Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 (edited) I have three JMJs but I have not shieded any of them with copper tape yet. Has anyone done this on their JMJ? If so have you noticed a noise improvement? I Noticed a definite improvement when I did my Classic Vibe Mustang. I have a gig tomorrow evening and I'm not sure whether I should be spending time in the morning practicing the songs or dismantling the JMJ I'm planning to play to apply some slug tape. Edited Thursday at 18:09 by Jean-Luc Pickguard spelling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I’ve also got three of them and shielded them all, including under the scratchplate, it has made a difference so I’d recommend doing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 What on earth do you need three of them for? Are you nuts? Oh wait — as you were! Cheers Lozz, I'll get up early tomorrow to do it to one of the blue ones — The one with the freshest chromes. You'd think Fender would pay more attention to this kind of thing on a £1200+ bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 Agree. From what I’ve read the intentions were to keep it as true to the original as possible but sometimes I think it’s better to deviate a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 Need to? Probably not for live work. Did I? Yes (inveterate tinkerer syndrome/too much time on my hands). Was there a noticeable difference? Yes, again. Definitely less buzz. If being used in a noisy environment, when recording, this might possibly be the difference between using the JMJ or something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 4, 2023 Author Share Posted November 4, 2023 I've shielded one of the blue ones and whereas yesterday I noticed it was picking up a bit of hum which went up and down in volume as I moved the bass, now it is dead quiet. I was trying to rush the job though and managed to scatter all twelve pickguard and control plate screws across the floor and under the sofa. I managed to find ten so this bass now has two slightly mismatched screws. Oh well. I'll have to do the same (apart from the losing two screws bit) to the other blue JMJ and the black one or they'll never get taken out 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ots Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 I had a blue one and never considered shielding even though I've done it on a few others in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 8 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: I was trying to rush the job though and managed to scatter all twelve pickguard and control plate screws across the floor and under the sofa. We have all been there. The struggle is real. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adee Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 I recently shielded my JMJ and it made a massive difference, guess it’s not often you don’t have both hands on the strings, but on the odd occasion I did it was noisy as heck but now it’s silent ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 5, 2023 Author Share Posted November 5, 2023 I did the gig last night with the newly shielded JMJ & it behaved immaculately. I still have plenty of the anti-slug tape left on the roll so I will do the shielding on other two JMJs over the next week. I already did the shielding on my competition Orange Classic Vibe mustang, but I don't think I ever did it on the vintage white CIJ — my first mustang, so I'll probably do that one as well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 I only use mine live, can’t say I’ve experienced it being noisy compared to some Jazzes I’ve used in the past so it’s still unshielded. If I was to use it for recording I’d probably shield it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 6, 2023 Author Share Posted November 6, 2023 I've just completed shielding (and testing) my black JMJ, so I just have one more blue JMJ and possibly the white CIJ mustang to do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 6, 2023 Author Share Posted November 6, 2023 I like to think if Gustav Klimpt was a bass player he would probably have enjoyed shielding his basses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 13 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: I like to think if Gustav Klimpt was a bass player he would probably have enjoyed shielding his basses. But he would’ve used gold. All class that Gustav. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ots Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Did you do the back of the pick guard too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted November 6, 2023 Author Share Posted November 6, 2023 I thought about it but came to the conclusion that I don't think it's necessary as the only wires under the pickguard are where I've already shielded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexDelores Posted Thursday at 17:29 Share Posted Thursday at 17:29 Apologies if this is a stupid question… I’m looking at doing this on my Vintera Mustang, Is it just as simple as putting copper tape inside the cavities, or does it require soldering anything. Looking at some YouTube videos, it appears to require soldering? Again, sorry if I’m missing something obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted Thursday at 17:58 Author Share Posted Thursday at 17:58 (edited) I never solder anything when I shield a bass and I've never had less than perfect results. I ensure there is continuity of the tape, ie a strip of tape betwen the pickup cavity and the control cavity, the bits of tape overlap (the adhesive on most copper tape is conductive) and extend a tag to one of the control plate screw holes so it connects to the control plate — you can see these have been done in the pic I posted above. One further tip, don't be tempted to get the wide tape thinking it'll mean less bits are needed. I've found that the 1" (25mm) wide tape works best, anything wider gets unmanagable and tries to stick to itself before you want it to. Edited Thursday at 18:07 by Jean-Luc Pickguard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted Thursday at 17:59 Share Posted Thursday at 17:59 Just now, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: I never solder anything when I shield a bass and I've never had less than perfect results. I ensure there is continuity of the tape, ie a strip of tape betwen the pickup cavity and the control cavity, the bits of tape overlap (the adhesive on most copper tape is conductive) and extend a tag to one of the control plate screw holes so it connects to the control plate I think some people solder the seams but i think most copper tape has conductive backing now so you dont really need to do that Also on some pickups you would solder the ground to the shielding i think??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexDelores Posted Thursday at 18:10 Share Posted Thursday at 18:10 11 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said: I never solder anything when I shield a bass and I've never had less than perfect results. I ensure there is continuity of the tape, ie a strip of tape betwen the pickup cavity and the control cavity, the bits of tape overlap (the adhesive on most copper tape is conductive) and extend a tag to one of the control plate screw holes so it connects to the control plate 9 minutes ago, lidl e said: I think some people solder the seams but i think most copper tape has conductive backing now so you dont really need to do that Also on some pickups you would solder the ground to the shielding i think??? Great stuff, thanks guys. Will give this a go when the next run of shows is done 🙏 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted Friday at 06:56 Share Posted Friday at 06:56 I was going to, bought the copper stuff. but didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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