mdismuke Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 (edited) I'm building a telecaster style guitar with a bridge similar to this one ... http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...ail_Bridge.html I'm thinking I have to drill another hole beneath the bridge somewhere, so I can route a ground wire from the bridge mounting screw to the control cavity. I know I can "wing it" if I have to, but I was just wondering if there was a "proper" way of doing this. Because the bridge mounting screws are so small in diameter, drilling a hole from the cavity to the mounting screw hole (similar to what Gibson does with their bridge stud) would be "hit or miss" at best. Any thoughts? PS: I should add that the bridge mounting screws are not like those shown on the Gotoh bridge (my bad). The one I have has (3) mounting screws behind where the strings come up thru the body, which makes it even harder trying to route around the "string thru" holes. Edited January 15, 2007 by mdismuke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 You don't necessarily need to ground to a screw. I just drill a hole from an area under the bridge (diagonally) to the control cavity. Then strip 1/2" to 1" insulation off the wire and push it through the hole up to the front of the guitar. Lay the bridge on top of the bare end of the wire and screw it down tight. That should give enough grounding contact. Then check with an ohmmeter between the bridge and the other end of your wire. If there is no current ie. infinite Ω reading then take the bridge off and sand the contact area to bare metal, replace bridge and it should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 The wire doesn't have to be on the screw, it just has to touch somewhere on the bridge. So angling a hole from the bridge area to the control cavity isn't a big deal --the bridge is going to cover the hole, the ends of the wire will be flattened under the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 (edited) Good tips. Also, you don't have to necessarily route it directly to the control cavity. If it's easier to drill diagonally to the pickup cavity, you can then route it to the control cavity using the existing routing holes. Edited January 15, 2007 by Dino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdismuke Posted January 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Great tips. Thanks! Just curious, what gauge wire do you guys use for wiring a guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Great tips. Thanks! Just curious, what gauge wire do you guys use for wiring a guitar? 22 gauge is pretty standard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another doug Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Because the bridge mounting screws are so small in diameter, drilling a hole from the cavity to the mounting screw hole (similar to what Gibson does with their bridge stud) would be "hit or miss" at best. You have already received good advice above. I just wanted to point out that you could always try to drill from the screw hole to the cavity rather than the other way around (less "hit and miss"). In that case, though, the wire would be coming out right under the bridge anyway, so you may as well just drill a separate hole as mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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