why shield a tele pickguard?

[Tommy Tourbus]

it doesn't cover any routes, so why do it?

[Ronkirn]

there is no reason to do so..... unless ya wannit...

Ron Kirn

[milocj]

I've found that it can help prevent that static noise that some of my Teles have had, just by having the foil on it. I didn't bother to ground it to anything but it seems to have cut down on the static of my two worst guitars.

[Mr.Reed]

it covers routes.... the neck pickup route, the path the wires travel, etc. I guess I'm confused. You shield the routes and the pickguard and you get rid of most if not all "noise."

[mattdean4130]

I also don't get this. The esquire i've just built has no shielding at all, and it has a standard american pickup.... No noise at all its basically silent!

[Mr.Reed]

Well the bridge is a big metal shield, there'd be less noise from it. But some of my guitars have had some noise, I think a proper ground gets rid of a lot of that.

[TG]

It's not really relevent with an Esquire, but with a tele it can assist the shielding a bit since it goes around the neck pickup and over wires...but mainly it's because you can get static buildup on the pickguard which can ground out thru the neck pickup and 'crackle (I think that's what happens). Do a forum search for 'pickguard static' and you should find dozens of threads about it.

I would only shield the area under the pickguard between the neck pickup and the control plate where the wires go...and where my picking hand might rub it.

[winny pooh]

Did T.downs not say that the guitar needs to be shielded from us, as we are lighting rod conductors :) ?
After I read that I made sure that my pickup cavities were shielded, not the 'gaurd.

[Rob DiStefano]

imo ...

pickup humbuzz emanates from the top of the transducer/pickup, its antenna, not so much the pickup sides or back.

cavity shielding will only help in ground shielding exposed hot leads - better to expressly shield all signal wires (shielded coax) than waste time and money with any cavity shielding.

full shielding of a single coil transducer will change its tone, kill some of the high end.

make sure to "star" ground to eliminate ground loops.

[Ronkirn]

full shielding of a single coil transducer will change its tone, kill some of the high end.

Ahhh... some useful info...quite refreshing I might say...


Ron Kirn

[stephent2]

you can certainly over shield and it will drain some top end.

since I spend time on stages playing the guitars I build, I have a different perspective on shielding and it's value.

I shield the bottom of all the routs and connect all the areas together with wire. I run tabs of shielding by the neck pickup, bridge and control plate to the top of the body. The tabs are positioned to catch a screw from the fully shielded pickguard, bridge and control panel.

does it help cut noise and rf? to my ear, it certainly does.

have I done tests with unshielded guitars, played them out and then done the shielding and retested?, yes i have.

[mellecaster]

With all due Respect..I put Telecaster Shielding in the same category as Starbucks Coffee....much adieu about Nothing .

[stephent2]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

With all due Respect..I put Telecaster Shielding in the same category as Starbucks Coffee....much adieu about Nothing .

I don't drink coffee but I know a good buzz.

[mildwild]

as Starbucks Coffee....much adieu about Nothing .

I like that !!!!!

[marsopilami]

i always have a tech shield all the cavities leaving tabs for the screw holes and wire everything to a central point ground. when im playing bigger gigs the hum is a problem for me with the lights etc this reduces it and i also notice a change in sound. could just be me.

[Bob Logan]

Twisting unshielded wires from the neck pup to the control will help, and shielding from the neck pup to the control is necessary to eliminate static. But do not let the guard shielding come in contact with the neck pup cover. B.L.

[stephent2]

Do any of you shielding nay-sayers ever gig in clubs with old wiring?

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by Bob Logan

Twisting unshielded wires from the neck pup to the control will help, and shielding from the neck pup to the control is necessary to eliminate static. But do not let the guard shielding come in contact with the neck pup cover. B.L.

Here's and interesting anecdote about the copper pickguard shielding touching the metal cover on the neck pickup on a Classic Player Baja.

I did what Bob suggested you not do, that is the copper makes contact with the metal cover (but nothing else). Now, the guitar seems dramatically buzz and noise free in Series-Out of Phase, way more than it does in Parallel- Out of Phase or really any other pickup combo.
Really, really quiet for a MIM guitar.

I wonder why this is?

*****

I twisted the wires and did a 3 by 3 inch pickguard shield because this model guitar has an exposed chase.

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by stephent2

Do any of you shielding nay-sayers ever gig in clubs with old wiring?

Your point is well taken, and I know a lot of our European Friends have the same problem...but if I did, I would probably have one set up w/ EMGs..just sayin.

[freeradical]

If you've ever experienced the pickgard static problem you wouldn't say that much is being made about nothing. It gets dry up here in the winter and if you forget to bring to bring one of those dryer sheets to a gig it can a real pain in the ass.

If your music has any quieter passages when that static jumps out the Bassman scaring the people in the front rows you know what I mean. I would always give the soundman a dirty look when that happened like what did you just do? They would shrug.

Yes don't let your shielding touch the metal pickup cover. However running the foil around under the rest of the pickgard will give it multiple points where the screws go through the foil to bleed off static. It was a great fix for me.

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by stephent2

I don't drink coffee but I know a good buzz.

I like that !!!!
And there is a big difference with Playing out and Playing in.......

[joinpobob]

+1

full shielding of a single coil transducer will change its tone, kill some of the high end.

Full shielding nearly creates a faraday cage or "black box" for noise. It will eliminate unwanted hum, but can also eliminate some high end.
Sure, depending on where you play, currentness of the wiring of a club etc, your acceptable noise level vs. your tone suck will vary and for certain situations you will have different needs.
So I think it really depends on the application.
Me, I have one shielded and one unshielded. I think they are about the same noise wise (on stage at the crappy local bars, the acoustics are worse than any hum I would have), and in my mind at least I think the unshielded one is crisper (but it has a completely different setup and pups).

Was that completely worthless? Hope not. :)

[telefunk]

Originally Posted by Tommy Tourbus

it doesn't cover any routes, so why do it?

It covers the wires going from the pickups to the control plate, which typically are unshielded and prone to picking up interference and buzz from fluro lights, crt monitors, bad wiring etc. Static charge can also sometimes build up on the plastic pickguard from your hand brushing over it while strumming. This needs to be bled off to ground. I shield all cavities and the pickguard in my teles and have found it definitely decreases hum and buzz. Have never noticed any degradation in the tone quality, as some have claimed, and can't understand why this would happen. After all you wouldn't use an unshielded lead from the guitar to the amp would you ?

[tele75]

Believe it or not, a thin layer of car wax on the pickguard will eliminate the static noise that creeps in sometimes.

[tdowns]

Originally Posted by winny pooh

Did T.downs not say that the guitar needs to be shielded from us, as we are lighting rod conductors :) ?
After I read that I made sure that my pickup cavities were shielded, not the 'gaurd.

I don't remember saying anything about lightning rods. I do remember stating the following several times, and it has nothing to do with shielding but everything to do with grounding.

The human body is an excellent antenna of power line fields. We all know this because touching your finger to tip of a guitar cord, with the other end plugged into an amp, produces a tremendous noise. If the strings of our electric guitars are not grounded, our hands touching the strings will couple those power line fields into the flux lines of the pickup via the strings, and much noise will result. If the strings are grounded, touching the strings with our hands shunts our body to ground and makes our body near worthless as an antenna to power line fields. This is why holding a guitar without touching the strings makes it buzz, and touching the strings silences it to some degree.

This topic above (if that is what you are referring to) has little to do with shielding of the guitar innards.

Respectively,
Terry

[user name]

Just finished sheilding my tele two days ago.

It did make a difference. That's a fact.

[strummin67]

When I put a '50s style pick guard on mine I suddenly had a static problem. Can I just put the shielding on the underside of the pick guard or do I need to pull the wires out of the channel?

[petebradt]

Originally Posted by Mr.Reed

it covers routes.... the neck pickup route, the path the wires travel, etc. I guess I'm confused. You shield the routes and the pickguard and you get rid of most if not all "noise."

a lot of your highs, too.