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how to i install a ground wire from the bridge of a tele to the pot?

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  • #16
    Re: how to i install a ground wire from the bridge of a tele to the pot?

    worked out. the wire wasnt bare, though it was copper, and pretty thick.

    i soldered it onto the sole pot (vol).

    also, i have horrible soldering skills, but it came together. i guess ill have to practice. any tips?

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    • #17
      Re: how to i install a ground wire from the bridge of a tele to the pot?

      As has been mentioned in various forms here, the Tele is a very simple design and there are a number of ways to ground the bridge:

      1. Full shielding of the pickup cavity with copper foil that has a small bit folded up over the top of the cavity. This is my favorite, as it quiets down noise in general, but is also the most involved. If you go this route, the ground wire can be screwed through the grounding foil into the inside of the cavity, soldered to the copper foil, or you can use method #3 below.

      2. If your bridge pickup has any type of metal bottom-plate, the ground wire could be connected to the plate (the bottom plate is electrically connected to the bridge/bridge plate via the pickup mounting screws).

      3. Simplest method is the piece of wire laid over the top of the pickup cavity and smashed down by the bridge plate.
      a. Who cares if it (slightly) dents the wood? It's under the bridgeplate, for crying out loud!!!
      b. I don't see how a relatively fine (22 - 24 gauge) wire is going to displace the bridgeplate enough to cause a feedback problem. I would recommend using a multistrand wire (not a single, solid core) and fan it out to be pressed down by the bridge plate (don't twist the strands into a hard, single entity).

      4. This one's a little more primitive, but will still do the job: put an eye on the end of your ground wire, then mount it via one of your pickup mounting screws. In other words, the eyelet will sit on TOP of the grounding plate, with the pickup spring pushing it down against the bottom plate. The spring is metal, it's touching the bridge plate...get it?

      Here's the foil shielding method I used on a 80's MIJ Squier. The ground wire is the extra (short) black wire coming out of the hole between the pickup and control cavities. In this case, I soldered it to the foil:

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      • #18
        Re: how to i install a ground wire from the bridge of a tele to the pot?

        Originally posted by Funkfingers View Post
        Yes, but ...
        1) The wire can make an indentation into the top of the guitar.
        2) If the wood/finish resists denting, the grounding wire can displace the bridge away from the body wood, creating an air gap. This gap invites microphonic squeal.
        Incredibly wrong!

        The displaced wood is fill with the wire - Dilbert!
        Support Code 211 - Stop the bad boys, you know COPS!
        When we do right nobody remembers when we do wrong nobody forgets!
        Red Devils - 1% all the way!
        Screw anyone who post negative crap on my post!
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        • #19
          Re: how to i install a ground wire from the bridge of a tele to the pot?

          Originally posted by freddarl82 View Post

          Here's the foil shielding method I used on a 80's MIJ Squier. The ground wire is the extra (short) black wire coming out of the hole between the pickup and control cavities. In this case, I soldered it to the foil:
          Very nice.

          For completeness I should add that some people say that this influences sound (other than hum).

          This very close-to-pickup shielding will obviously develop eddie currents and hence dampen the resonance peak somewhat. How much? No idea? Audible? Less of no idea.

          The capacitance formed by it (this also applies to shielding away from the pickups) should be ignorable by my estimation but is by some rated as non-trivial. Some people don't put the base shield under their Strat pickguard. Some people say there's good and bad kinds of capacitance, basically.

          The solution for both is easy: put the shielding foil outside of the guitar

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