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Posted

Either the string ferrules, perhaps mounted to a plate on the back and ground that and so the strings...or workout a way to ground the tuning machines...yes you will generally need to ground the strings. Some Active pickups and piezos are exceptions.

Posted
Either the string ferrules, perhaps mounted to a plate on the back and ground that and so the strings...or workout a way to ground the tuning machines...yes you will generally need to ground the strings. Some Active pickups and piezos are exceptions.

How does Gibson do it on their Les Pauls? I haven't figured it out yet.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

I asked the same question some time ago on this forum about that same question about where to ground a tunomatic. I was told that you ground the bridge stud/post. Here is the link I used. Grounding a Tunomatic. The guitar I am making now is going to use a tunomatic and I am not using a tailpiece, just string ferrules.

  • 5 months later...
Posted
yes you will generally need to ground the strings. Some Active pickups and piezos are exceptions.

why exactly do the strings need to be grounded? does it affect the sound? or is it just so you don't get electrocuted?

and while we're on the subject, why does a guitar hum when you're not touching the bridge/strings, and then stop humming when you touch the bridge/strings?

Posted

Here is a really good article from Guitar Nuts on what is really going on with "string grounding"...

Your Body is a Bucket 'o Noise!

This was a very enlightening answer to this question that we do, including me, just do without really realizing why, just the effects...

In fact we are not using the string to "ground" to our body at all...at least not in a simple sense. Your bodies attract noise towards the guitar and by touching the strings we ground ourselves to the common ground in the amplifier and such...but the article does a much better explanation than I can give.

or is it just so you don't get electrocuted?

Actually, it is largely the grounded strings that puts you most at risk. Because you are holding metal strings in both hands and have them electrically wired...it there is a fault or a mismatch in electrical equipment...it can often be fatal.

In a typical electrical accident...you may touch something and the power will try and run to ground through your body. Rubber soled boots will often "save you" as the power wont make the circuit to the (literal) ground through your feet. However, holding a guitar and wired to the amplifier ground, should a mic become live say, the power will run through your lips to the nearest ground, the guitar strings...

Why it is fatal is that the current surge through both hands grounded to the strings puts the current directly through the heart, stopping it instantly and you are dead!

One good idea to combat this is to get a powerboard with a circuit breaker on it (not just an overload breaker) and use this especially in strange places where you don't know the wiring is safe...and make sure all your amps and effects are connected to it...that way it will instantly switch off if you should say, reach over to adjust a light with one hand while holding a guitar and it will break before you get a fatal shock (hopefully)...unless of course you play without shoes and play in a puddle of beer...you may still risk yourself then!

Posted
Here is a really good article from Guitar Nuts on what is really going on with "string grounding"...

Your Body is a Bucket 'o Noise!

This was a very enlightening answer to this question that we do, including me, just do without really realizing why, just the effects...

In fact we are not using the string to "ground" to our body at all...at least not in a simple sense. Your bodies attract noise towards the guitar and by touching the strings we ground ourselves to the common ground in the amplifier and such...but the article does a much better explanation than I can give.

or is it just so you don't get electrocuted?

Actually, it is largely the grounded strings that puts you most at risk. Because you are holding metal strings in both hands and have them electrically wired...it there is a fault or a mismatch in electrical equipment...it can often be fatal.

In a typical electrical accident...you may touch something and the power will try and run to ground through your body. Rubber soled boots will often "save you" as the power wont make the circuit to the (literal) ground through your feet. However, holding a guitar and wired to the amplifier ground, should a mic become live say, the power will run through your lips to the nearest ground, the guitar strings...

Why it is fatal is that the current surge through both hands grounded to the strings puts the current directly through the heart, stopping it instantly and you are dead!

One good idea to combat this is to get a powerboard with a circuit breaker on it (not just an overload breaker) and use this especially in strange places where you don't know the wiring is safe...and make sure all your amps and effects are connected to it...that way it will instantly switch off if you should say, reach over to adjust a light with one hand while holding a guitar and it will break before you get a fatal shock (hopefully)...unless of course you play without shoes and play in a puddle of beer...you may still risk yourself then!

thanks,

i had actually read that exact article a long time ago, but i forgot what it said and I couldnt find it again

so basically my body is an electrical shield and by grounding it, the EMI that i'm picking up gets sent to ground

Posted
thanks,

i had actually read that exact article a long time ago, but i forgot what it said and I couldnt find it again

so basically my body is an electrical shield and by grounding it, the EMI that i'm picking up gets sent to ground

It acts as as shield, only after it is grounded, before that, a more correct term would be antenna.

Posted

There are alot of choices for active pickups out there...my favorite is EMG...but guitarheads has them very cheap...they are available as well from bartolini and others...expensive for those though.

Duncan also has livewires...I don't know how many of those require no ground...but I assume most if not all of them don't...I know EMG does not.

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