Why not cover the entire body with shielding paint and connect to ground...?

Nic. · #1 11-04-2009, 07:04 AM

Yeah, why not?

If it's not a natural finish, you might as well cover it completely with shielding paint, which serves two purposes-
1, it shields the electronics inside, and basically shields off everything except the top side of the pickups, which need to be "open" to detect the strings

2, makes it more likely for the guitar to be in contact with you, and hence grounded

If you don't like the look of shielding paint, you can always cover on top of that with another finish, but #1 still stands....

The only thing I can think of is that it's cheaper to just shield the cavities, but, come on, how much cost difference can that be?

Am I missing something pretty vital here?

Florox · #2 11-04-2009, 07:14 AM

I've been wondering this also for a while. Would love info on the subject.

ehque · #3 11-04-2009, 07:21 AM

Firstly, i'd imagine shielding paint to be more expensive and less durable than a normal finish.

Secondly, the idea of shielding is to build a faraday cage around the electronics you want shielded. Painting the entire body with shielding paint leaves the electronics outside the faraday cage, completely counter to the aim of proper shielding.

Lastly, you're pretty much always in contact with the strings anyway, and the grounding through your clothing probably isn't going to be as good.

**line6man** · #4 11-04-2009, 07:22 AM

There are several reasons I can think of why that wouldn't be a good idea...

1. The conductive paint does not give you a smooth clean finish for a body, and being as it's applied with a brush, so it's not going to coat nice and smooth like if it were applied with a spray gun.

2. It looks like crap.

3. Conductive paint is very expensive. You would probably need a couple of cans worth to get enough coats on the whole body.

**line6man** · #5 11-04-2009, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nic.

If you don't like the look of shielding paint, you can always cover on top of that with another finish, but #1 still stands....

If you cover it, it won't serve any purpose anymore.

What reason do you have to shield the entire body unless you were trying to ground yourself when you touch the finish?

I don't see any reason to shield beyond the control/pickup cavities.

greenboy · #6 11-04-2009, 09:02 AM

Why not instead build a personal Faraday cage and play inside it? Seems to be almost as practical ; }

**line6man** · #7 11-04-2009, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenboy

Why not instead build a personal Faraday cage and play inside it? Seems to be almost as practical ; }

That's a great idea, but not everyone can afford it.
I've found that wrapping your bass in tin foil works just as well.
The downside is that you can't play it anymore, because the foil covers the strings, but who cares, the instrument is totally grounded and dead silent.

greenboy · #8 11-04-2009, 09:39 AM

People with tin foil hats claim that the hats themselves solve 90% of the problems anyway. Thus the expenses and inconveniences would be minimal.

lug · #9 11-04-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

That's a great idea, but not everyone can afford it.

Horsehockey! 15 large rolls of tinfoil, 45 coat hangers and 4 rolls of conductive tape and YOU ARE THERE!

T-MOST · #10 11-04-2009, 10:52 AM

It's complete overkill. Every spec of paint outside the cavity would serve no purpose.

**line6man** · #11 11-04-2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-MOST

It's complete overkill. Every spec of paint outside the cavity would serve no purpose.

My thoughts exactly.

groooooove · #12 11-04-2009, 11:09 AM

give it a shot and see if you think its worth it.

**line6man** · #13 11-04-2009, 11:10 AM

Nic., have you considered an aluminum body? If you want the whole body grounded, that would be the best way.

MooseLumps · #14 11-04-2009, 11:18 AM

hehe...

**line6man** · #15 11-04-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MooseLumps

hehe...

Reminds me of Joe Satriani's "Chrome Boy" guitar from Crystal Planet.
Such a sexy looking finish! I'm thinking of the fingerprints though.

MooseLumps · #16 11-04-2009, 12:05 PM

Sexy Fingerprints?

refuge4 · #17 11-04-2009, 12:11 PM

my luthier took all my basses, wrapped the windings on the pickups in copper tape and grounded each of them individually. super cheap fix and the darn things are quieter than they've ever been. also, try raising your pickups. if it's just 60 cycle hum, raising your pickups changes the signal to noise ratio, the noise stays the same but the signal is stronger. i've had really great experience with this technique. the only place paint or copper tape belongs is in the cavities. like they said above, anything outside the cavity won't help at all.

**line6man** · #18 11-04-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by refuge4

my luthier took all my basses, wrapped the windings on the pickups in copper tape and grounded each of them individually. super cheap fix and the darn things are quieter than they've ever been. also, try raising your pickups. if it's just 60 cycle hum, raising your pickups changes the signal to noise ratio, the noise stays the same but the signal is stronger. i've had really great experience with this technique. the only place paint or copper tape belongs is in the cavities. like they said above, anything outside the cavity won't help at all.

It isn't a good idea to completely enclose a coil in shielding tape.
I'm on my iPhone right now, otherwise I would search it up, but there was something to do with trapping Eddy currents.

ctufankjian · #19 11-04-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenboy

Why not instead build a personal Faraday cage and play inside it? Seems to be almost as practical ; }

+1 I'm thinking about subscribing to this one.

refuge4 · #20 11-04-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

It isn't a good idea to completely enclose a coil in shielding tape.
I'm on my iPhone right now, otherwise I would search it up, but there was something to do with trapping Eddy currents.

hmmm... to be extremely specific, he first wraps the coils in fabric so the copper is not directly touching the coils, then solders the wrapping to a grounding plate. let me know if you find anything about this. i've had this done for a while and never had any problems, or noticeable alteration in tone.