Copper shielding discolouration?

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ChrisDesign
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Copper shielding discolouration?

Post by ChrisDesign » Sun Jul 18, 2021 7:31 pm

Have I screwed up?

I fitted copper shielding to my scratch plate, the whole underside. My thinking was that fender used a whole metal scratch plate on their original jazzmaster so I should do a whole underside covering. I also have humbuckers if that’s any use. So far, so good.

A few years on, the white paintwork under the scratch plate is discoloured. What should I do?
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andy_tchp
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Re: Copper shielding discolouration?

Post by andy_tchp » Sun Jul 18, 2021 8:20 pm

Has it discoloured a greenish hue due to the copper oxidising and transferring this to the finish or some other kind of discolouration?

Fender's pickguard shields are plain aluminium sheet IIRC. While a layer of aluminium oxide will form fairly rapidly on these it won't be so colourful.
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adamrobertt
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Re: Copper shielding discolouration?

Post by adamrobertt » Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:50 pm

Copper oxidizes over time. It goes from a bright brassy color, to a darker brownish hue, and will eventually turn green given the right conditions. It's normal and unavoidable.

As for the paint being messed up under the pickguard... so what? Can you see it with the guard on? If not then I wouldn't really worry about it.

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snarf
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Re: Copper shielding discolouration?

Post by snarf » Mon Jul 19, 2021 2:56 pm

Copper works really good for shielding but I guess that’s the trade off.

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