Shielding Paint Wins again!

[photoweborama]

I just bought this cheap Jay Turser Telecaster clone. For some reason I've always wanted one.

I just hated the thing when I took it home last night.

The neck pickup is so muddy, but the bridge is not bad. I got a new Mighty mite neck pickup for 16.00 I'll be putting it when it gets here.

But it buzzed like CRAZY. They never do it in the store... I was telling my wife how bad the neck pickup sounds and all she could say is "I can't tell if the pickups sound bad, but that BUZZ is driving me crazy"

So I take it apart tonight and put three coats of paint in it, I don’t' even wait more than a 1/2 hour between coats, I did not even add a body ground wire. I just overlapped the paint from the control cavity over the body to the pickguard, I painted the inside of the pickgard and made paint strips everywhere the cavity connected.

I did not even paint the holes between cavities because they were drilled too small.

I barely let it dry and put it back to plug it in and I hear nothing...I though it was broken, I hit a string and sound comes out of the amp....

I am just amazed at how well this stuff works. It's dead quiet, even with those cheap pickups and electronics.

[photoweborama]

I also shielded my cheap Rouge bass because I've been trying to learn to play it and into a J-Station with headphones, you hear everything.

Paint killed the buzz. It's like a different bass all together now.

I also did a friend's Mustang last night. I was reluctant to paint shield a 66 Mustang, but he insisted. I asked him as a last resort "Are you really sure you want to do this? We can't take it out once it's in there" his reply was that he could not use it that way it is... do it.

Just to be safe, I took it apart and found a broken wire. I fixed that and was hoping that was all it was, no, still buzz. In 1966, they did not have as many sources of interference like we do today. This thing picked up everything.

So, I went ahead and painted only the sides of the cavities. Also, the bridge ground on a mustang is really hoakey. So, I improved on the design by using a piece of copper foil under the bridge into the pickup cavity.

It's VERY quiet now. It seems though, that the 1966 mustang pickups are very susceptible to 60-cycle hum. More than any of the guitars I've worked on before. But it sounds sweet now.

We just have to replace a pot and I think the pickup selectors have some bad positions in them.

[chuckocaster]

photo,

when the switches are in the middle, the pups are supposed to be off. hehehe. just teasin ya, you know that though. couldn't resist.

[SHK]

What is the name of this paint, and where can I buy it?

[chuckocaster]

check out www.stewmac.com do a search for sheilding paint.

[photoweborama]

Actually, Chuck, I know nothing about the Mustang. Is it supposed to have dead sections of the switches?

He also said he did some "creative" wiring inside, even though he really did not know what he was doing. I could tell....

oh yes, go here to read about paint shielding.

[curtisstetka]

My two guitars are foil shielded. It seems to make a difference. My tele is dead quiet but it's got Kinmans. The strat has Seymour Duncan lipstick tubes and it's acceptably quiet. I don't play with a lot of gain anyway.

I went with foil because it seemed like it might be more efficient than paint but I'm pleased to hear these good reports on paint. Maybe my next guitar will have paint. Thanks, boys.

[photoweborama]

They both work, it's just that paint is easier.

If you do he paint right, it actually takes longer because you have to wait 24 hours between coats, but it's more like, paint it and go to bed...

It's not constant work.

Lately I have not been doing it right I put a new coat on as soon as it is dry to the touch. I think in a more humid climate, that would be a problem. I've been doing complete paint shield jobs lately in about 2 hours.

Don't try this a home kids....

[Bob Onit]

PAINT

[TheArchitect]

I decided to take no chances and cover all bases. I have put on 4 heavy coats of the stewmac paint and am now applying copper tape over that (finally figured out the trick) with more tape on the pickguard. This baby should survive an EMP blast. I will keep you posted on if its actually quieter or not. LOL!

[photoweborama]

Your a crazy dude, but if it works, go for it..

[ric480]

Would either of these methods help me ? I gigged Wednesday at a place that wants us to appear regularly. They recently remodeled, but whatever they did to the electrical wiring is beyond me. We played here a couple times before; I use single coil guitars (Ricky 480, SG w/P90's into a '74 Super Reverb); the hum was bad but I could just about eliminate it by finding the right spot. Now, I couldn't find any spot that would work. I put one of those 3 prong to 2 prong adapters on my power cord and reversed polarity, the hum was reduced but was still annoying.

I suspect the many dimmer switches on the lights are to blame. I've played other venues with no problems, there is no hum at home when I use the same combo. We really like this place and want to continue playing there, but I cannot deal with the noise. Another solution may be to borrow my brother's Les Paul w/humbuckers, but that is definitely not my preference.

Thanks in advance, John.

[photoweborama]

Yes, shielding would help. I've had to play near neon signs. I still have to stay about 10 feet away, but they don't have a bearing on the noise anymore.

The offer still stand to anyone. If you can get the guitar to me, I'll do it for free, or until the paint runs out....

I've done guitar #6 and have just under 1/2 a can left...

[chuckocaster]

Originally posted by photoweborama
[B]Actually, Chuck, I know nothing about the Mustang. Is it supposed to have dead sections of the switches?

He also said he did some "creative" wiring inside, even though he really did not know what he was doing. I could tell....

on the stock mustangs the middle position on each switch is a mute. since your buddy did some rewiring who knows now right? lmao

if you are interested, deaf eddie made me a diagram so that you only use one switch, and it is bridge, bridge/neck in series, and neck. worked great on my mustang, but i eventually dropped it for a bridge pup straight to the ouput jack wiring configuration.

[photoweborama]

I think I would be more interested in stock wiring... but only if I'm asked to rewire it.....

[chuckocaster]

Originally posted by photoweborama
I think I would be more interested in stock wiring... but only if I'm asked to rewire it.....

hehehehehehe. i hear ya on that one.

[rvf263]

I used the shielding paint in my Strat. I found it was easy to use, but kinda sloppy.
What did you use to apply it?

[photoweborama]

I just use a hobby paintbrush that is about 1" wide. It does a good job.

Yes, it is messy any way you look at it. I usually mask off areas unless it is like at a corner, like where the body and the cavity makes a 90 degree, otherwise I tape it off so I get a clean line.

I just painted my AmSer Tele pickguard with it over the weekend. The static was driving me nuts. I have a full copper shield too and it did not stop the static. Now I have paint AND copper on the pickgurard. Kryptonite would not get through now...

[rvf263]

I think I used something like that. If I ever paint another one, I'm gonna try one of those throw away sponge-like brushes. I bet those would work great.

[photoweborama]

I'm not sure if that woud work. The shielding paint is very heavy, I'm not sure it would be pourous enough to hold the paint.