I know this is a contentious issue Tone-y, it always stirs up a fever of lovers and haters. As I said I certainly didn't mean to point fingers at anyone and laugh, that's not the way to go forwards with issues like this. And, luckily, it has generated only a small amount of sensibly questioning response such as your own. I should point out that not soldering the pieces together as you described, (aluminium would be out of the question anyway), may not be a problem when you apply it but it will lead to a gradual decrease in effectiveness over time as the joint surfaces begin to corrode. Even a slight increase in resistance can be very noticeable.
I do feel the problem is that, despite all of the Physics and engineering practice being available to use as justification and as research into the truth of the phenomenon, when it comes to the results it is all subjective and even imaginative at times. (No, I don't mean anyone here and least of all yourself, your posts have been very well presented in my own view). As I said before, it is all a matter of decibels, (and they are also a desperately misunderstood concept
). Copper shielding can reduce the problem but only by a relatively small factor. It is never noted that it can also INCREASE the problem if implemented poorly. Those industrial solutions reduce the problem too and by a bigger factor as would be expected. Neither the cheap nor the expensive solution is capable of removing the whole problem entirely and that can easily be shown on the workbench. So how we perceive the results and where this argument genuinely starts from is down to a couple of factors.
The first is how bad was the problem in the first place, the second is how does the guitarist perceive any improvement once it is in place? This in itself is a mixture of environment and expectation and is entirely subjective. So how noisy is the environment where the guitar is being used when the idea of it being noisy took root? If you are a "cup half full" person you will tend to be influenced more by how your guitar performs in the quietest of environments. (I myself tend towards that way of thinking.) If you are a "cup half empty" type of person the opposite is true, you remember that night when you were in an appallingly noisy location and the guitar hissed, clicked, popped and buzzed incessantly. That leads to a view of your guitar which leans either towards it having no undue problem or a big problem. Coupled with the fuel poured on the fire by people who make the startling claims of "inky black silence when I did it", often linked with claims of mains hum rejection that I mentioned above, the expectation is created that once a couple of strips of cheap thin copper are stuck in place the guitar will totally refute nuclear EMP, and that just 'aint so as we both know! And "history is written by the victors". Those who are satisfied with the results however much or little that may be will of course openly and vocally support the view that it works either accurately or with exaggeration, while those who are disappointed and get no real benefit never seem to come out and say so openly. The current environment makes them targets for too much criticism and mockery. And they do exist, I do talk to as many people who have experienced no benefit whatsoever once they learn I am only a reserved believer myself. So the myth is born and proliferates.
Often the opposing views on this particular subject are mostly a result of a difference in perception and expectation. I would hope this is the case here. I do openly acknowledge that there are some otherwise quiet guitars used in some homes or easier environments by a critical owner for recording who sees the slight normal noise that his/her guitar generates as unacceptable which improve to the point of the guitar generated noise dropping by a few dB to below the level of the amp and associated gear. (Though this is often only due to testing in a slightly different environment.) The expectation there is that all guitar gear should be absolutely silent. It never will be in normal use! Likewise there are some guitars which are noisy owned by not particularly demanding owners, (hrrrmpphh! I would actually say realistic,
), which could be perfectly usable in a live context and where the owner would be delighted when that level drops just a small amount. These situations should of course generate positive feedback as to the usefulness of shielding. However, that feedback should be balanced. Neither should give rise to claims that a bit of copper foil is the way to solve all problems and end up with a guitar with not an iota of noise nor should it go unchallenged when claims are made which genuinely and factually cannot be true. Hype breeds more extreme hype like a snowball rolling down a hill and ends up with a situation where there is no truth and the lunatics rule the asylum. It needs to be put in perspective. This is a scientific and engineering area not an artistic musical one which it only serves.
It is the hype around many subjects like this, using magic tone caps, ground loops inside guitars, changing out those evil electrolytics every 18 months, valves "wearing out" in a year, PCBs sound dreadful, different makes of the same valve type sounding totally different, that I really believe should be challenged and the claims put into some sort of true perspective. These are all easily shown in a test situation on the workbench to have no or at best very little foundation in truth even to people who are "true believers". It should be the norm to be that critical so those coming into this field with little or no knowledge are not hooked into and made to believe that a high maintenance and costly involvement is the correct and only way to play. These things fuel the buying of so much absolutely unnecessary gear and services each year it is untrue, and that is not right and needs to be challenged with factual information wherever possible. It won't change everyone's perception but it may give it some alternative points to be considered before plumping for the "musical myths and mojo" approach to your playing.
