When they say to have all groudn wires soldered to a common ground what does that mean exactly? I mean, does the ground from the output jack, Bridge, pickups need to be soldered to the exact same thing? Or is it oke to have some soldered to the volume pot and other things to the tone pot or what ever
Common ground
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Skaforlifeologist
Re: Common ground
well, if you have things grounded to the back of the pots but the pots themselves aren't grounded to either the bridge or output jack, then you haven't technically grounded anything. either the output jack or the bridge ground works fine.
well, if you have things grounded to the back of the pots but the pots themselves aren't grounded to either the bridge or output jack, then you haven't technically grounded anything. either the output jack or the bridge ground works fine.
Zerberus
Baron Von Shred
Re: Common ground
All of the grounds need to have an electrical connection between them. There are 2 generally accepted methods of doing this.
One is so called loop grounding, where the backs of the pots are soldered to each other, and the switch grounds, PU grounds, bridge, output jack and shield are connected more or less randomly to the back of the pots or other large grounded surfaces (which are also connected to the back of the pots). Essentially you can ground anything anywhere, as long as they all have a wire or other conducting surface between them. I´ve even seen people spot ground everything onto metal pickguards.
With what is referred to as star grounding, all of the grounds run to a single common point. One common method of doing this it to attach a terminal lug to the side of the cavity and attach everything to that, another common solution is to solder everything to the back of a single pot.
Some feel that star grounding reduces interference, but I can´t echo this sentiment.
All of the grounds need to have an electrical connection between them. There are 2 generally accepted methods of doing this.
One is so called loop grounding, where the backs of the pots are soldered to each other, and the switch grounds, PU grounds, bridge, output jack and shield are connected more or less randomly to the back of the pots or other large grounded surfaces (which are also connected to the back of the pots). Essentially you can ground anything anywhere, as long as they all have a wire or other conducting surface between them. I´ve even seen people spot ground everything onto metal pickguards.
With what is referred to as star grounding, all of the grounds run to a single common point. One common method of doing this it to attach a terminal lug to the side of the cavity and attach everything to that, another common solution is to solder everything to the back of a single pot.
Some feel that star grounding reduces interference, but I can´t echo this sentiment.
Re: Common ground
Still confused. Theground wire from output jack is soldered to my volume knob, my bridge ground is soldered to the condcutive foil in cavity, Both pick up bare wires and ground wires are soldered to conductive foil also. So just curious why the pickups and brigde are soldered to the foil but the output jack is soldered to th volume pot. The tone pot at volume pot appear to be soldered to the back of volume pot
Still confused. Theground wire from output jack is soldered to my volume knob, my bridge ground is soldered to the condcutive foil in cavity, Both pick up bare wires and ground wires are soldered to conductive foil also. So just curious why the pickups and brigde are soldered to the foil but the output jack is soldered to th volume pot. The tone pot at volume pot appear to be soldered to the back of volume pot
blueman335
Mojo's Minions
Re: Common ground
All the grounds have to connect each other. The grounding to your pots has to also link to the PU's, toggle, and jack. One big interconnected network. Miss one from the loop & you get noise.
All the grounds have to connect each other. The grounding to your pots has to also link to the PU's, toggle, and jack. One big interconnected network. Miss one from the loop & you get noise.
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: Common ground
If you are not getting any noise with it this way, this is because the volume pot shaft and outer shell is connected to the the back of the volume pot. With the foil running through the cavity (which is conductive) and having those wires connected to the foil, they are grounded as long as the connection between the pot and the foil remains (this assumes a rear-loading guitar. Top-loading, like Strats, involves an additional assurance that the foil on the pickguard connects to the shielding in the cavity).
When good shielding tape or heavy duty foil is used on the back of a pickguard, it's not even necessary to run grounds from pot to pot because they are already connected. Same goes for a Tele control plate or a metal pickguard.
If you are not getting any noise with it this way, this is because the volume pot shaft and outer shell is connected to the the back of the volume pot. With the foil running through the cavity (which is conductive) and having those wires connected to the foil, they are grounded as long as the connection between the pot and the foil remains (this assumes a rear-loading guitar. Top-loading, like Strats, involves an additional assurance that the foil on the pickguard connects to the shielding in the cavity).
When good shielding tape or heavy duty foil is used on the back of a pickguard, it's not even necessary to run grounds from pot to pot because they are already connected. Same goes for a Tele control plate or a metal pickguard.
Re: Common ground
so the foil ends up being the common ground? Or is the foil bringing everything to the common ground which is the back of the tone pot?
so the foil ends up being the common ground? Or is the foil bringing everything to the common ground which is the back of the tone pot?
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: Common ground
The foil is connecting the 2 ground points together, whether they are on the back of the volume pot or the tone pot, doesn't matter. Think of the foil, control plate or metal pickguard as the equivalent of running a wire from the back of the volume pot to the back of the tone pot or from the foil to the volume and/or tone pot. It's a conductive material connecting point A to point B.
The foil is connecting the 2 ground points together, whether they are on the back of the volume pot or the tone pot, doesn't matter. Think of the foil, control plate or metal pickguard as the equivalent of running a wire from the back of the volume pot to the back of the tone pot or from the foil to the volume and/or tone pot. It's a conductive material connecting point A to point B.
