Ceriatone Forum

Every Fender I've had has had aluminium foil  glued to the cab above the amp presumably to cut interference. I did it on my OTS when I built it. Does Nik do this on the ones he builds? Any self builders left it out? Is it necessary?

Cheers

Hywel Harris

I thought of doing this to both kits I assembled (OTS and DC30), but I did not and both amps are very quiet.  I think the shielding of sensitive wires and the overall grounding are sufficient.

If an amp is noisy, it is rather simple to get some spray glue and lay down some foil, making sure it connects with the chassis when the screws draw it up to the cabinet.

Thanks for that. I've just built a DC-30 and I occurred to me that since its quiet outside of a cab then the shielding might be unnecessary. I never did find a source for nice thick foil. I used kitchen foil and it rips too easily.

Hywel,
If I remember correctly, Nik puts a piece of thin sheet metal (aluminum, I think) under the top of the cabinet. My OTS is as quiet as any amp I have been around. Foil shielding is  common on almost any decent amplifier. You really can never go wrong with shielding. Did shield your Strat? My Fralin VHs were painfully noisy until I did a major shielding job. They are now dead quiet unless I am playing under neon (fluorescent) lighting. I did the same to my tele and it also is very quiet.

monteallums.com or stewart macdonald (stewmac.com) have a nice variety of shielding materials

They sturdy adhesive backed copper foil sheets and tape.

Yes John I shielded my strat with copper. I've actually got 2 sheets on order for my next project strat, I'll try a bit and see how well it sticks to the cab. Like most of us the amp is in and out of the cab on a regular basis and now the tinfoil is ripping and needs re-doing. I used 3M spray mount but its not really up to the job, maybe a contact adhesive would be better.

I have used the 3M spray for foil on a pick guard. Don't think it would work very well on wood. The adhesive back copper from  stewmac is thick and stick well inside the wood cavit of a guitar, so it should work. 

Aluminum tape from a hardware store is really good stuff! Sticks to everything! Just make sure its in good contact with the chassis when mounted in the cab. Cheers!

Just doen my DC-30 with copper foil sheet. Works very well indeed.

The aluminum tape works well, but you must be sure that the FRONT of it is in contact with the chassis and adjoining strips, as the back of it is not conductive.