slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 what's best to use in the pickup and control cavities? i've seen coppper tape and black screening (not sure what that stuff is?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'm using shielding paint on one of Shockwave's basses now, an not loving the process. I also dislike copper tape for its fiddly sticky finger slicing ability, but soldering the seams is very satisfying, and paint isn't, having trouble figuring how to connect the separate cavity electrically now. Important to check its all electrically continuous with a multimeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 this is on a 51 P bass, so, lo tech analogue circuit, do i really need to shied it all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Depends if you like hum. The pickup is unshielded, so that is fairly necessary if you have a bright tone from the amp, or use any gain. Is the rest wired with shielded wire? Active basses tend to have better hum rejection from shielded components. Shielding is more important than it was because of the fluorescent bulbs that are everywhere now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 i thought earthing on amps would take care of hum and such like these days, i use a magnetic pup on a double bass with NO earthing, pup goes straight to the amp and it's as quiet as a mouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 If hum is coming out of the bass, then you amp will amplify it, unless there is something wrong with the amp, or you have eqed it out. The idea of shielding is to stop the interference from reaching the signal path, including the pickup and wiring in the bass. If you magnetic pickop has no earthing, it won't make sound, the second wire is the earth, and it probably has its own shielding in the pickup casing, plus double bass type tone amplification probably won't have so much top to get the noises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 my upright has no 'ground' wire to the strings, unlike an electric. it earths though the amp and second wire like you say. i recently saw a guy play a P bass and he had taken the volume and tone pots out of the bass, pup went straight to his amp, no problems and he prefered the tone, sounded good to me too. as copper and paint sound a pain i think i'm gonna try it without first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 All that stuff is unrelated to the shielding, shielding is to form a faraday cage around the wiring and coils, the screen in instrument cable is the continuation, but theres lots of stuff inside a bass that isn't always shielded in itself, such as the pickup coil in some cases, and the wires coming off it, that all work like antennae for interference. Problem is, interference sources differ depending on where you are. You might be fine in one place, but go somewhere else and suddenly you find you are missing shielding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 what's in the black paint? is it liquid lead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Depending on the manufacturer graphite or nickel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 [quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1335114021' post='1625945'] I just got the copper tape for my Mike dirnt easy enough job, just soldered a wire between the two cavities to link the two. [/quote] Depending on the tape, sometimes you have to attach the pieces together, because the glue isn't conductive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 thx Johnston, just found the copper tape on ebay, around £4 a roll, that's real cheap for copper. how many rolls did you get through on the Mike Dirnt? i take it it's a P bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1335114021' post='1625945'] just soldered a wire between the two cavities to link the two. [/quote] I ran a strip of copper tape from the P pup cavity to the control cavity under the scratchplate......I linked the J bridge pup cavity to the control cavity with a wire. Do not forget to copper tape the underside of your scratchplate to get the full faraday cage effect. I have the quietest (in terms of hum) bass I have ever heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1335172916' post='1626518'] I ran a strip of copper tape from the P pup cavity to the control cavity under the scratchplate......I linked the J bridge pup cavity to the control cavity with a wire. Do not forget to copper tape the underside of your scratchplate to get the full faraday cage effect. I have the quietest (in terms of hum) bass I have ever heard. [/quote] so did you fill the cavities with copper and copper tape the complete scratchplate? got any pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='slobluesine' timestamp='1335173508' post='1626532'] so did you fill the cavities with copper and copper tape the complete scratchplate? got any pics? [/quote] I lined the pup cavity with copper tape and covered the underside of the scratchplate where the control cavity is. I ran some copper tape from the pup cavity to the control cavity and soldered a wire from the j pup cav to the control cavity along the same hole as the pup wiring. only pic i have - part way through: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 cherrs twigman, anyone know what i need to put underneath the pup? some foam or similar? this is a 51 P pup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 [quote name='slobluesine' timestamp='1335179850' post='1626692'] cherrs twigman, anyone know what i need to put underneath the pup? some foam or similar? this is a 51 P pup [/quote] [url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/guitar-bass-parts/pickups-pickup-parts/pickup-parts/rubberfoam-neoprene-sponges-for-mounting-under-bass-pickups-p-3568.html"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/guitar-bass-parts/pickups-pickup-parts/pickup-parts/rubberfoam-neoprene-sponges-for-mounting-under-bass-pickups-p-3568.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slobluesine Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 gettin there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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