Dumb question bass bretheran, but I must ask

[dgravesweiner]

I have an American Standard P-Bass that I am getting ready to switch out pickguards and my question is this: Does the high dollar shell pg come with the shielding or do I need to purchase that as well? Thanks for any and all input

[Hopkins]

Depends on the "high dollar shell pg" that you buy, but most will have some shielding.

[martinedwards]

ask before you buy!

[EricssonB]

Copper shielding with a sticky back is cheap and easy to put on! It's fun. I just shielding the entire back cavity of my guitar the other day. I loosened the electronics for an easy work surface and somehow managed to break a connection and now the bridge pickup doesn't work.

...I should go fix that...

[dgravesweiner]

Well the cheaper ones are around 20-30 dollar range and don't have the space to do the trussrod adjustment. The one of which I inquire is $55 or close at all the major online retailors and has the hole for that and says nothing about the shielding. They sell the shielding for the cheaper ones as they don't have that either

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by dgravesweiner

Well the cheaper ones are around 20-30 dollar range and don't have the space to do the trussrod adjustment. The one of which I inquire is $55 or close at all the major online retailors and has the hole for that and says nothing about the shielding. They sell the shielding for the cheaper ones as they don't have that either

For the back of a pickguard, you can just spray on some glue and slap on a sheet of aluminum foil. I have seen far far more nice quality 3 ply pgs without any shielding than I have ones WITH shielding...ask -- they'll reply.

[lbwdog]

I've never found shielding necessary on a P Bass. The old ones had a thin aluminum (I guess) plate, the same shape as the pickguard underneath, but I've had many that had nothing.

P Bass pickups are hum-cancelling by nature, and I've played 'em in hundreds of venues with bad wiring, light circuits, etc. without noise problems.

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

Copper shielding with a sticky back is cheap and easy to put on! It's fun. I just shielding the entire back cavity of my guitar the other day. I loosened the electronics for an easy work surface and somehow managed to break a connection and now the bridge pickup doesn't work.

...I should go fix that...

This is what I use. You really don't have to shield the entire pickguard, only the parts that cover the various shielded cavities. But It doesn't hurt to do the whole thing and sometimes that just easier to do and won't hurt anything.

And don't forget the shield on the pickguard MUST be somehow connected to the grounded shielding in the cavities. What I usually do is run a strip of copper foil that is soldered to the foil in the control cavity up and over the top of the bass under the pickguard until it covers one of the pickguard screw holes. The foil on the pickguard must cover the SAME hole. Punch the screw through the foils and when you tighten it down it mashes the cavity foil strip and the pickguard foil together making a nice contact!