sheilding a guitar?

[Burtog]

Hi,

I have been thinking for a while about sheilding my telecaster to try and prevent some of the buzz from the single coils.

Has anyone ever attempted doing this to any electric guitar, if so was it worth the bother?

Also, does any use a noise gate pedal to try and stop single coil buzz that way?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 
 

[64Guitars]

I don't have any personal experience with shielding guitars, but this post might help:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4732.msg58586#msg58586

You can get the copper foil tape here:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Shielding/Conductive_Copper_Tape.html

and here:

http://www.kemtron.co.uk/buytapes.html   (see http://www.kemtron.co.uk/tapes.html for details)

Or Google Conductive Copper Tape.

Also, does any use a noise gate pedal to try and stop single coil buzz that way?

There's an adjustable noise gate in the BR. See page 72 of the BR-800 Owner's Manual. By adjusting the Threshold value, you should be able to eliminate the noise. Although, setting it too high might kill part of the guitar signal. You have to compromise on a setting that kills most of the noise but not the guitar signal. Shielding the guitar will allow you to use lower threshold values so that the guitar signal isn't noticably affected.

[StevieM]

Hi Burtog,
It's my understanding the shielding doesn't affect the pups directly, it's more like an aid to shield from external interference. Anything electrical can interfere with the signals. You don't say if it's a live situation, or just in front of a computer and stuff?

I can't say definitely whether it makes that much difference, 'cos I don't play live, and I've not used the same guitar first without sheilding, then with it, in the same situation ( I might try doing that sometime). I always put shielding in when I make a new one, or customise an old one though.

I remember that I was rewiring one, and no matter what I did there was a terrible hum. I checked it over at least half a dozen times, even changed all the pots and switches again, just in case. Tried a diffent Amp, cables, everything. Hum still there!!!!
In the end I just got fed up with it, and decided to call it a day, try again another time.
So I switched the soldering iron off----------NO HUM!!!!!

If it's that bad, or bugs you that much, it may be more effective to change the switching so you get a hum cancelling position on the 5 way?  Maybe even change the pups for humbuckers? Theres some really nice single size humbucks around, and some of them have 4 core wires. These can always be switched to a single pup configuration, usually with push/pull pots, or slightly more modification using micro switches.

It's also possible, if it is really bad, that it could be a grounding problem. Sometimes it can be something as simple as just a tiny filament of wire touching something it shouldn't.
 Hope that helps? Or has it made it as clear as mud
Cheers.

[Burtog]

Thanks both for the info, very useful.

I have had various Fenders for a while and the problem with the Tele I have is fairly consistent with the others I've had in the hum department. I just noticed that this Tele does seem to pick up a hum from the BR even tho it does cut it out fairly well on the recorded track (with noisegate on).

I was looking into the shielding option along with a few other mods to the Tele, including adding a 4 way switch option to give an option of both pups in series, something like a humbucker!?!

Looking at it now, the shielding is probably a worthwhile idea considering the low cost.

Maybe I'll put some pics on when I do it, just in case it is of use to others.
 

[AndyR]

Hi Burtog, I'm a Fender man too. I've never bothered with any extra shielding personally. When I got my first one YEARS ago, the hum did bother me until I started rehearsing and gigging in a band. That kinda changed my attitude to it.

Nowadays, I don't gig or rehearse, and yes, the hum can be a bit of a pain, but it's all part of the "vibe" (!... at least, that's what I tell myself).

I find it can be worse/better in different places, and yes the BR can cause a bunch (and the flashing lights on the BR1600 give it a bit of a rhythm as well).

Hopefully you've noticed that if you change the guitar's position in relation to whatever's generating the noise you can severely reduce it most times. I find this especially with the BR - you're all set to start doing takes, the guitar is facing the machine, and there's a huge hum registering on the input meters. I just move the guitar so it's at right angles, and the hum's severely reduced.

I really don't like what noise reduction does to guitars (electric or acoustic) so I just don't use it. I've found the hum (or hiss from amps or amp models) usually just disappears or adds to the general atmosphere in a mix.

About the tele though. I've had one tele that had a bridge/strings grounding problem that made it all seem worse. On all electrics, the person wearing the guitar causes quite a large hum, this hum is cut considerably when that person touches the guitar's grounded metal parts. So part of the design is that the guitar's strings (usually via the bridge) are grounded. When you grab the strings to play, the hum cuts out.

On one tele (a Baja before I replaced its stock pickups), this system was not working - so I got the hum while I was playing. You might be experiencing this? Most teles do not need an extra ground wire - the screws/springs holding the bridge pickup in place make the ground connection throught the pickup's baseplate. But the Baja's stock pickup and fixings seemed to sometimes not make the connection and eventually stopped doing it altogether. I fixed it by putting a separate ground wire from the back of a pot through to something metal under the bridge, like most other electrics have. Problem was gone.

I believe that shielding does reduce this "player's hum", maybe even cut it out altogether when done really well(?) - but for me it's never seemed worth the effort for what I'm trying to get rid of.

And finally, yep get a 4-way, all my teles have it. I don't use the series option that often (because I have a bunch of humbucking guitars), but on one tele in particular it's an awsome tone!

Note that you need a separate ground wire to the neck pickup's metal cover for a 4-way switch. If the pickup hasn't got one, it's easy enough to add one.

[SdC]

In almost all cases when you have serious hum it's due to a bad ground connection.
If you use a BR through an AC adapter (yes, even the official Boss PSA), and plug your guitar directly in it., your guitar is NOT connected to the ground. Because a BR is a Class-B appliance (no bare metal case, no high voltage), it is not required to be grounded.
Because your guitar is really a Class-A applicance (bare metal parts), it MUST always be grounded. If it is not grounded, you can notice the 50/60Hz main cycle bleeding into the sound through the adapter AND it will function as a radio antenna towards the BR's electronics, picking up mobile phone, flurourescent light fixtures, (soldering irons!) and whatnot. When you touch the strings with your hands, some will find the earth through your body and the hum will diminish.
Shielding may reduce the radio antenna artifacts a bit, but won't fix the 50/60Hz cycle hum.

[Burtog]

Well, just an update really, I shielded my guitar yesterday and I think there is an improvement or reduction in the interference that the guitar seemed to pick up, I also enjoyed doing it so it all seemed worthwhile.

While I was 'inside' the guitar I also converted the 3-way tele selector to a 4-way and added the extra selection of both pick-ups running in series in postition 4. This has turned out brilliantly, a full thick louder sound compared to the others, could see benefits in recording and the live situation here.

I also swapped the control panel around so the volume pot is now where the selector used to be, handy for volume swells etc.
Also updated the bog standard saddles for wilkinson compensated brass ones so as to improve the intonation all round which can be tricky on Teles.

Thanks for all your suggestions/info on this one!!!

[Speed Demon]

Single coil pickups are inherently noisy. The fix I've used over the years that worked best is to get rid of them and use true humbuckers. They can always be made to sound like single coils by using a coil tap switch in the tone circuit. Noise problem resolved permanently.

Dimarzio makes vertically stacked humbucking pickups that fit Strat style guitars. I installed them in one of my shred machines which originally had single coil pickups. I played a nightclub gig with this guitar when it had the single coil pickups in it. They made more noise when I wasn't playing than they did when I was. That was the first and last time they were used at a gig.

Of course, if you actually like a thin nasal sound, and are willing to put up with annoying 60 cycle line noise, then by all means, use single coil pickups.

[Saijinn Maas]

I concur with Speed Demon here. I have firsthand knowledge with Dimarzio's stacked humbuckers and they are the only things I will use now. They do a very good job of getting that strat-like single coil sound, but without the hum. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to get rid of single coils.

[flyon90]

I have coil taps on my les paul and when tapped you still get the 60 cycle hum.  You can get noise cancelling pickups that sound like a single coil with no 60 cycle hum.  Lace and fender make them as well as GFS pickups if you are on a budget.