Should Grounding Go To One Point?

[thomasteven]

When you gruond your guitar should you ground everything to a single point, for instance if you were to put a screw in the side of the cavity and solder everything to that, and then solder that to the output jack ground lug. Would this help from creating a ground loop?

This would also destroy the need to ground your shielding, because the screw(assuming it's conductive) would be attached to the shielding already.

[lovekraft]

That's an excellent plan - most people do it the traditional way simply because it's traditional.

[thomasteven]

Thanks for the fast reply LK, will the screw pick up any interferance due to most of the screw being outside of the shielding?

Also, I was wondering if you should shield the pickup cavities? I've always wondered about it, the pickups seem like they would be HUGE antennas prone to any type of interference.

[lovekraft]

No, the screw would actually be part of the shield, nothing to worry about. I shield my pickup routs, especially single coils - it definitely helps!

[thomasteven]

What about with humbuckers? How much does it help?

[lovekraft]

Under normal conditions, it doesn't do much, but under adverse conditions, like poorly designed restaurant stages with neon lights, or our old "Bermuda Triangle" rehearsal room, it's well worth the trouble!