as you pointed out... some don't

[@JohnShalamskas]

When you coil split a humbucker it becomes a single coil. Then you need to shield the cavities, especially the control cavity and the selector switch cavity.

[@stevemineer2857]

The last few guitars I built I used the Stew Mac paint. My earlier guitars I have zero shielding. Some of them don’t even have covers on the cavities. I can’t tell a difference between any of them. The paint actually takes months or even years to dry before it stops rubbing off on your fingers. Never thought of spraying over it. Love all your videos!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

The paint is still there so spraying sealer over it is only a good thing

[@katakanaquest5565]

copper tape with conductive adhesive is the best

[@spokes28]

? Ok so does the painted cavity need to have a ground wire running to the system ground? Or is the paint by itself enough?

[@StratsRUs]

Thank you for this video.You are a natural communicator and this helped me 100%. On a Strat is it always necessary to connect up a ground to the cavity wall from a pot.I mean as well as the grounds to the block and output jack ? Thank you

[@Doug_Seidlitz]

That's a cool guitar. That cavity certainly looks nicer than foil tape.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks man, I don't like the foil tape look either

[@bo8013]

Didn'n find anywhere, what if any naked wire from electronics touches the shield? Was it creates circuit noise? Things complicated on my DIY guitar

[@JC-11111]

I can confirm it's not true that you need conductivity. I did my guitar and completely forgot to make sure every piece of the aluminum foil tape was conductive to the next. Buttoned it up and it was 200% better. It was so quiet, I thought a wire had come loose so I wasn't getting any sound to the amp. Nope, all the wires were fine. It's just that quiet now. I was beyond impressed. Luckily I don't have microphonic pickups in my guitars like you find in some inexpensive guitars like the Firefly 335-style guitars. My Silvertone "Strats" are actually very good guitars, IMO. On par with any Squier for sure.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks JC, as you know there is certainly no downside to having conductivity but it's no big shake if you don't

[@vw9659]

So you didn't check but you're sure you didn't have conductivity. I don't understand your logic. A lot of tape has conductive adhesive, so will be conductive. And even without that you'll have incidental conductive contact points between the conductive surfaces. So chances are you had conductivity, you just didn't know it.

[@JC-11111]

@@vw9659 because it's known that aluminum tape doesn't have conductivity from one piece to the next. You have to do extra steps. That's why. Plus I checked it the next time I took it apart. Come on man. Can you not think logically?

[@JohnAdams-xc5yk]

I do everything I can to shield especially single coils, I live in an area in the Philippines that has 220 volts, two 110 wires to the main breaker box no ground or neutral, I am surprised I don't get a lot of buzz

[@TexasToastGuitars]

That sounds like a good idea John, you got to do what you got to do man. Those of us that live in different places will need to think about different stuff

[@peterschmidt9942]

Can't say I agree Matt. The whole point of shielding (anything) is that it takes stray outside RF signals and shunts them to ground, hence making things generally quieter. If it's not conducting, it can't do it's job. Shielding paints are good and you can spray anything you like over it as long as all of the stuff attached (outside cover plates) conduct with the shielding paint and the shielding paint ultimately goes to ground. If you use tapes (copper, aluminium), they all should conduct together and should ultimately shunt everything to ground. How you do that is up to you. But if you just have floating tape, it's actually not doing anything electrically. You can get away with just putting shielding on a pickguard - It works (if it's grounded). Is it better than a full cavity? In terms of electrically shielding, no. But some is better than nothing. It can change the sound of the pickups too. Some like it, some don't - each to their own. I did learn a few things when I was an electronics tech and 4 years of college - other than where the pubs were before class! :)

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We aren't trying to do anything electrically with shielding... we can disagree

[@peterschmidt9942]

@@TexasToastGuitars Matt, if it's not going to actually work electrically, you might as well save yourself some dollars and just paint it black. It will do the same thing. And to tell the truth, if you used shielded wire and grounding the pots it pretty much does the same thing anyway.

[@nojyeloot]

Thanks for the advice! Looks super clean! I'd love to take some courses from you. I'm in TX, where ya'll at?

[@rockvillemike6062]

Now you know why all those freaks in the sixties wore tin foil hats. They were all guitar players.

[@michaelailer5623]

If complete conductivity was important then the control cavity and pick up cavity should be stamped metal boxes with shielded wire connect them, heavy shielded wire to bridge, a wire through the body and neck to the tuners and the player needs grounded also. When I worked as PA Technician/Engineer, RF interference was always an issue. Also guitars would need ground lifts and polarity switches to match with electrical power at the amps and processors if perfect connectivity is absolute need.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

HAHAHA guitar players are funny, and chasing stuff like shielding hum is a fun one

[@dmday316]

What is the name of the sealer used over the shielding paint?

[@docsiltanen]

Hey Matt… I like the idea of covering the shielding with sealer…. thats genius…. cause that shit is messy ….for those who are convinced that you need a "cage" around the control cavity I would think masking off one or two of the "screw piller" areas before shooting the sealer would allow there to be a conductive "cage" when a conductive foil covered plate is screwed down on top….. just so the world doesn't explode or something … keep up the awesome work brother …. we all really appreciate it even more now !!!

[@bigjohnsgmail]

10-4 or a strip of copper tape under one of the pots before tightening and run up to said pillar 👍

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We don't want any guitars blowing up

[@kirkscobey3031]

Thanks for the videos. God Bless and keep you safe!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks Kirk

[@crazysandwich]

The first guitar i built didnt have any shielding at all. I used shielded wire and good quality humbuckers and theres isnt much noise anyway My next build will be shielded because i want to see the difference, but my guess is that its more important with single coils.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

You are right, sometimes it isn't a big deal

[@randyfox8484]

Curious to know if this will work on a Gibson Les Paul Studio. Got my eyes on one that the seller states has a static issue and doesn’t know the cause. Doing the legwork before pulling the trigger. Thanks in advance!

[@drittal]

I’m not saying I know shit about building guit-fiddles, but the shielding paint I used wiped off the finish easily with a wet rag.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Some finish easier than others

[@dannydaniels3252]

Is there a good brush-on sealer that you recommend? Also, do you use this technique on single coils?

[@YTPartyTonight]

I've shielding one with copper tape which I found to be too much of a PITA for my preference. All my others I've applied MG Chemicals Super Shield paint. Both do the job; the paint is easier. My experience or findings concur with everything said in the first two minutes of this video. The notion about continuity of conductivity throughout 100% of the cavity and wire ways is indeed false. //I never considered overcoating the shielding paint with sanding dealer though; that's a new idea to me. I've only had one opportunity where I could have done this before sealing and finishing a body myself. It didn't come to mind at the time but it makes sense, rather than shielding after the body was finished.

[@ashscott6068]

None of those drunk people in the club you're playing in care about a few seconds of noise at the start and end of a song. If you're in a studio...a bit of noise doesn't matter either. People take great pains to shield their guitar, and then play a Nickleback cover, FFS! You gonna subject my ears to that shite and then worry that I might hear the buzz from the fluorescents? If it mattered, guitars and amps would be XLR. It's not hard to convert an amp to XLR. Especially a PCB amp.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

3 beers and it sounds good

[@CaptainScarlet1961]

@@TexasToastGuitars: Lmao true..

[@JC-11111]

If it didn't matter, Fender, Gibson, and other mfgs wouldn't waste the time and money to put it in their guitars. They're in the business of making money, not wasting it.

[@bevo65]

I started using the paint a few years ago. Will never fuck with foil again.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

it's the good stuff kids go for, we only use the tape for stuff like control cavity covers

[@francoisdevillecraig993]

I love the idea of sealing the conductive paint but is it worth checking you have a fully effective faraday cage if your lined back-plate doesn't make any electrical contact with the painted cavity because of the sealer?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

The conductivity thing is bunk... says me

[@francoisdevillecraig993]

@@TexasToastGuitars Fair enough - we can agree to disagree - and I thank you for the idea of sealing the paint - I would just mask the edge of the rebate.

[@treyriley7303]

If I am shielding a guitar that is already painted should I sand off the exiting paint and paint my shielding paint on raw wood? Can I just paint over the paint that is already there?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I would just go with it. If it isn't sticking the foil tape might be the hot set-up

[@justincobb980]

So just one coat is enough? On the directions I got with my can it recommended up to 3 coats 😳

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Hi Justin, I don't use more than 1 but my paint is pretty thick.

[@zodak9999b]

I think shielding paint and copper tape are both equally good. I used copper tape for my bass because I have another use for it other than the bass. If I had a container of shielding paint, I'm pretty sure it'd dry out before I ever used it again.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

They both work great. We have to add water to the paint sometimes since it dries out. All the graphite powder settles at the bottom too

[@AndrewCCM]

How about single coil? Never really have issues with humbuckers. I’ve used copper tape on all of my builds, but am considering using this.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Give it a shot and see what you think. We use the paint on single coil guitars a lot. Let me know what you think. Now... the tape works really well too. The point I was trying to make was that you don't need to worry about conductivity as much as the internet forums say you should

[@matthemberry]

You do realize that by painting the inside of the cavity you’ve made it conductive? That’s how shielding paint works.

[@olderthandirt5267401]

I like the idea. On a couple of old electric guitars never had anything but wood inside the cavities. My old Harmony bobkat was always noisy and the pickups would pop and snap all the time. Would this process help quiet that down? Or do I have another issue? I keep that old guitar around and it's what I use to teach my grandkids to play on. Let me know.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Well, this technique won't hurt but the pickups might be the bigger issue. Give it a try and see, it isn't too expensive and is really easy

[@Frankinsteinguitar]

Try star grounding with copper tape, fast, easy and effective...... ask any stereo amp builder.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I'm going to stick with our system

[@LosRockson]

Hey, question, is there a problem if I don’t shield the lid? I’m kind of a 90’s kid fanboy and my guitar has acrylic see through cover plates. Would I need to shield the lid too?

[@charliedurham1954]

You were right,they are burnin' up the keyboards as we speak! Great video,don't know why ssome people do things the most difficult way. Thanks for the great video!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Making guitars is fun, almost as fun as arguing about the best way to make guitars :)

[@mikeivey8471]

A truer fact has never been spoken !

[@jakeqwaninne8502]

is it a good idea to put the shielding painton ALL the electronix in the cavities?, i mean after they have been wired up?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We only do the control cavity brotherman. Of course, there is no penalty for doing more

[@mkgearhead5151]

I usually just use a shielded cable to the output jack when I'm wiring it up and call it good.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Good to go my friend

[@rellikguitars7237]

Hey Mat... I use the same paint. Stewmac recommend 4 coats. I tend to do 2. Do you think they just want to sell more???

[@bigjohnsgmail]

Matty is right doesn't take much and yes StewMac is a money factory. It's just graphite powder added to flat black water based paint.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah, I put it down thick and only do one round

[@vanstry]

Another quick comment (I'm a BSEE btw and grounding was something I once had to learn). Shielding the cavity is hands down the most important. With humbuckers (I haven't experimented with single coils) shielding the pickup cavity doesn't seem to matter very much - same for the selector switch cavity - but I do them anyways. Because it's not that big of a time sink for me (I build like a few per year - it's my hobby). Grounding and shielding are almost like a black art in the world of electrical engineering. There are people who make entire careers out of it. DC and AC aren't the big problem, it's static electricity that will drive you nuts. And remember to always touch the guitar strings to the microphone stand before you grab it after setting up your gear!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Cool man, everyone should have their own style

[@stratmananderson5375]

if the shielding paint is so flaky how do you keep it from blowing out on the body wile you are spraying the sealer?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I don't know

[@patruddiman4228]

Do you do the pickup cavities too?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I don't usually

[@tiejol]

a before and after would be nice to listen if it does do any good with shielding on a single coil guitar

[@TexasToastGuitars]

That would be a good video

[@jvin248]

Just make sure your cavity cover connects electrically to the painted shield and you should be ok. Painting can be faster (provided you don't drip it on the good finish) and so I know that's why many factory guitars get it. I still like the aluminum flashing tape though. +1 that you found shielded cable to the jack is important -- I found that can be 50% of a guitar's idle noise floor. It's ironic how Fender and their single coils use separate wires to the jack.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We still use the foil for the control cavity covers

[@Magnulus76]

It's nice you are taking the extra time to shield the guitar pickups. EMI isn't getting any better in the real world. Even with humbuckers sometimes you can get noise. It could be the case that the paint is absorbing the radio waves, similar to how the stealth fighters/bombers radar absorbing coatings work.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I do love stealth fighters

[@mikeivey8471]

What if you decided to do the shielding after you've sealed the body already ? Is it ok to apply shielding paint then ? Prolly need to reseal , I guess ?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Hi Mike, shield after with no issues. The cavity will make your fingers a little tiny bit dirty when you are wiring if you aren't careful but that is the only downside

[@giannapple]

First of all, I’m not an electrician nor a guitar builder, so I may be completely wrong, but here is my 5c on shielding. I don’t know what people think when it comes to shielding, but here it is: you build a Faraday cage around the electronics in order to stop radio waves that may produce noise in the electronics. Now, think about that; what happens when you are driving your car listening to your favourite radio channel and you drive under a bridge or a tunnel made of concrete? The radio signal dies, it gets stopped by the cage of steel “threads” that supports the concrete. This cage is obviously open at both ends, which means there is no complete continuity in this cage (actually it is not even a cage but a half cylinder...). I strongly believe you could use chicken wire into your guitar cavity to obtain same result... ;-)

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We have wondered about a wire mesh as well

[@geoffcowan2384]

We bought some of the "magnet board" paint a few years ago. We surprised our daughter by putting that under the paint on one of her walls so she could stick photos and stuff to it without putting a bunch of holes in the wall. My question is, does a magnet stick to the shielding paint? I am basically wondering if I can use some the leftover paint I have as shielding paint. I kind of assume it is basically the same stuff. Color is about the same and it is really watery. Thanks for the cool videos!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Hmmm I don't have any idea, but it sounds like a good thing to try

[@peterschmidt9942]

@Geoff Cowan Probably not. Shielding paints main constituent is graphite powder.

[@geoffcowan2384]

@@peterschmidt9942 My main reason for checking is that 8oz of shielding paint is $39 and 32oz of magnet wall paint is about the same price + I have some left over magnet wall paint... :)

[@peterschmidt9942]

@@geoffcowan2384 Yeah it's expensive stuff from Stewmac. As long as the paint is electrically conductive, I don't see there being any issue unless it's actually magnetic and it may interfere with the electronics of the guitar - that's probably the only downside. I'm actually going to do some testing of zinc paint on one of my builds when I get a chance.

[@geoffcowan2384]

Peter Schmidt best I can tell it is ground up iron in latex paint. No more magnetic than the steel boxes you find in some Gibsons.

[@vanstry]

My experience (while considerably less than yours with guitars) has been, that once I put the pickups and the switch in, they ground to the paint / foil and you end up with everything connected anyways.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Me too

[@gpurkeljc]

Do you also need to use the shielding paint on the covering plate?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We use the tape for that, it is easier

[@Wildman9]

Yep,don't need it all the little cracks and crevices ,just the control cavity ,pickup area and pickguard,you do that and you'll have a perfect setup.Don't use any shielding,other than factory on my American strats,and they use as little as possible.Mostly on the pickguard and pickup routes,nothing in the control cavity.So there you go.Great vids Matt and Chris.😎🎸

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks Bob, a little does seem to go a long way. I must admit, I was one of those guys who thought shielding needed to be conductive to work.

[@beardoe6874]

That's a cool idea to seal it with a more durable paint. Do you think the conductive paint shell gets any continuity with ground through the 1/4" jack, the pots or the cover screws? Basically, is your paint shell just good enough or is it actually really good? By the way, I've always looked at your guitar cavities and assumed they were not shielded because I didn't see foil...

[@TexasToastGuitars]

You can keep slathering that paint on and it will eventually conduct. There are other types of shielding paint as well... they might be better for that application

[@Bob_at_OZDiggzguitars]

agreed. To each their own, though. The Gibson box is overkill, but they did it. Seems this way looks nicer, doesn't require mo' parts (one less step/cost) AND works exactly the same... BTW: you can MAKE that with Titebond Hide Glue and graphite powder. Unfortunately, the guy who has that video on YT closed his account awhile ago, so I am not quite sure on the ratios. Might also work with acrylic paint and graphite powder, too...

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah, lots of people have told me that I should make my own... I'm not going to HAHAHA

[@Bob_at_OZDiggzguitars]

@@TexasToastGuitars I am the guy who disassembled a lava lamp to find out what chemicals were in the "water", so...yeah...BUT ideas that work in a pinch might be needed in the future for some of us... hopefully not.

[@briw4647]

Quick question. Do you shield inside of the rear cavity covers too ?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yes

[@Danyelitus]

Hi Matt, you do the same with control plate cover and Jack hole?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

We put tape on the cover

[@markmayes4492]

You sold me. I'm doing it with foil tape and not caring about continuity.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Glad to hear it Mark

[@MarioinRmd]

@5:26 'You know the Germans make good stuff!' Vince from ShamWow

[@zachcerasani3043]

Hey Matt. Do u shield the backside of the control plate too? If you do, how do you get it to make a good contact to the paint? Wouldn’t sanding sealer “insulate” the shielding paint and make a poor connection to the back of the control plate? (Lol devil’s advocate) If it works, who cares, right?? Lol thanks for the video!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks Zach, we do use the tape for the control cavity covers

[@mrfrontranger7911]

shielding with single coils is more important just because of the hum factor of a single coil.I always use foil started way before Stewmac even offered a graphite paint. I think you could get away with shielding only running under the pots but like you said players are into spiffy looking cavities and so I do the whole cavity and back side of the lid creating a complete shield. If you don't have total conductivity why bother at all 🤔I do believe shielding is important and an element of getting a quiet hum free guitar. Science to it? sht if I know probably is some.it just works like yours stay safe stay inside wash yer dang hands🤗

[@TexasToastGuitars]

There is no downside to going with complete conductivity. You wash your hands

[@MosriteCharlie]

Shield the pickup cavity or not?

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I generally dont

[@murpsman]

I hate the foil. I use that same conductive paint from StewMac.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

It's good stuff

[@RobertNolan]

I actually think this is a bold statement that's probably true. I imagine that on paper it's better to do it after finishing, it's better to fully enclosed the electronics, it's better to check continuity... but if this blocks a large majority of it and everything I just only improves it a few percent, it's wasted time/effort and seriously over complicating production

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Shielding is often misunderstood

[@RobertNolan]

@@TexasToastGuitars I've done it minimally on some guitars and heard great improvement. I've done it to the full extent on others and heard no improvement. Go figure. I think it can help but sometimes the pickup is to stubborn. Other times, maybe it's just a room thing. You can only do so much before you just accept it for what it is.

[@DmaraGuitars]

That 60 cycle never seemed to bother the guitar monsters of yesteryear. I’ve never gone to an arena show and complained that I heard some 60 cycle hum for a couple of seconds before they struck that first note and blew my face off. 😆😆

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah, all the coolest music ever recorded wasn't done with perfectly shielded cavities

[@godfreyozzy7128]

Shielding won't affect 60 cycle hum, it's designed to reduce RMI/EMI.

[@ChrisFranklyn]

"We looked at several guitars..." Wait? You did science?! You'll never get a reputation if you're not spouting voodoo :)

[@TexasToastGuitars]

It was about as scientific as we get. You can dig it here... kzbin.info/www/bejne/fp6YhX6Za61qjMk

[@benkonczal4584]

I know I’m late to this party, but I think the shielding paint technique IS awesome. I don’t do it myself out of laziness because I would have to go BUY some. But I’m thinking about buying some 🤷🏻‍♂️ that counts, right!? Currently I just use the foil tape for HVAC ducts. Why? Because I somehow acquired 2 rolls of it and I have no idea from where or why. It’s not as easy to use as that paint looks and it makes for a shiny cavity instead of a nice clean dark cavity like I see here. But as far as I can tell, it works. So since the price is right I’m using it for now. One of these days I’ll get the shielded paint to be like you kool cats 😉

[@vw9659]

Your shielding paint IS fully conductive. Otherwise it wouldn't work. It's just not zero-ohms conductive. Measure across a distance and you'll find that the resistance is consistent with the resistance vs distance specs. And connect it in a circuit and you'll find you can run current across it => conductive.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I'm going to rethink my whole life

[@vw9659]

@@TexasToastGuitars Whatever it takes. ;)

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Legitimately, how do you ground paint? I don't mean spilling it on the floor. 😎🎙🎸✅

[@0MyWay01]

Julian Carmichael The paint is conductive carbon powder in a emulsion. When the output jack ground or the grounded POTs are installed they make contact with the shielding paint

[@TexasToastGuitars]

You don't sweat it

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

@@0MyWay01 ta, much appreciated 🙂

[@amitsapir2]

man, this shielding tape is soooo expensive. Wills easy guitar has a videos how to make it yourself. it is basiclly just graphite powdre and Titebond hideglue.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I have heard that

[@TommySG1]

This will be the first thing I do once you guys send me my new body 🤙 Can’t wait.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

It's the right thing to do brotherman

[@TommySG1]

I’ll be certainly doing this on the body you’re building me Matt! 🤟

[@Mark_Provan]

I use copper foil for two reasons, it looks nice and its a lot cheaper than shielding paint 🤘🤘🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I like the copper tape too

[@chrissarantos7929]

I don’t shield my guitars. If you wire and ground it correctly you shouldn’t need shielding unless your pickups are microphonic or have other issues.

[@JC-11111]

So then why do guitar mfgs do it from the factory if it isn't needed? They all wire their guitars wrong or have other issues? 🤷‍♂️ Fender does it. Gibson does it. So do others. So?

[@chrissarantos7929]

When guitars are mass produced there maybe slight imperfections (tolerances etc.) in electronic parts that will cause noise and shielding is a way to mitigate issues over large quantities.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

You got to live your best life

[@chrissarantos7929]

Texas Toast Guitars I’m not saying shielding is bad, if it needs it do it. I just have not experienced a need for it in the builds I’ve done. You do what you need or like.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

@@chrissarantos7929 I'm glad we agree

[@hobiecat901]

Alright Guys, I own two American Fenders, a Strat and Tele and a High end Les Paul and none has shielding. Makes me wonder about all the fuss about shielding????????? Why is shielding even necessary? I have not heard a noise from my guitars.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

People on guitar forums think you need it

[@Itsok202]

Try taping before you paint

[@timmyv694]

Ok here’s my argument against sealing it . I assume you’re going to shied the control cavity cover . If you seal the shielding paint in side the cavity . It won’t have continuity with the shielded cover. I know you don’t care about that so much but I say if your gonna shied the entire cavity why not have it completely enclosed and connected?

[@giannapple]

Hmmm... shielding the cavity is a way to encapsulate the electronics in a Faraday cage, so my question is “does a Faraday cage needs to be completely connected?”.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I think the easy answer to your question is that it doesn't matter if you have continuity. Having said that... there is no downside. Like I say, if your time is free or if you just like the idea, go forward and be happy.

[@juliansuarez3849]

Super cool!!

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Thanks man

[@DmaraGuitars]

If the guitar already has the finish on it I’ll use copper so you don’t get the shielding paint crap on your hands if you’re screwing around in the cavity. Hmmm 🤔 😆 if the finish is yet to be sprayed then it gets the paint so I can seal over it.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Sounds good to me

[@leonarddaneman810]

Fast forward to 7:40 . . . 8:40, paint fairly dry . . . now, go outside and watch the grass grow.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Or get the heat gun

[@leonarddaneman810]

@@TexasToastGuitars You're giving Bob Ross a run for the money.

[@icu469]

Shielding paint is much easier and much less time consuming but foil tape will shield more guitars for the money. What I didn't understand is dude mentions all the guitars they looked at had humbuckers. Why shield a humbucker guitar ? Usually they are really quiet. Noise is usually only an issue with single coils.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

I agree

[@tucanman9775]

you get the smallest droplet on the wood its stained for life it went under the masking and stained the hell out of my guitar youse the tape

[@TexasToastGuitars]

Yeah, use the tape

[@rmccain99]

My P-bass pups make noise after shielding.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

That's a bummer

[@yannsalmon2988]

Shielding is about making an antenna that will catch EM interferences instead of your pickups and redirect them to the ground. The wider the surface of the shield, the better but it doesn’t need to be a closed box. Don’t know why everybody thinks it should be a Faraday box, because the Faraday box is irrelevant in a guitar and there’s no way you can really make one with shielding. The only conductivity you need is to make sure that the copper/aluminium/conductive paint surfaces are all connected to the ground.

[@TexasToastGuitars]

The internet chat rooms are great places to learn new stuff. Some of it is even worth learning. I think that is the driving force for people having ideas that are overkill.

[@luiskarantonis4531]

Isn't shielding humbucker instruments redundant? I thought it was to eliminate single coil noise...