shielding paint or copper foil, which one you prefer?

bassman74 · #1 05-15-2009, 07:30 PM

Hi guys,

Do you have a preference between shielding paint and copper foil tape?

any bad experience?

Thanks

**Rodent** · #2 05-15-2009, 07:39 PM

I started out preferring foil with soldered seams, and moved to paint when I started building more than just one bass every now an then ... but I had a few basses where the finishing shop sprayed the cavity pretty thickly and the paint wouldn't stick even after sanding out the cavity to a dull finish, so I'm back to foil with soldered joints

I like the look of the paint

I like the finality of the foil (I've had one bass where the paint is starting to flake)

I like the simplicity and speed of applying the paint

I like thequick turnaround of the foil

I know I'll flip/flop several more times before I come to my final resting place on this topic

all the best,

R

JC Basses · #3 05-15-2009, 07:53 PM

I like the paint better as far as looks go and ease of application. I've been told it doesn't do much though and should really only be used when you can't use foil.

Rocky McDougall · #4 05-15-2009, 08:02 PM

Rodent......If your foil seams overlap, do you still think it's necessay to solder?

stflbn · #5 05-15-2009, 08:05 PM

<---- Definitely foil. It's 're-assuring' if nothing else. In fact, all of my basses that are foil shielded also were paint shielded at the factory. And 'yes', the Foil on top of the paint helped noticably.

And I'm glad that Rodent is Copper Foil shielding the bass he's currently building for me.

.

**Rodent** · #6 05-15-2009, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky McDougall

Rodent......If your foil seams overlap, do you still think it's necessay to solder?

I sure do ...

do I absolutely need to? probably not since I can measure connectivity across the foil pieces with a multi-meter

I guess it's just one of the AR QA things for me that screams INCOMPLETE!!! INCOMPLETE!!! every time I open a cavity and see unsoldered foil with a dog-eared corner

all the best,

R

bassman74 · #7 05-16-2009, 05:20 PM

The main reason why i've posted this thread is that i use to have 2 basses with the nordstrand humbucking pups and aguilar preamp, one was completely silent (copper foil) and the other one was slightly noisy(shielding paint) and i took the same care when i shielded them...

I prefer the shielding paint aesthetic but like Rodent said, Copper foil is easy and fast!!!

joeyl · #8 05-16-2009, 05:45 PM

I like paint for small cavities and pickup routs, but I found out that pots are not well grounded on shielding paint alone, so I may start using foil for the electronics cavity

throbgod13 · #9 05-17-2009, 12:43 AM

copper foil, the thicker the better.. you have to solder the seams, because you don't know who actually makes the foil.. some foils do not have conductive adhesive.. i know that 3M copper foil does..

paint is useless, in general.. you have to put several coats on for it to be effective.. there are high quality paints, but they are very expensive.. and i've only found them in 1 gallon and 5 gallon buckets..

so, if you want to be sure that the cavity is actually shielded, it's copper foil and it's seam soldered.. even the small cavities and pickup routes..

i prefer foil, even though it's time consuming and a lot of extra work..