SteveG673 Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could help me out with my first custom guitar's wiring. In this schematic im using, there is a ground wire going from the bridge to the volume pot and im not sure what it does. my big problem is that my custom guitar is an electric lap steel with a wooden acoustic bridge. my best guess is that ground wire is there so if the strings happen to touch the pickup, the circuit won't short? this would not be a problem for me because it is just a slide guitar and the strings never get depressed that far. Or am I totally off? Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 a bit off i'm afraid. the ground wire connects the strings to ground. If you dont have it in place you will get some electrical buzzing occuring. This will stop when you touch the strings because you will be grounding it! some people live quite happily without a ground wire and just keep at least touching some part of the strings at all times personally i would find a way to ground it properly. how do the strings attach to the guitar? do they go through the body or attach somehow on the bridge - there is usually a way to do it but a photo of the bridge might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveG673 Posted August 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 Its just a wooden acoustic bridge with an aluminum saddle, and the strings go through the body: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 i would try sending the wire to underneath the saddle since it metal, mind you its aluminium so to check it will work first plug your guitar in and just touch the saddle to see if that stops the buzzing the same way touching the string does. If you can stop the buzzing that way then drill from underneath the saddle to the control cavity.. Not sure whetehr thats easier said than done- depends on the construction if that doesnt work the other way would be to connect the string ferrules on the back (assuming thats how you mount your strings) to the ground connection. You can drill small angled holes from one ferrule to the next to connect them all - then one from the high e to the cavity. some people dont think this wire is needed anyway - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveG673 Posted January 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 thanks so much for the advice. that definetly cleared a lot up for me. however i just read another post on the forum that said if your control cavity is shielded you need to solder a ground wire to this too. does this mean i need to have my ground branch off to both the saddle and the copper foil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 You would want to run all grounds to the back of a pot, including the copper foil one, then run a cable from the back of the pot to the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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