gounding on modern instruments comes down to this simple scenario: the overwhelming majority of players will not buy an instrument that 'buzzes' when they are not touching the strings. because of this, most companies ground the bridge so that they can more easily sell their instruments
I've had several clients who refused to allow me to leave the bridge ground disconnected in the control cavity, even after clearly noting the significant risk that a grounded bridge brought to them (they played a vintage amp in numerous venues with less than modern wiring standards - and they preferred not to use a wind filter over their SM58 microphone when singing) ... can anyone say potential disaster just waiting to happen?
the link provided earlier is something I considered installing on all of my instruments (has-sound.com even has this mod as a preassembled item you can purchase,) but I was informed that this actually would cause me a greater liability potential because I was grounding (industry standard) the bridge in a non-standard manner. if someone was ever to get zapped while playing one of my basses, I'd need a slew of lawyers and electrical experts to testify that my modification to the industry standard was indeed significantly safer. they recommended I pay fo the research before I release an instrument grounded like this so that I had clinical proof I was building in a safer manner in advance of turning it loose to the public.
ugh! :sad: uncle! :tard:
all the best,
R