Guitar mods

[neoklis]

I have an Ibanez S470 BK and I decided to fix a few things in it.

First in the list is the shielding procedure. I've read a lot of threads and articles concerning guitar shielding but I have not found in a single one the thing I thought :
What if I wrap the cavities first with a layer of alluminium tape and then with a layer of copper tape?
Is it going to make the shielding more effective or am I going to have problems with this?

The second thing I have to "fix" is the neck angle. At this moment, it has an unidentified shim, like a piece of a fat abrasive paper (maybe), between the two front neck holes.
Is it better to make an angle to the neck heel or to the body of the guitar, or it is easier to make a wooden wedge and match it to the whole cavity?

Next in the list is the wiring mods!!!! I have several wiring diagrams to chose from and I think that this I can manage it (else I will come asking again)

[Philboski]

I would use either copper or aluminum tape -- one or the other. metals sometimes don't mix well, and can corrode. I don't know if this is the case with copper and aluminum, but since it's going to be largely unnecessary to have both, why take the chance?

When dealing with neck angle, a shim is always preferable to carving out wood because it is reversible. What is your issue with the neck angle? It may be very easy to resolve as a little goes a long way.

[neoklis]

Thanks for the response Philboski.

The thing is that I don't know either if these two metals can coexist together, that's why I'm asking. And I thought that maybe the Faraday cage would be more efficient if I could use both materials.

As for the neck I read in some articles that if the body-neck contact is absolute, the sound and the sustain that I will get from the instrument, will be far better that the shim contact.

[RGTFanatic]

Using copper foil will get you all the results you need. adding aluminum foil would be major overkill with no discernible results. Using both metals (both are electrically conductive) will guarantee Galvanic corrosion.

There is some merit to your "full contact" neck-joint idea. I don't think the difference (if any) between "full contact" and a shimmed neck could ever be audible though. You could always make a shim that has full contact with both the neck and pocket. That way you'll get the best of both ideas; full contact between the neck and body AND it's still not permanent.

Remember, if you sand away too much of your body or neck, you cannot sand it back on. Sanding is permanent. If you go too far, your guaranteed to need a shim.

[neoklis]

Thanks, I got it ...: only copper for the shielding and a properly sanded full contact shim for the neck will do the job.
I guess much less work for me!!!!

Ah, and something else : do I have to paint with conductive paint over the copper tape, in order to "hide" the copper through the pickups, or any black paint should do?

[LonePhantom]

You don't need to do anything once the tape is on. It's fine.

[gideond]

If you are just worried about appearance feel free to paint the copper with pretty much anything you want. I wouldn't use conductive paint though. It's expensive and pointless. I just put a coat of black acrylic direct to metal paint on it in the pickup cavities so there is no copper peaking out inside the rings.