direct mounted pickups - any point in shielding the pickup cavity?

[turbodogfish]

title says it - is there any reason to bother shielding the pickup cavity if there's no pickguard to form a "lid" on the cage? should i save myself the trouble on a new build i'm doing?

 

[dspellman]

title says it - is there any reason to bother shielding the pickup cavity if there's no pickguard to form a "lid" on the cage? should i save myself the trouble on a new build i'm doing?

The answer is yes -- shield the pickup cavity (whether with copper tape or with conductive shielding paint is up to you) and the control cavities. I don't think I've got a guitar that isn't shielded at this point.

 

[LReese]

Just my opinion

It depends on the type of pickup - if its a covered humbucker or shielded single coil with a shielded cable to the controls, then I'd say no or little benefit as its already shielded. Otherwise it might be of benefit (you must run a connection from the shield to a ground point). I personally would not shield just for the sake of shielding.

 

[EADGBE]

Most of the noise comes from the top of the pickup. So I never shield the pickup cavity.

 

[turbodogfish]

thanks for the thoughts on this... i think i'm going to leave the pickup cavity unshielded. the whole idea of the faraday cage is that it's fully enclosed, right? a "cage" isn't much of a cage if there's no top (e.g., pickguard) to close it.

 

[Mike9]

thanks for the thoughts on this... i think i'm going to leave the pickup cavity unshielded. the whole idea of the faraday cage is that it's fully enclosed, right? a "cage" isn't much of a cage if there's no top (e.g., pickguard) to close it.

Exactly - without full coverage there is little point. Control cavities and covers are another thing I always shield those.