No Bridge Ground Question

[screamindaemon]

Good morning.

my current build has a single bridge humbucker, with a single volume control.

I have a TOM bridge. I was soldering the pickups to the controls when I noticed the wiring diagram mention a ground to bridge. Now I suppose I could drill another hole and solder to the TOM posts. But how important is this? Could I use a large screw embedded into the body of the guitar?

Also, this guitar is noisy as hell. I hear tone out of the amp, but it is very feint. I suppose this is a vague question without a picture of my control pocket, but does this sound like a common problem with electronics? I am confident with my soldering quality.

[borge]

its important, you ground the strings (via the bridge) to avoid excess noise.....

you dont need to solder to the post, just run a bare wire into the post hole, the post will hold it.

"a large screw embedded in the body"? what?

[screamindaemon]

In one of my cheaper guitars, there is a large screw that is screwed into the body of the guitar from the electronics cavity. the grounds from the pickups/pots are soldered to this screw, which likely is acting as a ground instead of the bridge.

does that clear up the last bit?

[AndrewCE]

In one of my cheaper guitars, there is a large screw that is screwed into the body of the guitar from the electronics cavity. the grounds from the pickups/pots are soldered to this screw, which likely is acting as a ground instead of the bridge.

does that clear up the last bit?

That's probably to connect the cavity's shield (paint or aluminum foil/tape) to ground.

[bluesy]

Could I use a large screw embedded into the body of the guitar?

No, it needs to make electrical contact with metal that contacts the strings. i.e. the bridge or tailpiece

[borge]

In one of my cheaper guitars, there is a large screw that is screwed into the body of the guitar from the electronics cavity. the grounds from the pickups/pots are soldered to this screw, which likely is acting as a ground instead of the bridge.

does that clear up the last bit?

That's probably to connect the cavity's shield (paint or aluminum foil/tape) to ground.

or a star ground, not something you'd usually find a production guitar, especially a cheap one

[screamindaemon]

Ah! I did not know it had to ground to the strings. That makes much more sense. I thought it just needed to ground to a large mass. Thank you very much.