Absolutely! Here is the blog post, keeping the Quebec tone and a clear structure:
Homemade conductive paint for guitar: no more noise, hello clear sound!
Hey everyone! Today I put on my oldest t-shirt because we're going to get a little dirty, but for a good cause! We're going to make our own conductive paint for home to insulate guitar cavities. It'll be quick, simple, and it won't cost you a penny. Let's do it right away!
Why insulate your guitar cavities?
If you want to have a clean sound with your electric guitar, you absolutely have to minimize the background noise and the interference. For this, the ideal is to enclose the components of the guitar inside a conductive cage connected to ground. We call this a Faraday cage.
The principle is simple: interference is captured by this cage and sent to ground before even reaching the guitar's components and being amplified. In commercial guitars, conductive paint is often used. The problem is that this paint costs an arm and a leg, sometimes up to 120 $ per liter!
Existing alternatives (and their limits)
- Self-adhesive copper tape: You need to make sure that the glue is conductive, which is not always easy to find in hardware stores, and it is often expensive.
- Aluminum Duct Tape: I've used it before; it's readily available and inexpensive. However, the adhesive isn't very conductive. You have to use a special method (making folds) to ensure good electrical continuity between the strips. It works, but let's just say it's a bit of a "DIY DIY" job, and the result isn't very professional visually.
Today, we're going to do better! We're going to make our own homemade conductive paint. It's effective, simple to make, and only requires three ingredients.
The Science Behind Conductivity: My Tests to Clear It Up
You're probably going to tell me that there are already videos on how to make conductive paint. I watched several, and I noticed that the proportions of the ingredients varied enormously. Most importantly, some talk about conductivity of 20 or 30 kΩ (kilo-ohms). When we're talking about kilohms, can we really talk about conductivity? I decided to clarify this and do my own tests.
First of all, let's get one thing straight: nothing will conduct electricity as well as copper or aluminum tape, because it is pure metal. However, we cannot afford to have a resistance as high as 1 kΩ, 10 kΩ, or 30 kΩ. That is way too much!
What tipped me off were the videos where they tested the paint with an LED and a 9V battery. An LED tolerates about 2 to 3V. Beyond that, it burns out. If you can light it with a 9V battery, that means the conductive paint should have a resistance of about 300 ohms. I've even tested my Jackson Kelly, which has the cavities insulated with conductive paint, and I get varying results, but generally between 150 and 300 ohms.
The magic ingredients of our conductive paint
If we summarize our objectives for a good conductive home paint, we have three criteria: conductivity, adhesion And fluidity.
1. Conductivity: graphite powder
For conductivity, the first ingredient we will use is graphite powderIt is used in art for charcoal and as a dry lubricant for mechanical parts. And yes, it conducts electricity!
2. Adhesion: acrylic paint
Our paint must adhere well to the guitar cavities, which are often made of raw or sealed wood. For good adhesion, the second ingredient is acrylic paint. I chose a white craft paint. This will allow us to properly judge the concentration of graphite (which is gray-black).
3. Fluidity: distilled water
The paint should be easy to apply. Graphite mixed with acrylic can be a little pasty. For fluidity, usedistilled water.
- Why distilled water? Because it does not contain dissolved minerals. It will evaporate completely without leaving any residue (especially limescale residue which could be non-conductive and alter our result).
The recipe and the application
Enough talk, let's get down to business! I strongly recommend wearing gloves, as graphite is very fine and messy. Be careful not to breathe in the powder.
- The proportions: Take a measurement of your choice (no need to be a kitchen pro!). I used:
- 3 parts graphite powder
- 1 part acrylic paint
- 2 parts distilled water (add slowly at first, don't add it all at once!).
- The mixture: The key is to brew, brew, brew until you get a smooth paste. At first, it will look lumpy, but keep going! Even during application, you need to stir constantly to keep the paint smooth. This can take a good ten minutes. You should get a texture a little thicker than paint, but without lumps.
- The application: I apply it generously. The goal is to cover the cavities evenly. The thicker it is, the more conductive it will be. Let it dry completely between coats, as while there is distilled water, the conductivity will not be optimal.
With this consistency, I managed to obtain a resistance similar to my Jackson Kelly, that is to say between 150 and 300 ohms. It's perfect! I could have had more conductivity, but it would have been at the expense of paint adhesion, as acrylic itself is not conductive.
Adhesion test and ground connection
For the adhesion test, the accepted method is the tape test. Make incisions in the paint with a blade (an X-Acto, for example), apply permanent adhesive tape to the incisions, then lift it up with one swipe. If the adhesion is good, the paint should not lift. Graphite paint, even commercially available paint, stains your fingers once it dries; this is normal!
For connect this cage to ground, I would use aluminum or copper tape on the back of the pickguard. It would make contact with the back of the volume potentiometer (or any other potentiometer connected to ground). Otherwise, since the paint is acrylic-based (you can't solder directly to it), I would use a mechanical connection: a screw with a washer that would make contact with a wire, itself connected to ground on the back of the pots.
Your experience matters!
So, what do you think of this homemade conductive paint method for insulating guitar cavities? Do you insulate your guitar cavities? Do you notice a difference in the noise or sound? It's quite a debate sometimes!
Feel free to share your experiences in the comments, leave a like, and subscribe if you haven't already. I'm already working on the next one. build guitar on the channel, and I can't wait to show you what it's all about!
In the meantime, we're playing guitar and tinkering with our instruments. I'm going back to work on my next video projects, and I'll see you again soon in another video. See you next time!
