Bridge Grounding

[wohzah]

I was wondering how one usually gets the ground wire to the bridge? Also I was wondering if i could save myself some work if I tacked a small nail (or screw) halfway into the body inside the electronics cavity and just used that as "the bridge" as wouldn't it work as a ground just as well?

[joshvegas]

I don't get what you mean about the nail but the ground has to come into contact with the strings in some way so you need to ground to a metal guitar part which touches the strings.

And it depends on the type of bridge you have.

A strat style trem you normally solder the wire to the spring claw in the back of the guitar.

A fender style hardtail you drill a hole from the surface of the guitar to the control cavity or i guess the pickup cavity whatever is easier. just the bare wire in contact with the bridge base is enough

A tun-o-matic or anything mounted on posts drill a hole from the cavity to the the hole the insert goesinto leave the wire exposed at the end and push in the insert so the wire is caught between the insert and the body.

I don't think i've missed anything but someone will point it out if i have.

Edited March 24, 2008 by joshvegas

[wohzah]

How do you get the drill down into the cavity to drill the hole to the bridge insert? (tunomatic)

[GregP]

Drill the hole for the bridge insert, then with a smaller bit, drill a hole to the cavity... not from the cavity to the hole. If you can't get the right angle on it, you could alternatively go from the stop tailpiece if the opportunity for a better angle presents itself (and assuming you're using a stop tailpiece).

Your nail idea misses what's actually happening with the bridge ground wire. The wire to the bridge doesn't take any current and 'dissipate it' into thin air. The bridge isn't actually the ground destination. What is happening with that wire is that you're adding the bridge to the ground path, which ultimately makes it to the ground lug of your output jack. The reason for grounding the bridge is so that when you touch the strings, you add your body to the "grounding material" and effectively turn your body into a shield. Without touching the strings, the 'bridge ground' isn't doing a heck of a lot.

So with your nail idea, you'd have to be touching the nail, or nothing would be gained. If you were willing to keep in contact with that nail, I suppose it could work.

[Bassisgreat]

So with your nail idea, you'd have to be touching the nail, or nothing would be gained. If you were willing to keep in contact with that nail, I suppose it could work.

That makes for some fun mental images.

One question, though. I see alot of builders making wooden bridges, and I wanted to give it a shot; how would this affect the grounding situation. I'm using single coils on my bass, which are already known to be a little noisy, so I definitely want to do what I can to keep background crud to a minimum.

[joshvegas]

I wasn't very clear on that bit was I? sorry i didn't think about the drill direction i meant only to describe the route of the hole my bad!

[Geo]

So with your nail idea, you'd have to be touching the nail, or nothing would be gained. If you were willing to keep in contact with that nail, I suppose it could work.

That makes for some fun mental images.

One question, though. I see alot of builders making wooden bridges, and I wanted to give it a shot; how would this affect the grounding situation. I'm using single coils on my bass, which are already known to be a little noisy, so I definitely want to do what I can to keep background crud to a minimum.

Perhaps you could have a metal strip on the underside of your tailpiece, touching all the strings, and connect a ground wire to that.

[wohzah]

I have figured out a different way than described to ground the wire to my tunomatic bridge, but I would like to say thanks for all of your answers.