Shielding a Les Paul?

[RollnROCK89i]

Hey, I am going to shield my epiphone les paul, I know it won't benefit from shielding as much as a strat would, but it would help when I am using a lot of gain and places where there is a lot of electrical signals going around.

Since there are no instructions for a les paul, I am planning on shielding the control cavity, the control cavity cover and the pickup slots. Once I do this, can I simply connect all of the shielding to a ground point? If so, would it matter where i connect it to, or does it just have to be tied into a grounding point? If I can do this, should I also shield the toggle switch cavity and cover, or would that not really make any difference? Thanks a lot.

[bam]

basic QTB rule: shield all cavities but ..
In almost all HB-equipped guitars, the pups are already shielded by its nature; there is no need to shield the pup cavity.

[RollnROCK89i]

All right, I may just shield the control cavity. Once I do this, I'll solder a wire to the shielding, but where should I solder the other end to? Does it really matter just as long its tied into the ground line?

also, should I bother shielding the toggle switch cavity? Thanks.

[bam]

of course the toggle switch cavity had to be shielded, too ;D
The other end should reach the control cavity, and connected to The Ring (same as the wire from the trem block in Strats).

[RollnROCK89i]

All right, so I can just attach all of the shield wires to a ring on one of the pots. What pot should I put the ring on for stock les paul controls?

When I shield the control cavity, can the pots shells touch the shielding or will this create ground loops? Should I give the pots just enough room so that they do not touch the shielding?

Also, should I shield the long wire runs, such as the ones going to the toggle switch from the pickup cavity and from the pickups cavity to the control cavity? These seem like they would be difficult to shield, but if these long runs pick up a lot of interference then I'll just have to take my time on these.

Thanks a lot, I'm just finally starting to understand this whole shielding thing.

[bam]

RollnROCK89i said:

What pot should I put the ring on for stock les paul controls?

When I shield the control cavity, can the pots shells touch the shielding or will this create ground loops? Should I give the pots just enough room so that they do not touch the shielding?

Also, should I shield the long wire runs, such as the ones going to the toggle switch from the pickup cavity and from the pickups cavity to the control cavity?

1. Whatever pot will do; in fact, every spot in the shielding will do.
2. It is not ground loops; actually the pot case needs to contact with the shielding to give the pot itself a ground point.
3. JA recommends shield braided wire. (the one he told you to use for the controls->jack connection). I simply wrap the wire I use with aluminium foil and connect it to the shielding foil.

[RollnROCK89i]

Thanks alot bam, youve been a great help, I'll let you know how it turns out.