Clint Green wrote: There is no pickguard so it's not simply a case of lining the control cavity and pickguard and then connecting it all to ground.

Actually, it is, just upside down. Think of the cavity cover as your pickguard and you'll see what I mean. It's far easier than doing a Strat or Tele.

I prefer using the wide tape to the shielding kits, particularly for rear routed cavities. Line the bottom surface first, then the sides, finally the cavity cover. Overlap any joins a little and make sure to wrap around the top edge in the recess for the cover. Use a blade to cut an X pattern in the holes and then push the controls and switches through.

Here is my Sanox, I've since redone it to be neater, but you get the idea:

Thanks Alan!

I am just a little worried about shielding the pickups though; I have plastic pup rings, should I not shield them on the inside and shield the pup cavities as well? Also, there is the matter of the middle single coil which has no pup ring and is going to look quite miff if I put tape in the cavity since half of the cavity is exposed. Or is the shielding of the pup cavites a non-issue?

I see that it looks like you've used standard, unshielded wire here; did shielding the cavity alone make a major difference?

Any thoughts on just using aluminium foil?

Clint Green wrote: Or is the shielding of the pup cavites a non-issue?

It's a very small issue, not really needed in most cases where screened wire are used and ineffectual against single-coil hum anyway. If humming is really an issue with your humbuckers (like at really high gain), then covers are the best cure.

With the single-coil, wrapping the coil in earthed copper foil changes the sound, bleeding off some treble, which can kill some sparkle - some pickups/setups can spare it, others can't. If screening the single-coil cavity is needed and tape will be ugly, make a metal plate for the bottom of the cavity - I use brass for that and if you have a look at the upper left corner of the pic I posted, you will see the plate I use under the control cavity cover, which is the same stuff. In fact it works pretty well in a control cavity too, if you've got the patience to hand shape a plate to fit (the '70s Les Pauls used a similar plate and had a can over the controls and another that the jack socket lived in - very nice actually.

I see that it looks like you've used standard, unshielded wire here; did shielding the cavity alone make a major difference?

A properly shielded cavity meant I could use unshielded hookup wire, which is a blessing in a complex layout like that guitar. Anyway, a lot of the wiring you see there is running low impedance signal for the piezos or 13-pin, so less of an issue than it appears.

Any thoughts on just using aluminium foil?

Hate the stuff with a passion: impossible to solder, so it needs mechanical connections; tears easily over edges and with contact from controls; and messes with eddy currents if you get it too close to pickups. If you're going to pay the price of the self-adhesive stuff, you might as well buy the copper tape with the conductive adhesive.

Now that I think about it the hum on the single coil isn't really a big issue for me anyway since I always only use it for clean tones and slightly dirtier blues stuff, so no high gain there. I like the copper plate under the pickup idea though!

Hmmm, looks like I may need to order some copper tape from Stew-Mac then, might as well just get some shielded wire while I'm at it.

Thanks again, Alan! :goodtimes: