GROUNDING A HARDTAIL STRAT FLATMOUNT

[TJD]

Hey---Do I just screw the bridge over the ground wire or do I need to solder it to the bottom of the bridge--and where do I solder the other end of the wire--to the shielding , pot or what? Thanks all! :icon_scratch:

 

[tfarny]

You don't need to solder it, but you do need to place it carefully to trap the wire between the wood and the bridge, then check for continuity after you've screwed down the bridge. What I've done on a couple of bridges is to use that copper foil shielding tape to tape the ground wire to the underside of the bridge, works on tele bridges too. If you do solder, try to use a minimal amount so it doesn't create a 'hump' under the bridge that prevents it from going flat. If the wood is soft it won't matter too much, but on maple that could be an issue.

The other end goes to your ground - whatever you're soldering the other grounds too. Could be the back of a pot, a particular spot iside the cavity, whatevs. It eventually has to connect to the sleeve of the instrument cable. My way is to not solder anything to pots, but instead ground everything to a screw that I put inside of the cavity. Keeps it simple, clean, and avoids damage to pots.

 

[CrackedPepper]

My way is to not solder anything to pots, but instead ground everything to a screw that I put inside of the cavity. Keeps it simple, clean, and avoids damage to pots.

That's a neat idea - do you have any pictures of what that looks like?  I hate soldering to pots.

 

[TJD]

Thanks tfarny I like the screw idea--then just attach a lead from that to the jack correct?

 

[tfarny]

This kind of shows it, you can see the ground wires headed to a central spot, but it's not an original idea. You just screw a little eyelet or wood screw into the side of the control route, then everything that says "ground" goes to that, you can go ahead and get a nice gob of solder good and hot without worrying about frying anything. Then you wire from the central ground to the sleeve connection on the output jack. To me it just seems neater and more foolproof.

 

[CrackedPepper]

It may not be original, but I bet it's new to some of the folks.  My first solder job was based on an old beater that had a ground running from pot to pot.  This looks much cleaner - thanks for teaching me something new.

 

[TJD]

Thanks man that looks perfect as I have'nt soldered a darn thing yet!

 

[bpmorton777]

the pot shells have to be grounded, dont they? Ive always at least had a wire that connected all the pot shells to ground.

Brian

 

[line6man]

Do I just screw the bridge over the ground wire or do I need to solder it to the bottom of the bridge

Solder absolutely does not stick to a bridge.

What I've done on a couple of bridges is to use that copper foil shielding tape to tape the ground wire to the underside of the bridge

Yep, that's what I've always done.
I literally burst out laughing when I found out it was common practice to just screw bridges down over the bare ground wire.

the pot shells have to be grounded, dont they? Ive always at least had a wire that connected all the pot shells to ground.

Not always.
If you are mounting the pots to a metal control plate or properly shielded cavity, the chassis of the pots will be connected to ground through the control plate or shielding, so there is no need to individually ground them.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

......works on tele bridges too. 

For Teles, a ring terminal between the bridge pickup mounting screw and the spring works.  Also, on the Tele bridge pickups with the copperplate on the bottom of the pickup, there is usually a jumper from the plate to the ground wire of the pickup.  Since the copperplate is threaded and spring or tubing suspended from the bridge, it's electrically continuous from the plate to the bridge through the mounting screw.

 

[baskruit]

Yep, that's what I've always done.
I literally burst out laughing when I found out it was common practice to just screw bridges down over the bare ground wire.

That looks tight.  :icon_thumright:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

This kind of shows it, you can see the ground wires headed to a central spot, but it's not an original idea. You just screw a little eyelet or wood screw into the side of the control route, then everything that says "ground" goes to that, you can go ahead and get a nice gob of solder good and hot without worrying about frying anything. Then you wire from the central ground to the sleeve connection on the output jack. To me it just seems neater and more foolproof.

It's also a very simple and effective way to avoid  :evil4: ground loops  :evil4: if those scare you...

 

[TJD]

So...obviously this is a Warmoth body I'm finishing soI'm starting from scratch. I have the opper shielding kit from stewmac. So if I cover all surfaces of the control cavity and then mount my pots, switches etc then they should be grounded right?..ps...I've soldered a million things working on cars so that doesnt scare me but this is my first guitar build so I want everything right! All my pups are Dimarzio hum cancelling and I have high quality pots, shielded wire and now good advice on my bridge. Anything else I should'nt forget?

 

[line6man]

This kind of shows it, you can see the ground wires headed to a central spot, but it's not an original idea. You just screw a little eyelet or wood screw into the side of the control route, then everything that says "ground" goes to that, you can go ahead and get a nice gob of solder good and hot without worrying about frying anything. Then you wire from the central ground to the sleeve connection on the output jack. To me it just seems neater and more foolproof.

It's also a very simple and effective way to avoid  :evil4: ground loops  :evil4: if those scare you...

Nonsense!

The kind of ground loops that kind form inside of a guitar or bass are so small that it's pretty much safe to say that you cannot get a ground loop at all.
Don't buy into any of that star grounding bullshit!

 

[CrackedPepper]

What the heck is a ground loop?

 

[line6man]

What the heck is a ground loop?

Google it.

 

[CrackedPepper]

I did google it and didn't understand a word of what was written in the Wikipedia entry - thanks for nothing

 

[ByteFrenzy]

The idea behind ground loops is that, if you have multiple points where several connections to ground come together, there would be a risk of the resulting loops acting as an antenna, picking up electromagnetic interference (acting as a coil as it were). To avoid ground loops you need to have one single central point where all ground wires meet. There is little doubt that ground loops exist, and that they can indeed cause noise and interference, but the question is whether they also do this to any measurable degree with the limited wiring lengths that you'll encounter inside an electric guitar. There is room for lovely heated discussions about the subject and both views have their advocates. I've used both methods, and I can't really say that I noticed much difference. Probably having nice tidy wiring with good clean soldering is a lot more important.

 

[CrackedPepper]

Thanks ByteFrenzy

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The short answer is a ground loop is a parallel, or redundant, path to ground.  While I would agree that the wire length runs inside a guitar/bass's control cavity make ground loops neglible, it is still something I like to avoid, just because they are redundant.  For example, a J-Bass, Mustang, Jaguar, or Tele that has all the pots and switches mounted to the same metal plate, grounding each pot (or even the jack) is redundant because once you ground the first one, they all are.  But like the other posts, it's neglible in a guitar and more noticeable on a DI of a bass head, DI box, or effects running from a plugged in power supply.  They get grounds from the power and the chord that is plugged in, and both are greatly different distances.  DIs in heads and DI boxes have ground lifts, guitars and pedals don't.