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Wires!


Sobot

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Yeah, I got all my stuff from Stewmac recently and I ordered one of them basiv wiring packages with 2 capacitors and 3 different wires

Ok, I have a white non shielded and a black non shielded.

But I also got a black shielded wire.

I don't know when to use them, or what to use them for... like should I use a shielded wire to go from the ground to the bridge? or a non shielded... or should I use shieled for wiring between tone and volume or what?

Does it really matter?

Another question... with all the ground connections (I have 4) do you have to solder them to the back of a pot, or can I just solder them together, then solder another wire going from that to the bridge?

Thank you.

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As to the last part, it's a good idea to solder all the grounds to the same place ("star ground"), but it doesn't matter what you actually solder to - a pot back is just convenient because it's already there and it's metal.

I'm not sure what you're supposed to use the shielded wire for - you can use the wire for signal and shield for ground and just use the one wire to go to each pickup, if you want...

By the way, there's no point in using a shielded wire if you're using the inside wire for ground, and the shielding really needs to be grounded to be effective.

Edited by jnewman
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I hate to make a simple question into a can of worms but, it matters a whole bunch what the body style is, what pickup(s) you are going to use and how carefully you intend to shield the control/pickup/wire route cavities. You would be best off answering these few questions and getting a definative answer rather than a generic one, no offense to the previous reply, but a little more info will get you a MUCH better answer. Please indulge an old man's quirks.

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If your cavities (all of them) are effectively shielded, the cable is probably redundant - if nothing is shielded, it's pretty much mandatory for any wire of any length (I wouldn't worry about 1/4" jumpers on pots, but anything over an inch or so). As doc said, that's about all there is without specifics on what's being used.

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Sorry for not replying earlier (I've been doing/studying for 3 exams)

My set up will be just 1 JB humbucker. 1 tone, 1 vol, 500K pots (one of those dual concentric pots or whatever they are called.

It'll have no pickguard, just a back plate, and the body will look like an ibanez AX series... like this: [url=http://www.ibanez.com/guitars/zoom/AX120AB.jpg but with just a treble pickup

thanks for the help... and I don't know if I have to shield the back plate, I thought that you have to do that for single coils so they don't hum as much.... (maybe I'm wrong)

Thanks

Edited by Sobot
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Ouch!! Worse-case scenerio. If you just have the one pickup and a single control cavity with a backplate, no pickgaurd, the cable going to the pickup HAS to be shieded cable, the backplate should be shielded and your output jack hole/cavity, depression should be lined with shielding tape or paint. There is no way to properly shield the PUP cable-route to the control cavity unless you use, like, some braided sleeving or something but the shielded PUP cable (which your pickup probly came with) is just fine for that. While you are running the ground to your bridge, you might want to try my preferred grounding method. I take all of the signal grounds and run the to the bridge ground, inside the control cavity. I do not solder ANYTHING to the case of the pots. It is easier if you have a rather large brass washer or such to attach all of these to but it sure makes em quiet and easy to work on. Even though you have a simple control setup, go ahead and spend an hour tape-shielding the control cavity. It's fun and makes a sizeable difference.

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:D Wait a minute - you mean I'm not the only one who doesn't like the idea of soldering grounds to pot cases? Maybe we should start a support group! :D You can't imagine the truckloads of grief I've gotten from Strat purists for star-grounding to anything other than the volume pot!
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The bridge (pretty much) needs to be grounded, but that doesn't have to be where all the grounds meet. As long as all the grounds *connect*, it doesn't matter where they do - it doesn't even have to be all at the same place. Having all the grounds meet at one spot is just a good way to make sure you have all the grounds done right, and pot cases are a popular ground point because they're metal and they're already there.

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The bridge (pretty much) needs to be grounded, but that doesn't have to be where all the grounds meet. As long as all the grounds *connect*, it doesn't matter where they do - it doesn't even have to be all at the same place. Having all the grounds meet at one spot is just a good way to make sure you have all the grounds done right, and pot cases are a popular ground point because they're metal and they're already there.

ok thanks, I'm just making sure.

thanks for the replies everyone, I'm just asking questions now so I don't screw up (as much) later on my first guitar...

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...Having all the grounds meet at one spot is just a good way to make sure you have all the grounds done right..
It also completely eliminates the chance for noisy ground loops, which are really easy to wire in if you don't have a clear-cut idea of how your grounding scheme works. It's not compulsory, but it is cheap insurance.
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I just use the bridge ground as a consistent starting point. Gotta start somewhere. And the #10 brass washer can be screwed into the body. Just drill a hole in it around the rim for a #4 or #6 wood screw and bend the washer so you can have it stand away from the side while you solder. Some of the Japanese robotic systems have these cool little copper 8-pointed stars bolted all over the place to solder shieding to. If I ever scrap a Motoman I am going to tear them all out and save them. They would work perfect and they look cool.

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...Having all the grounds meet at one spot is just a good way to make sure you have all the grounds done right..
It also completely eliminates the chance for noisy ground loops, which are really easy to wire in if you don't have a clear-cut idea of how your grounding scheme works. It's not compulsory, but it is cheap insurance.

That's part of what I meant :D.

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