Quick shielding/P bass questions

[halloweenfiend]

Hey all

I've recently decided to upgrade the electronics on my MIM P bass and I thought I'd might as well shield the electronics cavity also. Now I've read just about every thread or link to info about shielding, wiring, how to solder correctly, etc. (I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I kno I want to do things as correctly as possible). However I have one small remaining question as to shielding with copper tape (or aluminum for that matter) as it relates to the pickguard. Is it recommended to cover the WHOLE backside of the pickguard with the tape? Or can you get away with just covering the areas where the cavities and around the pu's are? It would seem like overkill to use the tape over the whole pickguard. Anyway, if any of you experienced electrician guys or guitar builders could set me straight that would be great.

Oh, and I also am going to put in one of those copper shield plates under my pu's and I had heard that Fender used to attach the ground from the pu's to the plate... is this true? And is it recommended for good grounding? Thanks again guys. I am planning on possibly taking photo's of the process if ppl are interested.

-Jon

 

[bongomania]

You don't have to cover the whole backside of the guard, only the parts in the near vicinity of the cavities. You can save some money and just use the same copper foil underneath the pups as you use in the rest of the shielding. All the grounds are connected in a passive bass, so it doesn't matter too much where you attach the pickup ground, but I believe common good practice is to wire them to the output jack and then let the rest of the shielding have another common connection to ground (e.g. the control plate or jack shield).

 

[halloweenfiend]

Thanks bongomania!

 

[kyurA_hikaru]

sorry to bring this thread up again, but i wanna ask about shielding in my bass(a P-Bass). it doesn't have shielding at all, and i suspect the pickup too. so basically i want to use the copper tape to shield the base of my control cavity, but do i need to shield the cavity for the ground cable to bridge? its givin' me headache today, and i don't want to do some trial and error

thanks.

 

[slyjoe]

Good luck trying to get copper shielding tape in the little hole for the ground wire.

You don't need to shield a ground wire.

 

[kyurA_hikaru]

Good luck trying to get copper shielding tape in the little hole for the ground wire.

You don't need to shield a ground wire.

so exactly, what do we shield? i thought all of the cavities must be covered with copper foils. (later i read that wasn't necessary but we can connect those cavities with a wire and solder it to the copper-covered cavity wall). so the last cavity (to the bridge) doesn't need to be covered with copper foils?

if so,it's good.

and thanks again slyjoe ^^