Grounding to bridge?

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Grounding to bridge?; wiring problem
Topic Started: Apr 27 2009, 09:51 PM (498 Views)
izzie	Apr 27 2009, 09:51 PM Post #1
Newbie Posts: 2 Group: Members Member #9,199 Joined: April 27, 2009	Hi. Having stripped an old (but very reliable) guitar down to respray it again, and now come to put it all back together- I suddenly noticed that the ground wire which comes out under the bridge is missing entirely despite being very thorough and careful. It's very odd because i can't even see where it was originally attached in the cavity, but I know it was there . The wiring and soldering is clean and has never been touched in it's 23 year life. Obviously, I don't understand the wiring system, so can someone please tell me if this is actually dangerous or whether it will just risk buzz and hum?- and how to fix if i need to? It's a double humbucker system with 2 tone pots , a volume pot, and 2 switches. Any help would be much appreciated. thanks.



monwobobbo	Apr 28 2009, 02:08 PM Post #2
Posts: 1,032 Group: Moderator Member #8,625 Joined: June 23, 2008	improper grounding can lead to shocks or worse so don't leave it unground. i dunno about grounding it to the bridge does there appear to be a spot with solder on it where the ground may have been attached? if in doubt then ask a qualified tech, bad advice in this case could be harmful to more than just your sound.
	and now for something completely different


voodoorider	Apr 28 2009, 09:14 PM Post #3
Garry Posts: 673 Group: Members Member #8,964 Joined: November 3, 2008	What guitar is it? it's a little bit dependant on that where is best to ground it, normally to the tailpiece provided it's accessible. If it's Les Paul style you can ground it to the tailpiece stud sockets i think. I'll look into it though as I'm not an expert with the electrics!
	Guitars: PRS CU 22 R/W neck \| Organic Classic \| Heritage H-150 \| Fender Eric Clapton Strat \| Fender Deluxe Ash strat, scalloped \| 2001 USA std Telecaster \| 2008 USA std Telecaster \| 1996 Gibson Les Paul standard \| PRS Santana SE \| Maverick X1 \| Epiphone SG \| Freshman FA400J Amps: Orange Rockerverb 50 \| Mesa Boogie Electradyne \| Traynor YCV40T \| VOX AD60VT \| Fender Pro 185 \| Zoom Fire 15


Bullet	Apr 29 2009, 06:59 PM Post #4
Admin Posts: 1,912 Group: Admin Member #183 Joined: January 13, 2007	Most guitars are grounded from the tremelo claw in the back. If you have a guitar with a trem, look in the back under the cover (where the springs are) and it's the peice the holds the springs into the guitar.



mwmax	Oct 6 2010, 08:07 AM Post #5
Newbie Posts: 11 Group: Members Member #9,390 Joined: October 3, 2010	If it helps, here are some wiring diagrams for 2 humbucker setups. http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiring_resources_guitar_wiring_diagrams.2_pickup_guitar_wiring_diagrams/ Instrument signal voltage/amperage isn't anything remotely dangerous - I'd be surprised if you could find a way to give yourself even the slightest shock, ground or not. A ground, or earth connection is simply a 2nd return for the signal to be dissipated into a large piece of matter, if it were not all used throughout the circuit. It's more like a fail-safe rather than a vital connection, but it is very important to ground a guitar to greatly reduce buzz. Normally, everything is grounded to the back of the volume pot, and from there, connected to the bridge somehow. If that's the only connection that's missing, run a wire (speaker wire, or really any electrical wire would be fine as long as it's like 20 gauge+) from the back of where your ground connections are routed to (most likely the back of the vol pot) to the bridge however you can. Exact placement on any piece of metal that is connected to the bridge/tremolo is not vital by any means. Hope that helped.


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