Jazz Shielding Pictorial (Big Images Warning)

[FrostFire]

Thanks for the info, fretster.

Well, I got the pickup and control cavities shielded, with plenty of tape left, so I think I might go ahead and just do the 3 other cavities as a precaution while I still have her opened up. I still need to add ground wires and solder, but that will have to wait until next week. Any more input is much appreciated. Thanks to all who made this thread possible.

 

[FrostFire]

UPDATE: When I tried soldering the wires to the tape, the solder wouldn't stick. I used 60/40 (Pb/Sn) solder, and it just wouldn't go. So I decided to see how it sounded with just the tape, and wow. I was amazed. There's absolutely no hum at all, just a hiss (which I'm assuming is just from the single coil pickups?). No static pops or crackles like before,either. In addition to the tape, I soldered a new wire from the place where all the wires were grounded (the tone knob) except for one; the bridge ground was grounded to the jack (see old pic). So I put a wire between them and there you have it. No grounds between cavities was necessary, and it is totally silent in passive, and just a hiss in active. I didn't bother shielding the center cavity, it was just too narrow and awkward to work around the resistors and junk. Thanks everybody for your help!

 

[fretster]

Hmmm... solder not sticking to the foil? Are you using copper foil? The trick I use is to hold the soldering iron on the foil for a few seconds, then touch the end of the solder wire to the copper itself. This way the heat of the copper is melting the solder, and it sticks. The other way, touching the solder wire to the iron, might not work if the copper is not hot enough.

Great to hear that this already makes a difference! It will be better still when you ground the shielding foils.

New pics?

 

[Vic]

Hmmm... solder not sticking to the foil? Are you using copper foil? The trick I use is to hold the soldering iron on the foil for a few seconds, then touch the end of the solder wire to the copper itself. This way the heat of the copper is melting the solder, and it sticks. The other way, touching the solder wire to the iron, might not work if the copper is not hot enough.

Great to hear that this already makes a difference! It will be better still when you ground the shielding foils.

New pics?

He's probably talking about aluminum foil... yes, believe it or not, it's been done. I've even very recently seen a bass done this way. It works "ok", but it's true that solder doesn't stick to it, so it's hard to assure a great electrical connection throughout by tack soldering seams. I personally don't like the stuff for that exact reason, but maybe it's cheaper.

 

[FrostFire]

Nope, I'm using copper. I'll try heating the foil first, but I'll have to wait until sometime this weekend until I have time.

 

[Vic]

Nope, I'm using copper. I'll try heating the foil first, but I'll have to wait until sometime this weekend until I have time.

Try using flux too. If you're using copper, it DEFINITELY should work. I've done it MANY times. The only other thing it could be is an underpowered soldering iron... the sheet of copper is gonna' be a pretty effective heat dissipater, so you have to have an iron that can overcome that, and do so quickly enough that you don't damage the wood or cause other problems with the foil or adhesive backing.

 

[J Posega]

What exactly do you use as the grounding lug here? I've searched the thread, but I can't sift through any more posts *headdesk*

 

[Vic]

What exactly do you use as the grounding lug here? I've searched the thread, but I can't sift through any more posts *headdesk*

Any screw with a metal tab on it to solder things to, or, just a blob of solder that all the grounds go to. It's just important that all the grounds go to the same spot for a star ground.

 

[ReidK]

The trick I use is to hold the soldering iron on the foil for a few seconds, then touch the end of the solder wire to the copper itself. This way the heat of the copper is melting the solder, and it sticks. The other way, touching the solder wire to the iron, might not work if the copper is not hot enough.

That's the right way to solder, period. It's not just for foil. ALWAYS heat the pieces (wire, terminal, foil, pot case, etc) with the iron until they're hot enough for the solder to melt on them. Never melt solder with the iron and drip it on; the solder will harden as it hits the cooler piece before it has a chance to flow into the surface and adhere. Even if the wire sticks, you probably don't have the best electrical connection.

As other have noted, use extra flux (rosin, not acid!), and if you're soldering something with a large area (foil, pot case) you'll need more than a 15W iron. Big soldering guns in general are too hot for most electronic work, but do come in handy for this sort of thing. And make sure the surfaces are very clean - sometimes you even need to use a little fine sandpaper or scouring pad, followed by alcohol or other solvent. Dirty or oxidized metal will not take solder well.

Reid

 

[J Posega]

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I plan on doing this with my project J, and shielding it.

The wire that is getting soldered to the pot casings... would I skip soldering it to the pots, and just run them to the grounding lug? I'm a doofus trying to figure this all out, so maybe a picture would be best.

 

[Fishwick]

Hello

As I haven't got a gig for a month, I decided to try shielding my 75RI Jazz.

Yesterday, using copper tape with conductive adhesive backing, I've shielded the pickup and control cavities. I did this without disconnecting any wiring, and just worked around as best I could. I think I've done a fairly neat job so far, though I had to use a few small bits in awkward gaps. The adhesive tape is supposed to be conductive, but it seems best to tack solder the joins between the pieces of copper tape - a job for tomorrow night.

Questions:

1. What should I do about the 'tunnels' between the pickup cavities and control cavity? Am I right in thinking that the shielding has to be 'continuous' (i.e. joined up and showing no resistance) in order to work? At the moment they are bare wood.

2. The scratchplate is plastic - should I do anything to it?

3. Would you recommend changing the existing (standard) wiring and grounding (as suggested by Lyle Caldwell on TB)? Or will I experience less noise from the shielding anyhow?

Thanks for your help, I'd really appreciate some guidance.

 

[Vic]

Hello

As I haven't got a gig for a month, I decided to try shielding my 75RI Jazz.

Yesterday, using copper tape with conductive adhesive backing, I've shielded the pickup and control cavities. I did this without disconnecting any wiring, and just worked around as best I could. I think I've done a fairly neat job so far, though I had to use a few small bits in awkward gaps. The adhesive tape is supposed to be conductive, but it seems best to tack solder the joins between the pieces of copper tape - a job for tomorrow night.

Questions:

1. What should I do about the 'tunnels' between the pickup cavities and control cavity? Am I right in thinking that the shielding has to be 'continuous' (i.e. joined up and showing no resistance) in order to work? At the moment they are bare wood.

2. The scratchplate is plastic - should I do anything to it?

3. Would you recommend changing the existing (standard) wiring and grounding (as suggested by Lyle Caldwell on TB)? Or will I experience less noise from the shielding anyhow?

Thanks for your help, I'd really appreciate some guidance.

1 and 3 are really related. You can do one or the other and you get the same results. The signal wires are shielded as they pass from the pickup cavity to the control cavity.

On number 2, yeah, it's a good idea to put a patch of the shield on the back of the pickguard to sorta' create a shield box around as much of the pickup cavity as possible. I know you can't do that for the bridge pickup, but every little bit helps... especially if, for some reason, the neck pickup cavity is oversized.

 

[Fishwick]

1 and 3 are really related. You can do one or the other and you get the same results. The signal wires are shielded as they pass from the pickup cavity to the control cavity.

On number 2, yeah, it's a good idea to put a patch of the shield on the back of the pickguard to sorta' create a shield box around as much of the pickup cavity as possible. I know you can't do that for the bridge pickup, but every little bit helps... especially if, for some reason, the neck pickup cavity is oversized.

Many thanks for your thoughts, Vic. The pickup cavities with the foil now are a very tight fit. As I mentioned, I haven't yet unhooked any wiring but this seems to be essential just to get the shielding between cavities done. I guess if I'm doing that, I might as well change the wiring arrangement too, as per the wiring diagram in post 384?

 

[BlackLake]

Subscribing...great info here, thanks all.

 

[Vic]

Many thanks for your thoughts, Vic. The pickup cavities with the foil now are a very tight fit. As I mentioned, I haven't yet unhooked any wiring but this seems to be essential just to get the shielding between cavities done. I guess if I'm doing that, I might as well change the wiring arrangement too, as per the wiring diagram in post 384?

No prob. Glad to help.

Yeah, and make sure all the pickup cavities have a ground connection to the control cavity and ground lug in it. Just putting foil in the cavities doesn't do anything unless they're connected to the common ground. You may already have that figured out, but just in case.

 

[Fishwick]

No prob. Glad to help.

Yeah, and make sure all the pickup cavities have a ground connection to the control cavity and ground lug in it. Just putting foil in the cavities doesn't do anything unless they're connected to the common ground. You may already have that figured out, but just in case.

Hi Vic

Each pickup cavity has a copper grounding plate with foam on top, and these plates are now sitting on my foil shielding. So, I hope, that means that they are connected to the control cavity's ground lug where the three black grounding wires meet and are soldered together. Or do I need to run some copper foil between the cavities anyway?

Thanks again for your time.

 

[Vic]

Hi Vic

Each pickup cavity has a copper grounding plate with foam on top, and these plates are now sitting on my foil shielding. So, I hope, that means that they are connected to the control cavity's ground lug where the three black grounding wires meet and are soldered together. Or do I need to run some copper foil between the cavities anyway?

Thanks again for your time.

Oh yeah, I remember those plates. No, continuing to use those should be fine. The wires those already have attached to them will do the job.

 

[fretster]

Oh yeah, I remember those plates. No, continuing to use those should be fine. The wires those already have attached to them will do the job.

If the plates don't touch the new copper shielding foil, you are not done yet. You need the shielding to be grounded. Those plates are sitting on foam, and they might not touch the foil you just put in. Best is to add a new wire, soldered to the foil, run through the channel, and tied to the ground lug.

Take the guess work out if it, and get a volt-ohm meter ($15 at Radio Shack) and measure the resistance from all the places that should be grounded. Ie, bridge to ground lug, strings to ground lug, neck pickup cavity foil to ground lug, etc. Each should measure 0 ohms. You might find something that is not grounded, and then you know what to fix.

 

[Fishwick]

If the plates don't touch the new copper shielding foil, you are not done yet. You need the shielding to be grounded. Those plates are sitting on foam, and they might not touch the foil you just put in. Best is to add a new wire, soldered to the foil, run through the channel, and tied to the ground lug.

Take the guess work out if it, and get a volt-ohm meter ($15 at Radio Shack) and measure the resistance from all the places that should be grounded. Ie, bridge to ground lug, strings to ground lug, neck pickup cavity foil to ground lug, etc. Each should measure 0 ohms. You might find something that is not grounded, and then you know what to fix.

Hi Fretster

Thanks for your input. Each pickup cavity has a copper plate with foam above (which the pickups sit on) so the plates are definitely touching my foil - good news, hopefully!

Here are 'work in progress' photos for you:

I haven't touched the wiring yet, as you can probably guess.

 

[fretster]

Hi Fretster

Thanks for your input. Each pickup cavity has a copper plate with foam above (which the pickups sit on) so the plates are definitely touching my foil - good news, hopefully!


I haven't touched the wiring yet, as you can probably guess.

Well then. The foam above is the critical part. On my Marcus Miller Jazz, the plates were flipped compared to yours. The plate was above the foam, so that the the pickup sat directly on the plate. When I put in the foil, the foam insulated the plate from the foil. I ended up cutting the wire from the plate, and soldering that to the foil shielding. I guess I could have just flipped the plate to have foam side up, and I could have saved some work.