I stumbled upon so many bad shielding videos and so many people that say shielding does not work. I did this kinda stuff on my jackson and telecaster and they are just silent as a sleeping baby. I think so many people got the ideo if shielding wrong or they dont really think abotu what they are doing. You video is great. Every piece is connected to setup a faraday cage. great job Nathan !
Stumbled into this video again, six months later. That 50s wiring is also known as the Ted Greene/Fez Parka mod. Even without the tone control or volume rolled down, it sounds brighter to me. People say it doesn't, but that's what my ears hear.
Welp, this is exciting... My Tele sounds the same as yours did before shielding, and HOLY CRAP yours sounds SOOO much better after! I can't wait to try this out :)
I just got a little monoprice stage right 15 watt amp and I thought it was frigging amazing for $150 used! You should try one! It’s like a blues junior on steroids.
Nathan Sink yeah he is the first guy I saw and man I was impressed when I just played it. You can even get decent quiet tones on the 1 amp side for the wife to not kill me! It’s awesome!
Those are good amps. I have the 5 watt model and it sounds great! I was gonna build an amp from scratch, but this one came up for less than $100, delivered...it was a no brainer!👍😎🎸🎶
I have that same amp. Unlike many budget amps, this one has an effects loop. I replaced the Chinese tubes with Sovtek and eventually swapped the Seventy80 with a Greenback. What a great improvement!
3:33 "I'm really not a fan of soldering, it makes me anxious"... Oh man, I feel you lol even still I feel that way, but when I first learned to solder, it was so stressful 😂
I haven't experienced copper tape just yet but aluminum tape is all I use. I recently widened my Tele's neck pickup cavity for a Strat PU and routed a tunnel for the neck pickup wires so those are the only areas to be shielded whereas the bridge pickup and control cavities have all been previously shielded...cool video!
Great video, with such a clear and concise narration, Nathan. I just hit Subscribe! I especially like the small rectangular tape-to-tape connection idea! It's so simple and truly brilliant! Same with the spray adhesive and aluminum foil. I just acquired a partscaster Tele which sounds just like the "before" scene, so it's going on the workbench this evening. I will be using copper tape instead because that's what's on hand. Next stop... your music.
I have searched the net, but no proper answer. How do you shield a Tele that has no pickguard?. To me it sounds pointless with an open "antenna" sucking up noise. Will shielding just the bridge and control cavity suffice?
Twisting the wires as I show @18:28 will help. Also, yes, shielding & connecting the bridge plate & control cavity plate will help too. Other than that, I’m not sure what else you could do. I suppose that’s why most Tele’s without a pick guard (or a guard with less coverage, like the Cabronita Tele) have humbucking pickups.
Use copper foil roll, it should have conductive adhesive, you can cut smaller pieces. You get about 3 metres say you can do loads of guitars and even some of your cables.the rest I use a slug barriers on my plant pots!
About the same, but the real benefit of copper tape is you can solder to it. That means you can solder a jumper wire between each cavity, which makes things simpler with something like a tele where you have various cavities that aren't connected with a single pickguard like on a strat.
Yes, they are basically equal in their conductivity. As the previous commenter noted, you can solder to copper. However, you can also use strips of the aluminum tape to connect cavities, as I show @13:45 in the video.
If you can solder to copper tape, what kind of wire would you use to connect each cavity? I found copper tape with conductive adhesive on Amazon, and I want to try this. If I connect each cavity via soldered wire, would I need to add tape to my pickguard?
What you are describing as static is probably a microphonic effect with the bridge pickup as it couples to the metal bridge plate and then to the pickguard. This can be remedied by replacing the pickup mounting springs with pickup mounting tubing. It helps to dampen the transfer of sound from the pickguard. Here's a source for the tubing: www.amazon.com/dp/B000B5L2OC?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp
Yes, even just the part where you put tin foil under the pickguard and connected it to the control plate has solved this issue with my tele. Now thinking to do the rest of the shielding.
My wiring rout is not exposed - just a hole from one compartment to another. I used copper tape for my shielding. Would it be the same effect to just wrap the pickup wire with the tape, rather than try to shield the hole, which would be awkward?
Jeff Black I think just twisting the wires together like I talk about at @18:26 will probably suffice. You could wrap the wires with tape to be extra cautious, but you’ll have to make sure that tape is connected with the other tape to join the “cage”. Hope that makes sense.
No base plate? Call the police! Keystones are well known for having less noise than other single coils. That's not referring to any of Bill Lawrence's stacked single coils. The twisting of the wires supposedly rejects eddy currents, which a pickup will produce. I had lined the cavities of a telecaster with aluminum foil, after reading an article by Bill Lawrence. Bill really knew his stuff, so I felt he was reliable. I have moved from foil to the nickel bearing (not graphite) shielding paint. Works really well. About a 90% improvement.
Yeah, the Tex Mex bridge is odd in that there’s no baseplate. It’s sort of why I can’t seem to keep them in any Tele I have; because they’re too non-traditional.
Hi, nice video. Thanks! Why do you suppose that my guitar is actually quite in my hands, touching string and parts as you did...but then loud hum when I touch my laptop that is open and on???
If you shield the bridge cavity and it contacts the metal bridge plate, does that mean you don't need a dedicated bridge ground? Or if you have both would it create a ground loop?
Go research what is needed to cause a significant ground loop. The same applies to requiring star grounds only. It's a guitar, not a campus of buildings.
I would never use aluminum foil-tape for grounding. It will work for signal interference shielding but copper is a way better conductor of electricity. Copper looks better also.
I would argue that for this purpose (shielding unwanted noise) aluminum works just as good. And nobody is going to see it anyway. But the beauty is you can choose whatever you want. 🙂
What are your thoughts on grounding the cavity of each shied as this video: th-cam.com/video/eoiTZVAvJdU/w-d-xo.html&lc=z23itxfo5yuidd2stacdp434wcb2brzpikqovykqyphw03c010c
lol ... you realize in the before shielding test you are not touching the strings and in the after you are ? you are grounding the noise with your hand ... dunno if you did that on purpose or u missed that.
I’m not sure that’s the case. I’m pretty aware of how touching the strings can “dampen” noise by increasing the grounding. You can’t see me left hand in the after video, but again I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t have done that.
you said u already done the 50s wiring with your les paul, but that's a gibson thing anyway. NO its not bcs also when you use the wiring on 4 than instead of on 2 potentiometers, it still is the same connection you are wiring your tone and volume pot to so it actually is totally the same wiring as with a Tele but just duplicated on 2x Vol & Tone =) greetings from austria =) (in europe not australia)
Question: the noise you hear at the beginning quiets when you touch....so *you* are grounding the guitar at that point I believe. Is it possible that there was actually some grounding issue in the guitar to begin with, which was corrected when you resoldered you connections in order to do the shielding job?
I think you’re right, but I think that’s normal (to an extent) for every guitar. The guitar still does that even after I shielded it, but it’s just way more quiet now (less noticeable).
@@NathanSink I thought it was a nice touch, especially since it was a change from the pre-shielding soldering profile. Thanks for showing your learning process throughout the video... you saved me several steps!
I stumbled upon so many bad shielding videos and so many people that say shielding does not work. I did this kinda stuff on my jackson and telecaster and they are just silent as a sleeping baby. I think so many people got the ideo if shielding wrong or they dont really think abotu what they are doing. You video is great. Every piece is connected to setup a faraday cage. great job Nathan !
Thank you! It’s nice to hear you’ve had the same experience. 👍🏻
Stumbled into this video again, six months later. That 50s wiring is also known as the Ted Greene/Fez Parka mod. Even without the tone control or volume rolled down, it sounds brighter to me. People say it doesn't, but that's what my ears hear.
Welp, this is exciting... My Tele sounds the same as yours did before shielding, and HOLY CRAP yours sounds SOOO much better after! I can't wait to try this out :)
It definitely makes a difference! Good luck. 👍🏻
Did it help?
5:17 oh, hell yeah, I put Tex Mex pickups in mine too! I think they sound fantastic, especially for the price :)
Right on. 👍🏻
I just got a little monoprice stage right 15 watt amp and I thought it was frigging amazing for $150 used! You should try one! It’s like a blues junior on steroids.
James Patton oh yeah, I saw Darrell Braun review that amp & it sounded great!
Nathan Sink yeah he is the first guy I saw and man I was impressed when I just played it. You can even get decent quiet tones on the 1 amp side for the wife to not kill me! It’s awesome!
Those are good amps. I have the 5 watt model and it sounds great! I was gonna build an amp from scratch, but this one came up for less than $100, delivered...it was a no brainer!👍😎🎸🎶
I have that same amp. Unlike many budget amps, this one has an effects loop. I replaced the Chinese tubes with Sovtek and eventually swapped the Seventy80 with a Greenback. What a great improvement!
Just got my first electric guitar i wasent sure if that pop sound is normal. Thanks alot for calming my ocd 😆
Anytime! lol
3:33 "I'm really not a fan of soldering, it makes me anxious"... Oh man, I feel you lol even still I feel that way, but when I first learned to solder, it was so stressful 😂
I just shielded mine and it went from super noisy to silent. No need for the control cavity.
Nice! Good to hear.
I haven't experienced copper tape just yet but aluminum tape is all I use. I recently widened my Tele's neck pickup cavity for a Strat PU and routed a tunnel for the neck pickup wires so those are the only areas to be shielded whereas the bridge pickup and control cavities have all been previously shielded...cool video!
B. Rod Clark thank you! And thanks for sharing your experience. 👍🏻
Thanks for your video !
@@JonadanandtheFreaks glad to help!
Great video, with such a clear and concise narration, Nathan. I just hit Subscribe! I especially like the small rectangular tape-to-tape connection idea! It's so simple and truly brilliant! Same with the spray adhesive and aluminum foil. I just acquired a partscaster Tele which sounds just like the "before" scene, so it's going on the workbench this evening. I will be using copper tape instead because that's what's on hand. Next stop... your music.
Thanks so much! 😊
I have searched the net, but no proper answer. How do you shield a Tele that has no pickguard?. To me it sounds pointless with an open "antenna" sucking up noise. Will shielding just the bridge and control cavity suffice?
Twisting the wires as I show @18:28 will help. Also, yes, shielding & connecting the bridge plate & control cavity plate will help too. Other than that, I’m not sure what else you could do. I suppose that’s why most Tele’s without a pick guard (or a guard with less coverage, like the Cabronita Tele) have humbucking pickups.
you could get noiseless pickups
Use copper foil roll, it should have conductive adhesive, you can cut smaller pieces. You get about 3 metres say you can do loads of guitars and even some of your cables.the rest I use a slug barriers on my plant pots!
Never tried it myself (mainly because I’m cheap 😜). But it definitely seems to be the most efficient method!
Is there a Part 2?
Not exactly, but here is the playlist devoted to this guitar (about 16 videos):
th-cam.com/play/PLT0llhi52k8pp3H2q35ec51SN8f2VOgfR.html
Do i need shield at springs part and conductive shielding paint?
No Names springs on a Tele? Do you mean a Strat? You can use either shielding paint or aluminum/copper. Either works the same.
Is aluminium foil just as good as copper tape?
About the same, but the real benefit of copper tape is you can solder to it. That means you can solder a jumper wire between each cavity, which makes things simpler with something like a tele where you have various cavities that aren't connected with a single pickguard like on a strat.
Yes, they are basically equal in their conductivity. As the previous commenter noted, you can solder to copper. However, you can also use strips of the aluminum tape to connect cavities, as I show @13:45 in the video.
Copper looks way cooler and you can show off your finger cuts.
If you can solder to copper tape, what kind of wire would you use to connect each cavity? I found copper tape with conductive adhesive on Amazon, and I want to try this. If I connect each cavity via soldered wire, would I need to add tape to my pickguard?
Good job man!
Thanks!
You could try shielding the control cavity, but don't over do it cause shielding every cavity isn't necessary.
Based on what electronic principle or verifiable demonstration?
Does this process get rid of the static you can get on the pickguard? Thanks
I can’t say 100% for sure, but I do know that I don’t have any pickguard static on this guitar. 😉
What you are describing as static is probably a microphonic effect with the bridge pickup as it couples to the metal bridge plate and then to the pickguard. This can be remedied by replacing the pickup mounting springs with pickup mounting tubing. It helps to dampen the transfer of sound from the pickguard. Here's a source for the tubing:
www.amazon.com/dp/B000B5L2OC?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp
Yes, even just the part where you put tin foil under the pickguard and connected it to the control plate has solved this issue with my tele. Now thinking to do the rest of the shielding.
My wiring rout is not exposed - just a hole from one compartment to another. I used copper tape for my shielding. Would it be the same effect to just wrap the pickup wire with the tape, rather than try to shield the hole, which would be awkward?
Jeff Black I think just twisting the wires together like I talk about at @18:26 will probably suffice. You could wrap the wires with tape to be extra cautious, but you’ll have to make sure that tape is connected with the other tape to join the “cage”. Hope that makes sense.
@@NathanSink Yes, that makes sense. Thanks.
No base plate? Call the police! Keystones are well known for having less noise than other single coils. That's not referring to any of Bill Lawrence's stacked single coils. The twisting of the wires supposedly rejects eddy currents, which a pickup will produce. I had lined the cavities of a telecaster with aluminum foil, after reading an article by Bill Lawrence. Bill really knew his stuff, so I felt he was reliable. I have moved from foil to the nickel bearing (not graphite) shielding paint. Works really well. About a 90% improvement.
Yeah, the Tex Mex bridge is odd in that there’s no baseplate. It’s sort of why I can’t seem to keep them in any Tele I have; because they’re too non-traditional.
Run and solder wire from each cavity.
Definitely an option.
Do you have to shield the small cavities that the wires run through or is it too small to really matter?
Hi, nice video. Thanks! Why do you suppose that my guitar is actually quite in my hands, touching string and parts as you did...but then loud hum when I touch my laptop that is open and on???
the laptop is giving off electromagnetic waves which is interfering with either your pickups or your amp so just keep your laptop farther away
If you shield the bridge cavity and it contacts the metal bridge plate, does that mean you don't need a dedicated bridge ground? Or if you have both would it create a ground loop?
Correct. If the shielding is contacting the bridge plate & the shielding goes to ground, you are good. 👍🏻 Watch from @16:28 on in the video.
@@NathanSink Ah cool, thanks!
Go research what is needed to cause a significant ground loop. The same applies to requiring star grounds only. It's a guitar, not a campus of buildings.
...thank goodness for the time stamps
You’re welcome! 😉
I would never use aluminum foil-tape for grounding. It will work for signal interference shielding but copper is a way better conductor of electricity. Copper looks better also.
I would argue that for this purpose (shielding unwanted noise) aluminum works just as good. And nobody is going to see it anyway. But the beauty is you can choose whatever you want. 🙂
What are your thoughts on grounding the cavity of each shied as this video: th-cam.com/video/eoiTZVAvJdU/w-d-xo.html&lc=z23itxfo5yuidd2stacdp434wcb2brzpikqovykqyphw03c010c
So how did it turn out?..
Turned out great!
lol ... you realize in the before shielding test you are not touching the strings and in the after you are ? you are grounding the noise with your hand ... dunno if you did that on purpose or u missed that.
I’m not sure that’s the case. I’m pretty aware of how touching the strings can “dampen” noise by increasing the grounding. You can’t see me left hand in the after video, but again I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t have done that.
you said u already done the 50s wiring with your les paul, but that's a gibson thing anyway. NO its not bcs also when you use the wiring on 4 than instead of on 2 potentiometers, it still is the same connection you are wiring your tone and volume pot to so it actually is totally the same wiring as with a Tele but just duplicated on 2x Vol & Tone =)
greetings from austria =) (in europe not australia)
Thanks for the information. I will admit that wiring is quite confusing to me, so I may have mis-spoke. 🙂
@@NathanSink hey thanks for the fast reply :) besides this little mistake all the other information was totally correct and interesting
Question: the noise you hear at the beginning quiets when you touch....so *you* are grounding the guitar at that point I believe. Is it possible that there was actually some grounding issue in the guitar to begin with, which was corrected when you resoldered you connections in order to do the shielding job?
I think you’re right, but I think that’s normal (to an extent) for every guitar. The guitar still does that even after I shielded it, but it’s just way more quiet now (less noticeable).
That intro song reminds me of Cory Asbury.
James Patton thanks! It’s an original song called “I Will”: th-cam.com/video/JQuPSwZrLH4/w-d-xo.html
This is so much easier (and cleaner) with adhesive copper shielding tape.
VIDS2013 yeah, but I’m too cheap for that. 😂
@@NathanSink $8 for 20 feet of copper tape. Would probably save you 50 bucks worth of labor time.
VIDS2013 where from?
@@NathanSink Amazon.
Este wey me mareó con tanta palabrería
No hablo español, pero creo que dijiste que hablo mucho.
You talk too much, really bro, your video was very informative and i like it but.....
Copy that. Glad it was informative.
how to wire to a '50s type' is NOT part of 'unwanted noise' use of foil. Stay on topic.
I’ll try to keep that in mind. 😉
@@NathanSink I thought it was a nice touch, especially since it was a change from the pre-shielding soldering profile. Thanks for showing your learning process throughout the video... you saved me several steps!
@@scottmartin2608 thanks for the kind words. Always glad to help! 👍🏻