Post by stringbean on Jun 1, 2011 23:23:36 GMT -5
So hey Nuts. I'm new here as far as posting goes, but I stumbled onto the original page many many years ago. Right then I knew I wanted to shield some of my guitars, but you know, life happens. Just didn't get around to it until recently,with some very kind assistance from newey, who pointed me to some parts dirt cheap.
( tanks again newey )
The photographs below are of a 2002 MIM Strat that I bought used at a local shop for 180 bucks. Bought it strictly because of the cool color and the Maple fretboard. Saw it. Checked the neck. Played it. Bought it. Elapsed time? Five minutes. Tops. It was easy, because I planned to rewire it anyway. I'd done some point to point wiring in a factory in the past, but up until I started to work on this guitar, it had been 8 years or so since I'd heated up an iron, and closer to 18 since I'd done any point to point wiring . Once I got back at it though, I found it to be extremely therapeutic, especially without a boss looking over my shoulder, hehe, and I wound up spending a lot of time working on this MIM, just for fun. Enjoyed it so much that as soon as it was done, I started on another one, and in fact some of the shots below may be of the second one I shielded. I took a LOT of pics trying to get some non-whited out ones, the reflection off of the copper was a major PITA!
You'll see a couple of my own innovations here. First, instead of using a ring terminal, I made a ground terminal out of a piece of .005 soft copper, light in weight as a similar sized piece of paper, and then I isolated it from the pot below it with some very thin and lightweight black foam.
Second, I wasn't wild about the tiny wires that came the guitar, or the shielded cable in my Stew Mac kit, so I made a strain-relief for the shielded cable,(see the 9th and tenth photos below ),out of a strip of brass. There's a large hole in it on one end that the pot shaft goes through, to hold it there, and on the other end, it wraps up around the shielded cable. I made it extra large,and then made back the difference with a little piece of red tubing of some kind, cuz if I can ever find some larger shielded cable, without going as big as we have in our patch cords, the one in the pics you'll see below is goin' in the can.
For that matter, there are probably endless discussions on the boards about wire size for guitar wiring, and that might not matter at all to a lot of people, and that's fine, but I just don't have a lot of faith in wires that are so light in weight,that they could easily be moved, in all directions, just by giving the guitar a good shake. With me so far? Now imagine your guitar in your car, the wiring moving up and down and side to side with every little shake or bump. Just a matter of time before metal fatigue separates tiny wires from terminals. So I looked for wire that was heavy enough to have a degree of rigidity to it, in order to have some mechanical strength to bear up against the kind of movement that we should expect a guitar to experience throughout it's lifetime of travel, and the possibility of ownership by musicians who like to do a lot of dancing, be it onstage, or in their bedrooms with a blacklight on.
Anyway, my 2 cents on wire size..
As far as the Stew Mac kit is concerned, I'll be shopping for supplies elsewhere. Aside from the iddy-biddy shielded cable, there was just barely enough copper to get the shielding job done. Gotta be a source out there on the net..
Results? The results of the shielding itself pretty much just floored me. I plugged 'er in, turned up the volume, and said " AAaaaww cuuRAP !! " I thought I'd left a wire loose. But then,I brushed the strings with my hand and.. WOW !!!!! She's LIT !!! Like it was 1975 again and I'd just strapped on my first electric ! lol.. Must have appeared to be a complete idiot, right then, but I just couldn't believe how quiet it really was. I had to put my ear right up in the speaker to hear anything, at all.. .
It was like dragging 1950's sweet technology into our ultra quiet digi-land, with none of the warmth or sweetness lost, in the transition. Shield 'em gents ! If I did it anyone can.
Many thanks to the original Guitar Nuts, and, to those who've done the work to keep this board alive. It's the best guitar based forum I've ever seen, for a lot of reasons, and hands down.
so anyways..
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( tanks again newey )
The photographs below are of a 2002 MIM Strat that I bought used at a local shop for 180 bucks. Bought it strictly because of the cool color and the Maple fretboard. Saw it. Checked the neck. Played it. Bought it. Elapsed time? Five minutes. Tops. It was easy, because I planned to rewire it anyway. I'd done some point to point wiring in a factory in the past, but up until I started to work on this guitar, it had been 8 years or so since I'd heated up an iron, and closer to 18 since I'd done any point to point wiring . Once I got back at it though, I found it to be extremely therapeutic, especially without a boss looking over my shoulder, hehe, and I wound up spending a lot of time working on this MIM, just for fun. Enjoyed it so much that as soon as it was done, I started on another one, and in fact some of the shots below may be of the second one I shielded. I took a LOT of pics trying to get some non-whited out ones, the reflection off of the copper was a major PITA!
You'll see a couple of my own innovations here. First, instead of using a ring terminal, I made a ground terminal out of a piece of .005 soft copper, light in weight as a similar sized piece of paper, and then I isolated it from the pot below it with some very thin and lightweight black foam.
Second, I wasn't wild about the tiny wires that came the guitar, or the shielded cable in my Stew Mac kit, so I made a strain-relief for the shielded cable,(see the 9th and tenth photos below ),out of a strip of brass. There's a large hole in it on one end that the pot shaft goes through, to hold it there, and on the other end, it wraps up around the shielded cable. I made it extra large,and then made back the difference with a little piece of red tubing of some kind, cuz if I can ever find some larger shielded cable, without going as big as we have in our patch cords, the one in the pics you'll see below is goin' in the can.
For that matter, there are probably endless discussions on the boards about wire size for guitar wiring, and that might not matter at all to a lot of people, and that's fine, but I just don't have a lot of faith in wires that are so light in weight,that they could easily be moved, in all directions, just by giving the guitar a good shake. With me so far? Now imagine your guitar in your car, the wiring moving up and down and side to side with every little shake or bump. Just a matter of time before metal fatigue separates tiny wires from terminals. So I looked for wire that was heavy enough to have a degree of rigidity to it, in order to have some mechanical strength to bear up against the kind of movement that we should expect a guitar to experience throughout it's lifetime of travel, and the possibility of ownership by musicians who like to do a lot of dancing, be it onstage, or in their bedrooms with a blacklight on.
Anyway, my 2 cents on wire size.. As far as the Stew Mac kit is concerned, I'll be shopping for supplies elsewhere. Aside from the iddy-biddy shielded cable, there was just barely enough copper to get the shielding job done. Gotta be a source out there on the net..
Results? The results of the shielding itself pretty much just floored me. I plugged 'er in, turned up the volume, and said " AAaaaww cuuRAP !! " I thought I'd left a wire loose. But then,I brushed the strings with my hand and.. WOW !!!!! She's LIT !!! Like it was 1975 again and I'd just strapped on my first electric ! lol.. Must have appeared to be a complete idiot, right then, but I just couldn't believe how quiet it really was. I had to put my ear right up in the speaker to hear anything, at all.. .
It was like dragging 1950's sweet technology into our ultra quiet digi-land, with none of the warmth or sweetness lost, in the transition. Shield 'em gents ! If I did it anyone can.
Many thanks to the original Guitar Nuts, and, to those who've done the work to keep this board alive. It's the best guitar based forum I've ever seen, for a lot of reasons, and hands down.
so anyways..
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lpf3
