Hello,

I'm new to the forum so pardon me if this has been discussed. I have an Old Squire from 15 years ago that long ago, bought Spurzel tuning keys, Lace Pickups, a new Ash Body that i did the finish on and a Fender Roller nut. I got discouraged at the hum and buzz and put the guitar away for many years. Recently I was inspired to go back to this project. I reset the truss rod and intonation and was quite pleased with the action so now am inspired to attack the hum and buzz. Researching lead me to understand that i neglected to groundshield the cavities. So i went out an bought copper shielding tape from Sam Ash. I ran out of it and need to buy more but now i'm seeing that people are suggesting Aluminum as a better choice for correcting Hum and Buzz. I would prefer to not undo my work and switch materials so can anyone tell me if i'm doing the right thing by finishing the Job with copper. I really love the guitar, don't claim to be an expert player or luthanier but its a fun project and am taking a lot of pride in the work.

Pardon the lengthy story... i guess i could have gotten right to the point and just asked if copper was better to use, or aluminum.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

You already used copper so I don't think switching in the middle of the project would be wise. Especially a nice guitar like that.

I've had good results with aluminum and plan on doing another but I've read that the most important wires to shield are the ones going to the jack.

My Frankenstrat is humming pretty bad without it and two pickups don't work. Not that I care but it would be nice to get the wiring right. So I'll take advantage and shield it.

There are some sprays on the market also at Stewmac but very expensive.

thanks for the reply. Do you or anyone know what the meter should read when testing the pickup cavities for continuity? If i set meter to "continuity with beep" i get a closed circuit across all three pickup cavities. But the further apart i set the pins the larger the number. (.30) from Bridge to Neck Cavity. I get a .00 when testing within a single pickup cavity. I fear i wasted time and want to get this right.

I thought Lace pickups were noiseless to begin with?

they are but at the time when i bought a new body and pickups, I was very inexperienced and did not know to properly ground the circuitry so there was serious Hum and Buzz. I am probably going very overboard but this is just a project i'm doing for fun, education and experimentation.

the beeping noise on the setting that you used is to let you know you have continuity. To measure the resistance/ohms on the pick-ups, you need to disconnect and isolate each pick-up individually before taking readings on the proper setting of meter ohm dial, otherwise you will pick up a reading on everything connected. you could try to install alum. foil to the back of pick-guard. hope this helps a bit, good luck, dutch.

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