Shielding, buzz and hum....a question

[Sir Ricardo]

Hello!

A question regarding shielding…. I think.

Here is my situation.

I’ve got a DTC, a great guitar….H2/SA/SA. In addition to sounding great, playing great, looking great….it also is completely silent when it is plugged in. No buzz, hum, etc., when at rest (as long as you are grounding it).

On the other hand, I’ve got a mid-80s ESP Eclipse, with 2 humbuckers….sounds great, plays well, looks good…and it slightly buzzes when plugged in.

I’ve compared the Anderson and ESP side-by-side, and there is no doubt, the Anderson is hum-free, the ESP is not.

I just got back from Guitar Center, where I took my ESP to compare it to new and old Les Pauls, just to see & hear if they were any quieter. They were not. All of these humbucker-equipped guitars have some level of hum. Not a lot, but you can definitely hear it when nothing is being played.

Except for the Anderson.

Now, my first question. What causes the Anderson to be hum-free? Is it the shielding paint in the control cavity? Something else?

I don’t believe my ESP has graphite paint in the control cavity, at least it doesn’t look like it. I can’t say about the Les Pauls.

If it is the shielding paint that deserves most of the credit…..my second question: when using shielding paint, is the control cavity the only part of the guitar to get painted? Or are the pickup routes, and the wiring boreholes also coated with paint? I’ve never used graphite paint, but am interested in trying, if it seems like this will “solve” the problem.

If copper tape would work, that actually might be easier. Any thoughts?

Thanks for any ideas and comments- -

Cheers,

Richard

[tom]

there are several factors here. shielding is cumulative, so more is usually better. some paints work better than others. we are fairly practical about it though. we sheild control cavities and use sheilded wire from the humbuckers, but we don't sheild the entire inside of a hollow guitar.
with regards to pickups themselves, the closer the coils are matched, the more hum is rejected. we go to pretty great lengths to match our coils better than most of the industry. also magnet type can affect humcancelling ability. our alnico magneted humbuckers are not quite as quiet as our others. generally speaking the hotter pickups will have more hum because they have more output.
hum is a tricky, constantly moving enemy. a guitar that is perfectly quiet in one environment can have trouble with another.

[Duotones]

IMO, shielding can be effective in some kind of environment, but sometimes not.

I saw somel TAGs without shielding procedure. ( a few HDTs with B5 switching and a few cobras), but most of TAGs are shielded with paint. Comparing both groups, I didn't realize any differences about hum noise.

I think that TA pickups are of little hum, but interestingly, I found that H3 humbuckers were quieter than H2+ (in my environment). I have thought that higher output pickups are usually noisier, but I have not found out the reason.

Copper Tapes are not easy for you to use as a shielding material. I performed with them in some guitars (by myself), but it was not more effective in reducing hum than conducting paint. It was also very time-consuming procedure. If anyone ask me whether I use conductive paint or copper tape, I'll definitely choose conductive paint. It's very easy to work and the effect is same or can be better.

Please forgive me of my poor English.

Thanks,

Jinwon Seo

[tom]

another thing to watch out for with copper tape, some of it does not conduct through the adhesive, so you have to solder each piece together or you may actually create worse hum.

[Sir Ricardo]

Tom (and Jinwon), thanks for the replies.

Tom, you mentioned "some paints work better than others"....can you recommend a brand or two that is available to retail buyers such as myself?

I think I will go the paint route, as it sounds more thorough, as well as easier, and I would obviously rather get a high-quality paint to use.

What brands might you suggest?

Thanks again -

Richard

[andersonguy]

My Hollow T classic is very noisy at my house, not as much at rehearsal but still noisy. Is there anything I can do to reduce it?

It still has a crushing tone though. ;)

Richard

[tom]

richard, remember you have vintage single coils? c'mon now.
the stuff we use is from atcheson colloyds, you can only buy multiple gallons at something like $300 a gallon from them. we usually share a shipment with suhr. i'm pretty sure the stuff stwemac sells is the same .

[bruce]

Andersonguy,

You just said your Hollow T Classic is noisy at your house but at rehearsal it's quieter.... Think about that.... It's really your house that is making more noise.... not your guitar.

[Duotones]

I totally agree with bruce.

Many electronic devices such as flourescence lamp, computer moniter, TV, and so on definitely make your guitar noisy.

And if you put your amp and musical devices to earth, you will hear less hum noise. (I'm not sure if it is correct expression in English.)

Shielding can be effective when all negative pole of electric current do not go to ground. But in other cases, it does not reduce noise effectively.