Wait... is that a Telecaster in your hands? Cool. You can read on for general information or procede directly to some excellent Telecaster shielding information just for you at GuitarNuts.com. Go to the "wiring" instruction menu and select "Quieting the Beast's Cousin". Easy!

NEW - check out this amazing one-of-a-kind replica of a 1952 Telecaster (fully shielded with no exterior modifications visible) courtesy of Andrew Rothstein.

Now... back to STRATOCASTERS.....

First off... I would like to express my gratitude to John at GuitarNuts.com at for providing the key information that got me interested again in guitar modifications.  John, you have completely changed the way I (and my clients) play the guitar.

I did it!! You can too (or I can give you a hand)... my Stratocaster is now "silent" with better tone... I can happily use any pickup combination without the nasty 1-3-5 hum) even with high-gain amplification. 

I play a '99 Roadhouse Stratocaster (standard with TS hot pickups) into a Boss GT-6 (great user site here) and then into a vintage Traynor YGL-3 MkIII all tube, point to point wired 100w 2x12 combo amp. Lots of clean headroom with that amp so that the GT-6 is the only thing colouring my tone (notwithstanding my choice of high-grade cables, atmospheric interference, ambient acoustics, length of my fingernails, phase of the moon, yesterday's lunch, etc. etc. etc.). If you ever get a chance to buy a Traynor... well, leave it for me.  I've got three and can't get enough.  Way better, in my opinion and experience, than Fenders and Marshalls of the period - tone, design, durability, etc. and only now creeping up in price.  Try one and see what you think.

This is a description of the first guitar I "quieted"... my own...

After years of putting up with the annoying hum, and buying the company line about "hum is part of the great Fender tone" (fooey), I followed the instructions found at Guitar Nuts ("Quieting the Beast"). I used heavy copper embossing foil (Michael's Craft Store) secured with "wrinkle free" rubber cement - each roll of heavy foil includes a shaped wooden stick that is very helpful in getting the foil pressed into every crevice. I used two 8x10" sheets with very little waste.  You can also get supplies from Stew Mac.

I'd like to make a special mention of an excellent source of pre-cut shielding products and supplies - Monte Allums. While you're there... take the time to scan his entire site... read his bio... take a gander at his beautiful Tone-Maid telecaster... read his excellent tips on tone and intonation... and listen to an mp3 or four.

To shield the guitar, I simply cut pieces to fit the bottom of the cavities and then cut strips wide enough to overlap the bottom piece as well as up over the edge so the pickguard screws would have to go though it. I also (obviously) covered the entire pickguard so that when it was screwed into place there would be a continuous contact. Each panel was glued to the cavity of the guitar with rubber cement and left to dry for a few minutes before putting the next piece in. I simply added a few beads of solder where the sides touched the bottom piece to ensure conductivity throughout the shield. In all probability, the glue did not fully dry for many hours but with care you can work at a steady pace.

I then performed the simple "Quieting the Beast" rewiring as described on the site.

Incidentally, I also moved the wire for the middle tone control to the tab on the 5-way switch for the bridge pickup. This also involved adding the appropriate value capacitor to the new circuit. My favourite elegant mod for standard Stratocasters. Clients love the amazing tone possibilities (GuitarNuts has the instructions for this tone splitting modification as well).

I also added a hi-pass filter capacitor on my volume control. It enables me to use my guitar volume like a "master volume" for my entire rig without losing any tonal quality. Plus, volume swells sound better due to the contant tone. For my guitar this was icing on the cake.  Yep, instructions at Guitar Nuts for this volume control mod.

The bottom line... my hot Texas Specials are virtually silent where before I had the dreaded 1-3-5 hum. My guitar looks exactly the same as before yet sounds world's better. Also, by using heavy embossing foil I increased the mass of the guitar body which has probably contributed to increased sustain.  Although, sustain is also the result of Graph-Tech saddles and 10-49 Elixir strings). The tonal characteristics of the guitar are tremendously improved.

The Guitar Nuts instructions are accurate and step-by-step. I took my time and had no problems at all. You can too... or maybe I can help you...

However, I noticed a couple of very minor inconsistencies in the instructions but logic and forethought prevailed.  Specifically:
1. the description of what to do with the shielding in the cable running from the jack back into the body of the guitar is inconsistent with the diagram. I correctly leave it unattached in the guitar body and am delighted with the results.
2. the labels on the capacitors in the schematic for adding a second tone capacitor (when moving the middle tone control to the bridge pup) are backward. But the 3-d diagram notation in "Quieting the Beast" provides the clue to do this properly.

My diagrams below clearly illustrate the correct way to connect the shielded wire from the volume pot to the output jack and the correct values and connections for the independent tone circuits (should you elect to perform this modification).

As an aside, Kinman's site provides a link to John's site regarding electric shock. READ IT.  However, Kinman otherwise seems to disagree regarding the use of a resistor in the hi-pass filter (in addition to the capacitor) for the volume control (we swapped a few emails on the topic). Kinman has them in series, John provides the option of including the resistor in parallel. In the end, I used the "capacitor only" option for this guitar. Works great for me. 

If you have a moment, take a peek at John's Electronics Tutorials section in which he describes switches, capacitors, resistors, etc. The discussion on Stratocaster switches is especially informative. As you pass your cursor over the "red" text, the image changes to explain what you are reading. It really helps you understand what you are doing. 

Here are a few pictures to help you see what all the fuss is about.
I have included a painfully literal diagram showing all the connections described in the photos. And, I've included another painfully literal diagram showing all the connections including my new adventure in the quest for tone - a "bridge on" switch (not shown in the photos).

1. BEFORE - and - AFTER... no visible difference to affect the aesthetics of this apparently stock, still-mint-condition, guitar.

2. Here is the shielded cavity.  The bottom of each compartment is one piece.  The edges are comprised of strips that extend up under the pickguard and down over the "floor" panel.  You can clearly see a few solder tacks to ensure a continuous ground - you can also see some marks in the "floor" where I used a wooden embossing stylus to press down the copper.  The original ground wire from the tremolo cavity is up through the "floor" and secured with the original screw.  Note that a few of the screw holes were covered by the strips that extend up on to the body of the guitar.  This enables and ensures a continuous ground between the cavity and the pickguard when it is in place.

3. Here's the shielded pickguard and the wiring.  The one-piece shield overlaps the screw holes and does not touch the pickups. You can even see a wee bit of the original skimpy foil shield that covered the pots. There was also some graphite shielding paint in the cavity... but hardly sufficient to block all types of interference.
    A - this is the "star ground" nexus
    B - this is the high-pass .001uF capacitor in parallel with a 150K ohms 1/4 watt reistor on the volume control to reduce/eliminate treble and midrange loss when volume is reduced
    C - this is where I have moved the 2nd tone control connection from the mid to the bridge pickup
    D - this is the original .022uF tone capacitor - now only functional for the neck pickup
    E - this is the new .01uF tone capacitor - functional only for the bridge pickup (note: in Donkey Mod III below, where I add a TBX control, I swap this out for a complementary .02uF capacitor to better suit the blended requirments of the middle and bridge pickup. There's still plenty of bite! By the way, there is virtually no difference between a .02uF capacitor and a .022uF capacitor as applied in these circuits. In fact, given acceptable tolerances they are probably exactly the same. 

Of course, on the guitars I do for others I tend to use shrink wrap insulation for all connections.  On mine, I prefer electrician's tape... not as pretty perhaps but I have immediate access in case I decide to try something new.

4. Here's a diagram (Mod I, above) showing all the connections described in the photos.

5. Here's a diagram (Mod II, above) showing all the connections including my new adventure in the quest for tone - a "bridge on" switch (not shown in the photos).

With the knob in, the 5-way works like normal. With it pulled out, it still works like normal but adds the bridge pup to the mix in each position.

Clearly there is no difference then (in or out) in position 1 and 2. Think about it. :) But in position 3, out is the same as position 2 with the knob in. I never use this but it's there. Don't hurt your brain thinking about it. I don't. :)

The magic happens in position 4 and 5. In position 4, knob out, I get all three pups on at the same time. Fat thick sound. Really cool. In position 5, knob out, I get bridge+neck pup for a great Telecaster-ish barking biting quacking tone. Love it!

6. Here's a diagram (Mod III, above) showing all the connections in Mod II plus the addition of a TBX tone control in place of the tone control that originally served the middle pickup and most recently served the bridge pickup. Notice that I've changed the tone cap from the value used in Mod II and I've added a shunt wire to the 5-way switch from the middle tab to the bridge tab so the tone control works for both pickups.

7. Here's a diagram (Mod IV, above) showing all the use of a push-pull pot for both the volume control and the neck tone control. Like Mod III, the bridge pickup is added in parallel to whatever selection of pickups is active when the volume knob is pulled. When the neck tone knob is pulled, the bridge pickup is added in series to whatever combination of pickups is selected via the 5-way selector switch. I've retained the shunt wire to the 5-way switch from the middle tab to the bridge tab so the TBX tone control works for both the bridge and middle pickups.

As an alternative, the TBX tone control can be left out and the normal tone control retained as shown in Mod I above. Frankly, after playing with the TBX for a awhile, I'm likely to go back to a regular tone control on my own guitar.

Need more information?
First, visit GuitarNuts.com, read the user forums, read the wiring instructions, and decide if you want to do it yourself or if you need help with the job. I recommend doing it yourself. It's easier than you might think and fun, too. But, if you want help, let me know and we'll discuss how to meet your needs.

While I'm willing to answer specific questions about my services, I suggest you post your general questions at the GuitarNuts forums and let everybody try to help you out. It's a great bunch there and you're bound to get an answer.

You can reach me via E-mail at slginfo@stocklogic.com.  Please use the word "Strat" or "Stratocaster" or "Shielding" in the subject line.

Ian aka "EenyBear"
located in Canada's banana belt, Victoria, British Columbia, CANADA.

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