All, some or non metallic enclosures

[seedlings]

I've seen the builds with folded metal, and wooden ends, and there are others with 5 wood sides and one metal.  I suspect it's a circuit-by-circuit kind of issue, but once the enclosure is not entirely shielded... at some point there will be RF problems.  My home-brew 1x12 tube combo amp does not have shielding on on the bottom of the chassis, and I haven't had any issues.  All plastic enclosures are tempting sometimes.  My wife has a wooden box that a watch came in years ago that is the perfect size for a pedal (with permission, of course).

I guess the question (perhaps metaphysical, mystical, and not scientific) is when does a circuit require a full Faraday cage shield, and when is it optional?

CHAD

[Ice-9]

It's not just pedals, I have a new amp, a Fender 5150 evh 50 watt valve amp. the chassis is made the same as most amp chassis with a folded metal enclosure with the bottom open. The wooden cab it sits in does not have a foil shield stuck on wood which would complete the shielding.

A high gain pedal would suffer from no enclosure shield, and the problem I would have with a plastic stomp box would be smashing the footswitch thought it with my big boots. 

[KazooMan]

I can't help with the "when is it optional" question, but lining a wooden enclosure is very simple.  I would just go ahead and do it.

Here are pictures of a Butler Tube Driver in a wooden (purpleheart) box with an etched 1/8" aluminum lid.  The interior of the box is lined with copper foil that wraps over the edges to contact the lid.  I got a roll of the copper foil at the local "Hobby Lobby".  It wasn't too expensive.  It is very soft and can easily be folded to fit the box.

[seedlings]

I use the copper foil tape for guitars, and that would be my go-to for non-metallic pedals...

But the curiosity to hear results from any "guys who don't shield' got the best of me.

... Butler Tube Driver in a wooden (purpleheart) box with an etched 1/8" aluminum lid.  The interior of the box is lined with copper foil that wraps over the edges to contact the lid.  I got a roll of the copper foil at the local "Hobby Lobby".  It wasn't too expensive.  It is very soft and can easily be folded to fit the box.

Did you try it before shielding?

CHAD

[GibsonGM]

Aluminum foil works awesome and is extremely cheap, as long as you engineer a way for all the pieces to make electrical contact w/each other.   

I shield Strats with it, among other things - leave tabs so the pickguard and cavity foil makes contact when pickguard is screwed back on.   Works like a charm.  I get it to stay in the cavity etc by using spray contact adhesive. 

I'd just shield anything I was building into a non-metal enclosure. YMMV.

[nocentelli]

I think of shielding pedals as a "better safe than sorry" issue: It might be nice and quiet unshielded when you put it together and test it at home, but there's no guarantee it will be quiet in all situations and venues you might encounter.

I use single use plastic snap-top containers that usually house our chinese takeaway food as temporary enclosures: They are on the flimsy side, but are great for prototyping since I can wire up the full pedal, switch jacks, LED, controls etc before I've drilled and finished final aluminium box. I have noticed that higher gain pedals are certainly nosier unshielded than shielded, and sometimes seemingly quiet unshielded boxes can sometimes start picking up more noise if I move there physical position on the pedalboard, or swap the signal chain around.

[KazooMan]

[/quote]

Did you try it before shielding?

CHAD
[/quote]

No, I did not test it without the shielding.  Being a drive pedal I thought it would be a good candidate for problems with any stray signals.  I couldn't think of a good way to construct an all metal pedal with the tools I have on hand. 

I should note that many would question the transformer in the same box with the circuit, but that's the way the original was made.  I did make the box pretty large to keep things separated as much as possible.   I haven't noticed any AC hum.

[boogietone]

Copper flashing rolls can be had at the local hardware. Shielded a strat with this. Memory is that it is a bit thicker than the stuff "made" for guitars but a good bit cheaper.