Springy Sound noise reduction strategy

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murraymck

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Greetings all.
I've enjoyed delving into this forum for some years but this is my first post.

I'm the proud owner of a 1980 Springy 50. I've been using high amounts of compression (Origen Effects Slide Rig) to get the sound I like. However, I've been direct recording and noise is becoming an issue.

Beyond noise reduction pedals, I've been considering a number of options; Copper tape cavity shielding, rewiring, noiseless pickups, noise reduction systems (ULBRICK NRS NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM) etc.

I love my Tokai more than any other single possession I have.
It's all original and I don't want to mess around with anything I don't have to.

However, it's a working guitar and not a museum piece. Can any wise heads give advice on noise reduction strategies for these lovely guitars?
 
Something I noticed with one of mine (I forgot which as I have several 1978-1981 ones) is that one of the pots wasn't grounded well, the only electrical contact coming from the contact between the pot and the shielding plate. Decades of oxidation had made the contact bad there, so I took the pots out and cleaned off the oxydation with wire wool. My other Springy Sounds have the back of the pot soldered to the ground, so you may not have this, but it's worth checking with a multimeter that all supposed grounds are actually grounded.

As for shielding, there's a big thread somewhere on TGP with some people arguing against it as it increases capacitance and kills top end. You may not care if you use a lot of compression anyway, but it's worth reading it there.

Another tip is to rotate yourself to have your guitar neck parallel with the worst EMI source, rather than perpendicular. Easy to try, just spin 180 degrees (around a vertical axis) and listen if it gets quiter.
 
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