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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 11:53 am
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If you want to get rid of the hum in your Strat, shielding it will go a long way towards helping you. Get some copper tape with conductive adhesive from Stewmac, coat the entire back of the pickguard, and then cover the insides of all the cavities in the guitar too. Make sure each piece overlaps the next slightly so that they form one big copper box.

Finally, you need to make sure that when the pickguard is installed, the copper on the guard is touching the copper that covers the cavities. You can do this just by running a bit of tape up from one of the cavities to a pickguard screw hole.


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Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 7:10 pm
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Jen please keep us up to speed on your project/mod's.
User Martian has a few things to say about shielding that are worth reading. I'm undecided towards it. I've shielded a few friends guitars and had mixed results. Dont bother with stewmac prices for copper tape. Get down to a garden center and buy slug tape. Hell of a lot cheaper.

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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 8:45 am
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Thanks for the tips :)

Actually the American Standard Strat is shielded quite well. The pickguard has the foil, as well as the interior has the coating with the ground wire. I really don't know why I messed with that guitar to begin with. It sounds amazing and the hum is so minor compared to the P90's in my Casino, now that guitar could use some shielding!

NikiNinja,
We are working a "frankenstrat" project like your MIM strat. We have all the parts (including the preamp kit :P ). I have a foil lined pickguard, but shielding is really not a concern since we are using stacked humbuckers (VN pup's) One question for you, you said you put the battery in the back. Do you use the trem on that? How about the circuit board, did you use wood screws into the body? I am very apprehensive of doing that since the body is so very thin in that cavity. I was just thinking of packing some foam around the circuit board to keep it from moving around and possibly shorting out.

jen


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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:35 am
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No i didnt sheild the frankenstrat for the same reason as you stated. The VN's produce no noise.
I didnt screw the pcb down. It gets a bit tight in that control cavity. You dont need to complicate it by screwing a delicate pcb to a valuable bit of wood.
I dont use the trem on that guitar as the battery is inbetween the springs.

I pretty much followed this method except i used the stereo jack socket instead of a on/off switch and installed the battery in the spring compartment for ease of access.

http://www.areyouexperienced.net/fender_clapton_mid_boost_kit.htm

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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:39 am
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My personal opinion is that every guitar no matter what pickups are used should have extensive shielding done.
I use shielding paint so it is quite easy.

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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:24 am
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Chet have you the idea that a lot of hum can invade through the switch and pots? Do you sheild your les pauls?

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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:36 am
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nikininja wrote:
Chet have you the idea that a lot of hum can invade through the switch and pots? Do you sheild your les pauls?


Yes, I have my LP shielded too.

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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 5:29 pm
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Thankyou thats something i'll look into though i dont hear any noise on them ever.

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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 9:26 am
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Hey NikiNinja,
I could use your advice. I'm having "issues" on where to put the battery. I thought it would fit in back behind the trem like a block...wrong. So as the picture shows I removed a couple of springs and it fits there however the backplate won't fit and I also would need to put a wood block behind the trem since the spring configuration is weak. I'm considering scraping the whole idea and going to the front like is in that link you posted with the ugly tape. Could you describe you setup again?
thanks,
jen
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 11:06 am
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Mine is just the same it slightly buldges the trem cavity cover. Not a problem though if you leave it off. :oops: I honestly never noticed that before now.

I'd tightend the tremclaw on my guitar to disable the trem moving. Bare in mind i've also modded my trem.
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I placed the springs over the top of the wire so nothing can pull on it.

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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 11:28 am
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Well I finally got the "frankenstrat" strung and setup and I love it :D :D

Thanks for all the advice guys, especially you Nikininja. The combination of the VN pup's and active electronics are like they were made for each other. I think ultimately the passive TBX tone pot could be the answer for someone not happy with the VN pup's in a standard Strat setup. That little extra treble and bass really fills in some of the perceived flaws of these pickups and give me a satisfying "strat-like" tone. Still not as good as the real American Standard pickups in my other axe, but nonetheless very nice.

Then the MDX is just amazing, turned up to 8 I could get an authentic AC/DC tone (on my POD) and the sustain was amazing I could even get it in that Brian May territory of violin like sustain. Anyways I'm having fun with this guitar. After I take it to SFguitarworks and get a good setup and the frets dressed it might be the only axe I touch for a while.

Total Cost thusfar
$200 guitar
$50 preamp kit
$130 VN pup's
$60 misc hardware

$440 though the setup and fret dressing will be at least 200 but well worth it.

:P :wink:
thanks,
jen


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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 4:43 pm
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Stratogrrl

Mine beats all my other guitars and thats an expensive bunch of instruments. Between the volume,tbx and mid pots i can get a good aproximation of most sounds by just plugging into my marshall.
Like i said before it does take a hell of a lot of getting used to. I've been using mine for nearly a year now and feel like i havent scratched the surface yet. Best bit of kit i ever put in conjunction with that MIM neck (thats all thats left of it now).

Good rockin to you.

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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:27 am
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Nice job by everyone well done.I have a Clapton and Beck and never had a problem with the noisless pickups I guess because the Clapton has the TBX and the Beck are hot.Now I can understand when people dont like the noisless because I never heard how they sound in a deluxe.As far as the lace sensors I have a strat ultra with them and there noisy as hell to me ,but then I read where a lot of people love them,I dont.NIKI nice walk through and good input from CHET.Stratgirl your get your hands dirty which is cool.I cant think of a girl I know who would dive in there like that.VERY ROCK AND ROLL.


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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 10:27 am
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straycat113 wrote:
Nice job by everyone well done.I have a Clapton and Beck and never had a problem with the noisless pickups I guess because the Clapton has the TBX and the Beck are hot.Now I can understand when people dont like the noisless because I never heard how they sound in a deluxe.As far as the lace sensors I have a strat ultra with them and there noisy as hell to me ,but then I read where a lot of people love them,I dont.NIKI nice walk through and good input from CHET.Stratgirl your get your hands dirty which is cool.I cant think of a girl I know who would dive in there like that.VERY ROCK AND ROLL.


Thanks for the props but my husband is the electrical guru and soldered all the parts together. I picked out and ordered all the parts and did the basic setup. I've read the hot noiseless and the vintage noiseless are totally different beasts.

Nikininja I just noticed your new pic LMAO :lol: :lol:
jen


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