Ground To Bridge

[mugma]

Hi, I've just spent a stressful few days fixing up the insides of my guitar and replacing the pickups. I've got it all back together and it's all good apart (despite my shoddy soldering) from the most annoying hum! I think I've isolated this problem. Although my guitar did have a ground wire to bridge when I bought it (and still does) I don't think this is actually doing anything? The reason being my bridge and the studs seem to be painted black.

Now, it was a cheapie but I wouldn't have thought any guitar maker would really be this stupid.

Can anyone give me advice on how to fix this to eliminate my hum? I understand the strings need to be grounded. Would I need to get a new bridge that has not been painted, or can you offer another solution?

I would apprectiate your help.

Thanks,

Dave.

ps. forgot to mention my bridge is a tune-o-matic

Edited July 11, 2006 by mugma

[mammoth guitars]

Even if it was painted the ground wire should have been soldered to the insert if it was done correctly when it was installed. Do have a multimeter? You can check the conductivity from the bridge or string through the ground wire and if it is working you could eliminate this as a problem.

[mugma]

Even if it was painted the ground wire should have been soldered to the insert if it was done correctly when it was installed. Do have a multimeter? You can check the conductivity from the bridge or string through the ground wire and if it is working you could eliminate this as a problem.

Thanks for your reply.

Should the whole thing be painted black though? I thought the tips where it would be in contact with the strings should be exposed, but these are painted too. Looking at it, I can't see how it could conduct electricity at all.

I'm pretty sure this is the problem - when I touch the jack the hum goes away. But not when I touch the strings. I do have a multimeter, I've checked the conductivity from the string through to the jack and there's no continuity. So I'm pretty positive that it's this.

[mugma]

OK, I've just noticed that the bridge is irrelevent. My ground wire is connected to the tailpiece. However the same problem stands. This is totally painted and I can't see how electricity could pass through. There's a silver exposed insert at the bottom, but it doesn't go through the actual tailpiece. Any advice?

Thanks

Dave.

[mammoth guitars]

Dave, I understand what you are seeing. Can you check the wire to see if its conducting with the bridge? Unless you are sure its painted and not black chrome plated, yes there could be a connection problem.

[mugma]

Dave, I understand what you are seeing. Can you check the wire to see if its conducting with the bridge? Unless you are sure its painted and not black chrome plated, yes there could be a connection problem.

Hi, I've checked the wire, there's no flow with either the bridge or the tailpiece. the only place around there i get a connection is a silver exposed bit at the bottom of one of the legs of the tailpiece. I don't think it's black chrome plated, I've checked for resistance from one side of the bridge and tailpiece to the other and it comes up as 1 so there's no continuity there.

Edited July 11, 2006 by mugma

[mugma]

Ok... In the end i replaced the tailpiece with a shiny new chrome one. It looks a bit odd on my guitar but the sound is now marvellous and all the hum is gone. I'm thinking about painting the top of it black so it fits in with the rest of the guitar but for now i'll leave it as it is.

[Mickguard]

Ok... In the end i replaced the tailpiece with a shiny new chrome one. It looks a bit odd on my guitar but the sound is now marvellous and all the hum is gone. I'm thinking about painting the top of it black so it fits in with the rest of the guitar but for now i'll leave it as it is.

If the other tailpiece was painted, why not just scrape away some of the paint (in a place that won't show) in order to get direct contact with the metal? Just a thought.

[Primal]

It wouldn't make sense to me for any guitar manufacturer to use non-conductive paint for the hardware. Even if they did scrape it away where the ground wire is, you would still need it to be conductive in order for the hum to go away when the strings are touched... If you end up using your old one, make sure you scrape away paint not only where the ground wire touches, but also where the strings touch.

[mugma]

It wouldn't make sense to me for any guitar manufacturer to use non-conductive paint for the hardware. Even if they did scrape it away where the ground wire is, you would still need it to be conductive in order for the hum to go away when the strings are touched... If you end up using your old one, make sure you scrape away paint not only where the ground wire touches, but also where the strings touch.

Hi, you're right it doesn't really make sense. But this was a very cheap flying V guitar made by G2, who I think are the same as Stagg. I thought about scraping paint away but this seemed quite daunting and fiddly to get it off near the strings as they are held right inside the tailpiece. And it wasn't just the tailpiece that was painted but the mounting studs too and I would have had to scrape off paint around the thread.

I guess you get what you pay for!