TELE® STYLE GUITARS
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Copper Foil Faraday Shield Notice Orca's meticulously "shielded" control cavity and the insulation boots used on all terminal connections. One of the most important features of any good electric guitar is the ability to block out electro-magnetic "hum" often associated with single coil pickups. .0005" thick copper foil (available from WD Music Products) is used to line the control cavity in an effort to create an effective Faraday Shield which is used to block electro-magnetic interference which often results in an irritating hum. The more complex the circuitry, the more wire that exists, the greater the possibility that the wiring will, in effect, become an antenna that captures ambient electro-magnetic "noise" from the surrounding atmosphere (florescent lights, light controllers, transformers, amplifiers, etc.). Additionally, single coil pickups are, by their very nature, prone to producing some degree of hum (after all a pickup is a large coil of wire, and thus an antenna itself). Often times the pickups themselves are shielded, but tone degradation can occur if this is done improperly. Minimization of electro-magnetic hum is possible if the shielding is done with care and properly bonded to "ground." The shield, in effect, creates a force field around the various components and wires in the control cavity and helps keeps hum to a minimum by blocking out electro-magnetic interference. The result is a clean nearly hum free signal. This resulting improved signal to noise ratio translates to a cleaner output from the amplifier, and thus, the musician (his "noise gate") and his audience are subjected to much less noise and "hum."

Orca features a headstock inlay of ebony and gold mother-of-pearl. Typically inlays are found embedded in ebony, or a dark wood so that a glue/filler can be used to hide irregularities.... It is much more difficult to effect a sharp, clean inlay in materials of a lighter color because the incisions must be absolutely precise. Many folks have asked why this instrument was named Orca. Well, when Penn approached me about building him a special instrument that "wails" I thought what he said was "whales." :-)

Orca -- First page

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