P Bass cavity shielding in copper foil (image hvy)

Hi all,

This is my first real post here so i thought I'd show some of the shielding jobs I have done in the past that people might find useful. Some of the images are of Fender Jaguar I shielded with the same process and any of this can be applied to any guitar/bass. I'm not really fond of the adhesive backed foil so this is my go to.

Once the instrument is stripped down I used paper to make templates. Scissors and tape were used to add or remove until everything looked right as a good fit. Note the extra square edge tabs that are later folded and soldered to lock everything in place



Above is my Japanese 57 P Bass

Below is the Jaguar with the paper templates in the cavities checking for fit



Once I am happy with the fit I tape down my templates onto my copper sheet. I picked up a 12”x30” roll of .005 thick soft copper sheet (ksmetals.com) from my local hobby shop, I’d say its enough to do at least three guitars or basses.



Above the P Bass template taped to the foil, below the Jag




Now cut it all out out with some sharp scissors, it was very easy to work with. I folded it up using a hacksaw blade or a ruler to get nice sharp bends, the rest I pushed into shape with my fingers when the shielding was in the cavities.








When I was happy with the fit in the cavities its time to solder it. I used a cheap 30W soldering iron with a large'ish tip that I bent the end to get a good contact in the bottom of the cavities, a larger watt iron might be a good idea to make things easier but i manage with what I have.

To get a good tight fit I like push apart the side wall sections so they hug the cavity walls, tack it, solder the bottom tags then redo the side wall join last. I'm just using the regular flux core solder I use for wiring.


Here is the Jag with everything soldered in place





P Bass control cavity soldered up, insert pic is the tube leading to the pickup cavity.

To connect between the cavities i rolled some of the copper around a drill bit to make tubes to give it complete shielding, Note the tabs sticking up to ground the plates and pickguard, where possible I made the tabs so the screws will go thru them. Next is to solder a single wire from the shielded cavity to the earth point on the volume pot. Finish up giving all the soldered areas a wipe down with a solvent or contact cleaner etc to remove the solder flux.

Optional final step... Open a beer and admire your handiwork

I hope some find this helpful...

The finished pair

 

The CIJ Jag shown had painted control cavities (factory?) that were not connected to anything and it had the worst earth/noise problem i had ever seen, with lots of gain i could pick up a radio station in parts of my old house. Maybe paint done right works but i like this option more

 

Only the Jag had a noise problem, the bass was done because i can