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Shielding a P bass


Marvin
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I need to shield my P bass. I'm just a little unsure as to the exact wiring re. the grounds after.

The pickup and control cavity are seperate, the wires from the pickup to control cavity go through a hole. Do I solder a wire to the shielding of both cavities so they are 'connected'? Also I assume you remove the ground wire from pot to pot and just have one to the bridge from the volume pot?

None of this probably makes sense :unsure:

Edited by Marvin
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No need to remove the ground wire from the backs of the pots, which should also link to the jack socket centre & yes if you feed a wire through to link the shielding in both cavities it'll be great!

Cheerz, John

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I opened up my classic series jap precision last weekend to find that there was no screening at all.. no foil on the guard, not even the black conductive paint that gets everywhere. Dunno if that's a usual find or not... but I digress.. I lined the cavities using some aluminium tape I had left over from the last guard I fitted, and made a 'tube' out of tin foil (wrapped it round a screwdriver) to go between the cavities, which the pickup wires went down just nicely. Continuity checks out and it's quiet, so... maybe an option for you?

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[quote name='Ed_S' timestamp='1349372091' post='1825460']
I opened up my classic series jap precision last weekend to find that there was no screening at all.. no foil on the guard, not even the black conductive paint that gets everywhere. Dunno if that's a usual find or not... but I digress.. I lined the cavities using some aluminium tape I had left over from the last guard I fitted, and made a 'tube' out of tin foil (wrapped it round a screwdriver) to go between the cavities, which the pickup wires went down just nicely. Continuity checks out and it's quiet, so... maybe an option for you?
[/quote]
Yep if you have a problem with noise from tube lights or whatever - every little helps. Another trick is to strip a piece of coaxial cable & use the outer screen around the pick up wires, or at least the 'hot' with the screen soldered to the screening. Some coax you can cut a length of a few inches & pull out the centre conductor with it's insulation leaving a nice hole to put your own wiring in.

Cheerz, John

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[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1349365769' post='1825373']
Yep, and yep.
If you are super confident of your shielding, the string ground should now go to the cavity, not the pot.
You'll soon hear if you got it right.
:)
[/quote]

Excuse my ignorance but...what's the string ground? :)

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For the wires that go through the hole from pick-up to cavity, I used the outer shielding from this kind of wire:


Which I got from here: http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/silver-braided-gibson-wire---1m-283-p.asp

I just pulled the its original wire out and fed the pickup wires though it. It can be soldered too, which is handy.

A cheap and easy way to shield those wires would be to wrap them in tinfoil and then feed them through the hole. It can't be soldered, but you can stick it down with something like [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/aluminium-tape-4098"]Aluminium Tape[/url], which is what I use to shield the entire cavity.

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[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1349376442' post='1825543']
For the wires that go through the hole from pick-up to cavity, I used the outer shielding from this kind of wire:


Which I got from here: [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/silver-braided-gibson-wire---1m-283-p.asp"]http://www.wdmusic.c...---1m-283-p.asp[/url]

I just pulled the its original wire out and fed the pickup wires though it. It can be soldered too, which is handy.

A cheap and easy way to shield those wires would be to wrap them in tinfoil and then feed them through the hole. It can't be soldered, but you can stick it down with something like [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/aluminium-tape-4098"]Aluminium Tape[/url], which is what I use to shield the entire cavity.
[/quote]

I've got some of that in my spares bag. Thanks for the pointer, similar to what John (KiOgon) was suggesting I suppose.

Cheers

Edited by Marvin
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[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUITAR-SCREENING-COPPER-TAPE-70mm-x-1m-SHIELDING-CONDUCTIVE-SELF-ADHESIVE-/390466813481?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item5ae9a2be29#ht_500wt_1056"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUITAR-SCREENING-COPPER-TAPE-70mm-x-1m-SHIELDING-CONDUCTIVE-SELF-ADHESIVE-/390466813481?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item5ae9a2be29#ht_500wt_1056[/url]

use this stuff Marv, saves all that fiddly soldering trying to get the tape to connect to the next bit of tape properly.

String ground is the wire from the bridge to the volume pot (or shielding if you like). I have never been confident enough of my shielding to ground to the cavity wall from the bridge for what it's worth (plus I kept buggering up the tape with the soldering iron).

If you need help then yeah, come over, you know the rules, bring booze :)

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Thank you everyone.

I finished shielding the pbass this evening and I do believe it's worked.

For the 'hole' between the two cavities I cased the wires in a drinking straw and then covered it in copper tape, then pushed it through the hole.

A wire connects the two cavities, I improved the ground contact on the bridge and I also grounded the shielding. Belt and braces :)

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[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1350489618' post='1839620']
Marvin, I'm just doing the same job on one of my p basses. So is the wire through the straw with the pup cables and then soldered both ends ?
[/quote]

That's exactly how I did it :).

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