Easy Guitar Shielding To Get Rid Of The BUZZ!

#addictedtogear
Today on my messy workbench, we look at a telecaster that I am currently building and give it the shielding treatment to make sure we don't have any issues with nasty 60 cycle hum.
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[@learningguitar7948]

Great video, thank you! Seems there might be two simplifications (e.g. for those using Obsidian wiring setups, not as skilled in soldering)... 1) For the wires between cavities, you can use the adhesive-conductive tape, rather than soldering, to tape down the exposed wire in the cavity or 2) if you shield the whole underside of the pickguard, it will contact the cavity overlap, completing the circuit and no need for wire between cavities. I used the last approach and it worked fine.

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

Twisting the pickup wires together in close winding the full length of the pickup wires before soldering them to the switch and pot will help sheid the pickups from noise.

[@tonytigertwenty]

Suggestion. I would have run the pick gaurd continuity strip right to under the screw hole, where pressure would be applied.

[@Charles75N]

Tony enjoyed the video a bunch. Not sure why you took the saddle off to remove the bridge. I have found there is plenty of room to remove the bridge screws if you flip the saddles sideways. Thx I enjoy the channel.

[@murfbass]

Your multimeter measures conductance not inductance (current created in a coil from a field).

[@sal6307]

Very good thanks. Can you make a video on installing and cutting nut slots?

[@addictedtogear]

Yes, soon

[@patrickmercier7568]

Important advice for the copper tape…make sure the adhesive is conductive as well. Also…I know it’s been a couple years, but could you comment on how all of the shielding bleeds to ground?

[@TheForce_Productions]

All the cavities are connected together and in contact with the bridge's base plate which is connected to ground.

[@goodun2974]

The copper or aluminum-foil tape-adhesive doesn't have to be conductive *IF* you do the following: where the foil tape seams overlap, push a tiny (#0 or 00 tip) Philips screwdriver into the foil with a twisting motion, every inch or so along the length of the seam; this will punch through the adhesive layer and smoosh (technical term😆) the foil layers togather, almost like a rivet or spot weld. Test continuity with a multimeter,, of course. I have successfully shielded many guitars with aluminum foil tape (which doesnt have conductive adhesive) in this manner; with this technique you could also use ordinary copper tape such as that sold at garden centers for repelling slugs and snails, as it's often far cheaper than the type sold specifically for shielding guitars. Copper foil does have the advantage that, unlike aluminum, you can solder to it, making it easier to bond a ground wire; but if you opt to use aluminum tape then you can drive a small brass screw through the aluminum foil into the wood body and solder a ground wire to that, or trap a solder-type ring terminal underneath the screw against the foil. I will caution newbies that aluminum tape is stiffer and harder to work with than copper, and may require more pre-planning and finesse to install than copper, but it costs next to nothing and if your first attempt at shielding doesn't go well you can just pull the old foil tape out and start all over again, without trashing a bunch of expensive copper foil.

[@Barbarapape]

Great advice for anyone not experienced in guitar electroics and shielding. One point is that all ground connections should go to only one point, on one of the pots in contact with the shielding, or you risk the problem of an earth loop creating more 50/60Hz hum. Cheap pickguards with little or no shieding can cause a lot of problems.

[@R1GAMBLER]

just about everytime I open up a guitar that someone shielded, it's not grounded properly... but hey, all that copper tape must keep Stewmac in business.

[@patrickmacleod2415]

@@R1GAMBLER Hi. I’m doing my first tele build. Just wondering- couldn’t he have eliminated the need for soldering wires connecting the cavities by simply copper shielding the entire pickguard and using that to connect via the little copper overhangs he did, along with the bridge pickup being grounded to the pot, which is connected to the metal control plate which if he had used a little bit of the copper to overhang from the copper lined pickguard to the control plate screw?

[@shanewalton8888]

Great info Tony. WIll be using this vid when my tele arrives.

[@Ibanezadept]

Very fine video, thorough explanation, enjoyed it very much, Feel now confident to do it myself.

[@ggrt21]

It is called continuity, not inductance. Alson i dont think tou need the jumper between de bridge cavity and control cavity since the bridge is supposed to be grounded to the controls and it makes contact with the cavity through the tape

[@M1903-s6k]

It is Also, not Alson. It is I, not i. It is don’t, not dont. It is you, not tou. It is the bridge, not de bridge. Your sentence should end with a period.

[@flapjack413]

Nice video Tony, very clean shielding work. One thing though.. Isn't the wire you ran from the bridge pickup cavity to the control cavity redundant? The ground wire going from the control cavity to under the bridge plate, and then the bridge plate contacting the bridge pickup rout, would make that connection. Is that more of a fail safe step that you take?

[@addictedtogear]

There is no wire going under the bridge on this guitar. Typically there would be.

[@xti2020]

I thought so too. Maybe I am misunderstanding but I thought the bridge and bridge cavity shielding will be grounded (connected) to the back of one of the pots via the bridge pickup ground wire, and that pot is in turn connected to the control cavity shielding via the control plate itself as you have the little piece of copper tape protruding over the edges of all cavities. In other words if you removed that wire between the bridge cavity and control cavity, there would still be continuity between everything, and to ground. I’m going to follow this video when I do my next build. Your work is super clean, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on the above if you could. Thank you for another great video.

[@geraldfrieberg7921]

Excellent video ! Thanks for sharing !

[@brianroof8613]

Excellent! Thank you Tony.

[@keithh8661]

Thanks Tony 👍

[@tunemeister99]

I gotta redo the shielding on my tele because it is silly of me to forget to connect all cavities together to form the Faraday Cage. Easy to forget when the hum disappears after the work which to me considered as job done. Excellent tutorial.

[@SergeiVlassov]

Shielding is not a Faraday Cage. Very common misunderstanding. You cannot create Faraday Cage for electric guitar. Or, more correct - you can, but the guitar will be not functional.

[@tunemeister99]

@@SergeiVlassov 🙄

[@GlennMarshallRocks]

​@@SergeiVlassov - Not sure what your concept of a Faraday cage is, but apparently it's different than everyone elses. Guitar techs and Electronic techs have been describing the shielding of the control and pickup cavities on guitars as creating a "Faraday cage" for at least 50 years. You're the first person I've come across in over 50 years of playing guitar who does not know this, and imagines it's something else. It's not. The pickup and control cavity do, in fact, act as a Faraday cage when shielded properly. There's too many videos explaining this that are available for you not to know this. Check out this one for starters - kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2e8fHmklKh-fdUsi=anB5-sBYdPMI_TMx&t=133 The control cavity becomes a full Faraday cage, while the Faraday cage consisting of the underside of the pickguard, and the pickup cavities are still a Faraday cage, covering 90-95% of the previously exposed area that was affected by RFI/EMI interference, with only the exception of the surface of the pickups remaining exposed, greatly eliminating the prior hum and buzz by stopping 90-95% of the interference by way of the Faraday cage which has been created there, as well.

[@ricksmith3402]

Thank you very much for the help, very thorough and easy to understand!

[@addictedtogear]

You're very welcome!

[@goodun2974]

Your ohmeter is obviously set to measure resistance/continuity in the lowest ohms setting, hence the "beep" when you have continuity, a cinnection with virtually no electrical resistance. An inductance measurement would not beep!

[@WEdHarris]

Excellent video! Thank You! Question: Would using conductive tape to secure the wire as opposed to soldering be a viable alternative?

[@paulwatson9217]

I wouldn’t do that, when wires are soldered you have near perfect continuity. Just joining them with tape leaves scope for a imperfect connection’s resulting in a weaker signal path. That is why he just soldered the earth link wires and didn’t just tape them. Hope this has helped?

[@WEdHarris]

@@paulwatson9217 Thanks so much for the input! Yes! Very helpful!

[@adrenalinejunkie9428]

Simple Question. Can Electronics(i e) Pots, Pickup Base plate touch the shielding?

[@jfixits1]

Very well explained. Thank you for the excellent info.

[@addictedtogear]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tonymccormick21]

Once all of this done....do we need to connect a wire from the control panel to the ground of the output jack?

[@Voxguitarsrock]

Thanks Tony! Good " how to".

[@GlennMarshallRocks]

Do you recommend solid core wire or stranded? What gauge? Thx...

[@DeeTee79]

Very helpful. Do you still need to shield a bridge cavity if you’re using a stacked humbucker. I would assume bc it’s a humbucker jt doesn’t require shielding, and also if your cavity is in the back side of the guitar, no plate, should you still shield the plastic plate? Thanks.

[@addictedtogear]

The stacked hum bucker Will probably produce less 60 cycle hum, however it might still benefit from a shield cavity.

[@DeeTee79]

I’m not using a bridge plate so I suspect shielding paint would be best. Thanks for your reply

[@wareffort1988]

In this exact shielding scenario did you run a ground wire from a central ground to the underside of the bridge? Or do you not need to because the bridge is connected to shielding which is touching the control plate which is grounded?

[@shawnbbbross9439]

Great - Please do more! Maybe changing pots in a hollow or semi-hollow e.Guitar? Thank you

[@addictedtogear]

Will do!

[@edzachery54]

I would’ve liked to hear a before and after to see if the shielding reduced or eliminated the buzz

[@TheForce_Productions]

That would be kinda uncomfortable to film since the 60 hz buzz happens occasionally and depending on the guitar's orientation and also the environment, this is not like a before and after for a pickup swap.

[@DerNorrisChuck]

Very nice Video! But a short well recorded befor/after comparison at the end would be even nicer... My lovely MIM Fender player telecaster is humming like a mosquito on steroids, but befor i start to rip my beautifully set up and very well playing Baby apart, i wold like to hear a huge difference, you know...

[@goodun2974]

I have a 1990s MIM Fender Telecaster that I shielded ( with aluminum tape, BTW) and let me tell you it works great, much quite than before. The aluminum is trickier to work with than copper foil and requires a special technique, which I detailed in several other comments here, in order to make the layers of tape conduct to each other; but it's ridiculously cheap and if you don't get it right the first time you can yank it out and start over without losing a lot of money. Properly shielding a Telecaster, or any other guitar with single-coil pickups, will knock the noise way down. Even humbucker equipped guitars typically benefit.

[@TravisHaynes-z1s]

Make sure everything fits properly before you start drilling holes !! Thats a good idea. I shoulda thought of that , my guitar would'nt be full of holes😢😅 Your dad should have told you to put your cordless on the charger !!

[@AboutTheCloud]

Thanks...this helped a lot!

[@robguitarwizard]

Great job. Thanks for your work!

[@GuilhermeSantos2003]

Should we unsolder the wire coming from the bridge (on a strat) in order to shield all the cavity? Or can we just apply the tape normally around that wire?

[@addictedtogear]

Just go around it.

[@GuilhermeSantos2003]

@@addictedtogear and if my jack cavity is not connected to the rest of the body i have to pass through a wire and solder in order to connect the two parts together?

[@addictedtogear]

@@GuilhermeSantos2003 yes that would be best

[@GuilhermeSantos2003]

@@addictedtogear okay, thanks for the advice!

[@sebbwen]

Brilliant video!! I think I need to do exactly that!

[@sebbwen]

Update: I did and it was really fun!

[@MrBritrider]

Do you still have to run a ground from one of shielded cavities to the top of one of the pots or not.

[@murfbass]

You have to ground the cavity shielding to wherever you have the ground hub. Usually we make the back of a pot the central hub where all other grounding leads connect. Doesn't have to be though. You could mount a solder lug to the side of the cavity with a screw so then you'd make sure the screw has continuity with the shielding. You'd be wise to make it a solder connection so it doesn't pull away from the screw over time.

[@BigHelianthus]

My loaded pickguard only came with 3 wires to solder: ground to claw in back, ground to output Jack and lead to output Jack. If I want to add copper shielding to my body cavity, how can I connect it to ground without a 4th wire?

[@alangreen3425]

If it is a modern Stratocaster, American strategy and Mexican strategy come with a ground wire that screws to the body cavity through a lug. That being said, I have been playing strategy and teles for 53 years..sometimes in front of BIG amps onstage with no hum...and they were not shielded other than the back side of the pickguard. Go figure...

[@UNKUHNOODLES]

Very fascinating and well presented!!!!!!🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘👈👈👈👈🖖

[@addictedtogear]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@franciscoortiz-zepeda5624]

Good effective video!

[@yerblues10]

Wiring between cavities is completely unnecessary. Why would you do that when all the components are already grounded to the jack?

[@clayhaynes149]

Thanks!

[@addictedtogear]

Thank you!

[@pomegranatepip2482]

That’s measuring continuity, not inductance. Perhaps you meant conductance.

[@kellykane312]

It is an output jack not an input

[@Z-guitarfreak]

Glue in the tape is conductive ? Ridiculous !

[@addictedtogear]

Yup

[@R1GAMBLER]

You can make a *Faraday Cage* with copper tape If you're super concerned about a lil hum you MIGHT get from stage lighting/house wiring, but 90% of the time it's unnecessary... & if you don't take the time to properly ground all that shielding, you're going to make a huge antenna for hum! Shielding the cavity is for the Dentists on TGP. *GUITARS ARE FOR MAKING NOISE!*

[@beku73]

To long for easy job

[@mefirst4266]

YOU do not have to shield the bridge cavity or neck... think about it. The pickups can get interference thru the top. If you do not believe it the talk real loud and you can hear your voice.

[@GlennMarshallRocks]

You're talking about the pickups picking up the resonance of your voice from the vibrations that are hitting the body, strings, and pickups. That's NOT what shielding is for. Shielding is to reduce RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) and EMI (Electro Magnetic interference), neither of which your voice has. Your "test" isn't testing for RFI or EMI, so it's worthless. Countless players over the years have praised the benefits of shielding their guitar pickup and control cavities to reduce 60 cycle hum. If you can figure out a way to produce 60 cycle hum with your voice, then maybe someone will consider your "test". Otherwise, your 'test' isn't testing what shielding is designed to eliminate, and because it isn't, your "test" is worthless, There are also plenty of videos with "before and after shielding" demos, showing horrible buzz and hum without shielding, and the hum greatly reduced or eliminated after shielding. Check out the before and after buzzing in "How to shield a Stratocaster from EMI with copper tape" 0:20 7:38 as well as "Definitive proof that you need cavity shielding on your guitar" 7:38 15:25

[@LeakyMeat]

I picked up a roll of copper tape i spotted in a local garden centre, packaged as a slug repelant tape for around flower pots but seems to be conductive on both sides so should do the job lovely.

[@addictedtogear]

Interesting, thanks for sharing..

[@Skullskalle]

Did it work? I think the adhesive on the tape also needs to be conductive.

[@goodun2974]

The trick to use if the tape does not have conductive adhesive (I wouldn't expect garden-center copper foil to) is to push the tip of a very small Phillips screwdriver (#0 or 00 size) through the foil where the seams overlap, every inch or so, so that you punch through the adhesive layer and "smush" one layer of foil into the layer below it. Twist the screwdriver slightly as you push it through the foil seams; it will make a pretty good approximation of a rivet or spot weld. Test continuity with an ohmeter. Utilizing this technique, I've actually shielded dozens of guitars with aluminum foil tape which most definitely does not have conductive adhesive. Although you can't solder to aluminum foil as you would to copper foil, you can drive a small brass screw through the foil into the body of the guitar and solder to that, or trap a ring terminal underneath it to use as a solder terminal. Anyway I'm not sure that I would trust even supposedly conductive copper foil adhesive over the long-term, and would recommend using the technique detailed above just to make certain that the foil is, and remains, electrically contiguous from one layer to the next and still shields well 10 or 20 years from now.