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Guitar ShieldingSelf-adhesive Shielding Kit

0 i-3789 Updated 07/10

Shielding allows you to substantially reduce all unwanted interference and hum.This kit is even beneficial for most production instruments as it lets you completelyencase all of the pickups and controls with a grounded foil. Also included is aspecial wire for shielding non-shielded pickup leads. This allows you to eliminateunnecessary interference, as well as being able to switch the phase of a shieldedpickup independently from its grounded shield.

Basic skills requiredUnless you feel completely competent in soldering, desoldering, and a basicunderstanding of guitar wiring, you should take your instrument to a qualified luthieror repairperson. There is no warranty extended to cover damage caused during theinstallation of this product. If you wish to learn more about guitar wiring andelectronics, we recommend #0548 "Guitar Electronics For Musicians" by DonaldBrosnac and #0570 "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" by Dan Erlewine. Any shopdoing guitar wiring and setup should have these books in its reference library.

Tools required Notepad and pencils Permanent marker Heat-shrink tubing and/or black tape Masking tape Sharp scissors Hobby knife and/or wire strippers Soldering Pencil (25-40 watt) 60/40 Flux core solder (thin) Window cleaner Lint free rag Adjustable jaw wrench, socket set, or nut drivers Pliers (needle nose and regular) Volt/Ohm meter

OverviewIn order to completely shield your guitar you will have to dismantle and desolder amajority of the guitar's components. It is highly recommended that you makedetailed notes on how every component was wired, as well as marking specificwires and solder points with tape labels to help in rewiring the instrument. Be verythorough. One mislabeled or unlabeled wire could cause a great deal of confusionwhen you are rewiring the system.

All of the shielding must be in contact with ground. There are several ways to applya ground to a shielding network; when dealing with copper shielding foils, the

ground wire can be soldered directly to it. If your volume pot housing is in contactwith the foil, a ground jumper is not necessary.

Shielding paint (#0029, not included with the Self-adhesive Shielding Kit) is alsovery good for shielding control cavities, pickup routs, and drilled holes. The paint isvery easy to apply in small, tight areas.

Applying ground to a Strat type guitar is very simple. Bring the foil over the top of

Self-adhesive

Shielding Kit

Conductive

Shielding Paint

Conductive

Copper Tape

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Your order $19.39

Description Qty

Conductive Copper

Tape, 2" wide details1

Applying ground to a Strat type guitar is very simple. Bring the foil over the top ofthe body in the area that would be under the pickguard and around the pickguardscrew below the bottom tone pot. The foil on the pickguard should surround thisscrew hole so, when the pickguard is screwed into place, the grounded foil on thepickguard will come in contact with the cavity shielding.

Another method is using a solder lug screwed into the cavity's side wall. Make thesolder lug out of a scrap of brass and use a small wood screw to affix it to acavity's side wall. Just solder a wire from the volume pot's casing to this lug for agood ground.

Single coils This is not recommended on vintage or rare pickups. This is a delicate jobthat may be better left up to a professional. This may also reduce some high endfrequency from the pickup.

A great deal of the hum and buzz associated with single coil pickups can beeliminated by using this shielding kit as you will shield the coil as well as theoutput wire. The shielding of the output wire also allows you to switch the phase ofthe pickup (swap hot for ground) while still maintaining your shielding network.

Remove the pickups from the pickguard assembly and make note of which lug ishot and which is connected to ground. Be sure not to damage the two fine copperwires that exit the windings and are soldered to the wire lugs on the base of thebobbin. Carefully remove the pickup cover to expose the windings and/or protectivetape. If the cover appears to be glued to the lower bobbin plate, stop and consultwith an expert.

Wrap the coil with a strip of black electrician's tape. Start in the area of the twolugs on the lower bobbin plate and be sure to overlap the tape at least 1/2". Prepareto wrap the coil with the 1/2" copper foil tape by trimming it down to 7/16" thencutting a piece long enough to wrap once around the windings and overlap itself by1/4". Remove all but 1/2" of the protective backing and start to wrap the foil aroundthe bobbin. Start with the end of the foil that still has 1/2" of backing on it in thearea of the solder lugs. Wrap the tape around the bobbin and overlap it over the partthat still has the paper backing. From outside to inside in the area of the wire lugsyou have the following layers: foil, foil, paper backing, black tape, black tape,windings. The paper is left in the area of the overlap because it reduces the risk ofgetting the area too hot when soldering and shorting out the windings. Beforesoldering you will want to check to be sure the cover can still be installed.

Cut a piece of the two conductor plus shield wire (included) the same length as thepickup's lead wires. Strip back 3/4" of the outer gray insulation on both ends andseparate the outer braided shield from the brown and white wires. Twist the outerbraid into a stranded wire and strip back 1/8" of the insulation off the brown andwhite wires. Carefully tin these wires by coating the tips with a small amount ofsolder. Using your VOM (Volt/Ohm Meter), check for shorts that may haveoccurred due to overheating one of the wires.

Very carefully desolder the two pickup lead wires from their lugs. Be sure that you

made notes as to which lug was attached to ground and which was hot. Now solderthe brown wire to the ground lug and the white wire to the hot lug. The outer braid issoldered to the copper foil where you overlapped the paper backing to protect thewindings. It is also recommended to solder the point where the foil overlaps itself.This will ensure that the foil will not loosen with age and makes for a better shield.To hook up the pickup: solder the white wire to the selector switch; the brown andouter braid to the back of the volume pot (unless you are using a phase switch).Check your shielding for continuity with your VOM and make sure that the hotwires are not shorted to ground.

Humbuckers Depending upon the type of humbucker(s) in the instrument, you may not need todo any additional shielding. For example, Gibson-type humbuckers with their metalcovers in place do not require any extra shielding. A Precision bass which uses asplit humbucker and plastic covers could benefit from additional shielding.

split humbucker and plastic covers could benefit from additional shielding.

P-bass pickups generally do not have a shielded output wire, so you will want toreplace it the same as outlined in the single coil instructions. Most otherhumbuckers have a shielded output wire, so the only additional shielding will bearound the coils and/or in the covers. If you have a Gibson type humbucker withouta cover, you may want to obtain metal or plastic covers for them. The metal coversare soldered in place to the frame or base plate of the humbucker. Plastic coversrequire the same treatment a Strat type single cover would get.

Control cavities Before shielding the instrument's cavities, remove all of the electrical components,pickups, pots, switches, jacks, etc. Be sure to make notes on how these partswere oriented and hooked up. Start by applying some of the copper foil to thebottom of the cavity. To size the piece, lay the foil on top of the cavity and dragyour finger around the edge of the rout. This will crease the foil and give you aguideline for cutting a properly sized piece. Cut the foil 1/4" outside your creasemark. This will give you some foil that will extend up the sides of the cavity and willbe overlapped by the foil applied to the sidewalls. Make several cuts from theoutside edge of the foil to the crease mark in the areas that will be in corners orcurved portions of the rout. They will allow the foil to go down smoothly on both thebottom and the sidewalls. Before you stick the foil down, remove any excess dustor debris from the rout with compressed air and/or a clean rag and window cleaner.

After you apply the bottom foil, you are ready to affix foil to the sidewalls. Use the1/2" wide copper foil on the walls of the rout. Three strips is usually enough to coverthe sidewalls and be sure to slightly overlap the strips so that the shield iscomplete. Lightly solder the overlapped areas at a few points to ensure a totalshield. We also carry a 2' wide copper foil (#0028, sold separately) that is veryuseful for shielding. Make sure the copper foil overlaps the 1/4" of copper on thesidewalls. Check for continuity between the copper and the copper when you havefinished. If you do not get a good reading, press the copper down against thecopper again to make the contact complete. Bring some 1/4" wide tabs of copperfoil over the top edge of the rout in control cavity areas to come into contact withthe cover plate or pickguard. If the shielding is in a pickup rout, be sure to connectit with ground.

Cover plates & pickguards Use the self-adhesive copper foil on the back of control cavity covers andpickguards. Be sure the foil on your cover plate or pickguard will come in contactwith the shielding applied in the cavity it covers. When shielding pickguards, the foilonly needs to be applied in the area of the control cavity.

Reassembly Check your notes frequently so that everything gets wired correctly and use cautionwhen soldering to pots and switches. It is easy to get them too hot which wouldcause a malfunction. Be sure that no hot connections come in contact with yourshielding as this would cause a short circuit and there would be no output. Heat-shrink tubing or black tape will protect hot connections from touching the shielding.

Rout and solder the hookup wires neatly as this will aid in replacing pickguards ortracing faults. Do not make the wires too short. A little slack aids in making otherconnections and troubleshooting. Run a string ground unless you are using activepickups.

Notes on pickup adjustments Pickups shouldn't be adjusted too close to the strings. For single-coils, thereshould be about a 1/8" gap between the top of the low E pole piece and the bottomof the low E string fretted at the highest (21st or 22nd) fret, and 3/32" for the high E.Humbuckers can be adjusted closer (3/32"-1/16"), since they don't have as muchfocused magnetic pull as single-coils.

Adjusting pickups any closer (especially with single-coils) can cause false notes or"wolf-tones." If you've ever played a Strat that sounded like you were getting twonotes from one string (usually the wound strings) in the upper registers, you havewitnessed this anomaly. It is most often referred to as "Strat-itis" and can cause a

witnessed this anomaly. It is most often referred to as "Strat-itis" and can cause alot of head scratching unless you know what is happening. To cure the problem,simply back the bass-side of the neck and middle pickups further away from thestrings.

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