Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello - I'm working through my first guitar kit. About ready to buff it shiny then the electronics. Question: I've seen a couple of utube videos where they used some kind of Copper Insulation tape, looks sort of like duc tape but shiny copper. They would add this to the various cavities before adding pickup, etc. Is this recommended or is this 'nice to have'? Thanks!

It serves as shielding for the electronics, and properly done keeps the guitar quieter.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Definitely nice to have but not absolutely required. Especially useful in guitars and basses with single coil pickups, less so with humbuckers but still a good move.

As Chris said, it has to be done absolutely right or it won't do anything useful. If you decide to shield the guitar, then find some good tutorials from reputable sources and follow every step.

Remember you might decide to give it a shot at any time after the guitar is built if the environment you're playing in proves troublesome or you just want to learn to do it.

I've been doing it to every bass and single-coil guitar I've built for a few years now, and done it on many customers guitars. Results vary according to the environments they play in, but more often than not they love the resulting improvement.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

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Pierre Castonguay

I used both the copper shielding and the carbon shielding paint. Both work. Each needs to be grounded. Twisting all of the wire pairs going to the pickups and the other components also helps cut noise.

Thanks for the quick responses....you all are great!