Shielding

Lining the cavities and control areas of a guitar with a conductive material and connecting it to ground, so interference is absorbed before it reaches the circuit.

Any high-impedance circuit behaves like an aerial, and a single-coil pickup especially will pick up mains hum and radio-frequency noise from nearby transformers, lighting and screens. A conductive liner forms a screen around the wiring, and paint, foil or a metal plate all do the job provided the pieces connect to each other and to ground. It cannot cure a humbucker's design or a ground loop, but it removes the noise that comes in from the air.

Example: a guitar that hums even with humbuckers fitted often has unshielded cavities, and lining them reduces the noise without touching the pickups.

Shielding

See also