Tremolo claw ground wire solder location

[QehQeh]

Hi All:
I'm not going to be installing a tremolo cover plate - I just prefer the open look. Is there any reason why the ground wire can't be soldered to the under side of the claw where the solder joint won't show?

 

[TroubledTreble]

Nope, no reason at all. All you need is contact somewhere. It can be difficult to solder those. I would prep it and solder it before installing whether it was on top or bottom. You can also attach it other ways. drill and tap a hole or put a ring terminal on the wire and put the trem claw adjustment screw through it. It's kind of silly, you would think after all these years the claw would have a spot dedicated for the purpose.

 

[line6man]

The only thing that matters is having a very low impedance path from the strings to ground.
The location of the ground wire on the claw changes the impedance by millionths of an Ohm. It's not worth even thinking about, let alone worrying.

 

[ORCRiST]

Hi All:
I'm not going to be installing a tremolo cover plate - I just prefer the open look. Is there any reason why the ground wire can't be soldered to the under side of the claw where the solder joint won't show?

Nope. I did it maself:

 

[Strat Avenger]

It's kind of silly, you would think after all these years the claw would have a spot dedicated for the purpose.

Actually, some do, and some don't. Of course I think they all should.

 

[llmtelecaster]

This is a really good idea. All 4 of my strats don't have neck plates and on a couple of them the solder joint on the trem claw is pretty nasty looking.