Kahler bridge grounding problem

[Shooweri]

Hi! I'm doing some guitar maintenance work for a friend of mine and I have issues with the bridge/string grounding. The guitar is LTD JH-600 and the bridge is Kahler Hybrid (most probably 7300). I swapped stock EMGs for passive Seymour Duncans and soldered new passive electronics using 500k Bourns pot and Switchcraft jack/switch. I've checked with multimeter that grounding signal is absolutely working between all different parts (jack, potentiometer and switches) and soldered bridge ground wire behind the volume pot, ran it through the body and attached it into bridge cavity under bridge plate. The problem is that ground signal doesn't work when I screw bridge into the body even though I have verified that the ground signal coming from back of the pot into bridge grounding cable. All electronics work perfectly even string ground isn't working. Do you have any ideas how can I overcome this issue? I'm pretty new to Kahlers and didn't find any good answers using google.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ICTGoober]

Would you post a photo of the cavity with the Kahler removed?

 

[Artie]

Did you check, (with a meter), if the strings themselves are grounded, (to the output jack), when everything is assembled?

 

[Shooweri]

Did you check, (with a meter), if the strings themselves are grounded, (to the output jack), when everything is assembled?

I did try it and there was no continuity between jack and strings. At this stage I'm pretty sure that the problem is caused by the paint on the bottom of bridge plate and I'll sand some of it off tomorrow to see if it helps. Might not work but it's worth a shot.

 

[Artie]

I bet that will solve your problem. Let us know.

 

[ICTGoober]

Paint? I wonder who painted it?

 

[freefrog]

Strange, since I've black chrome Kahler's in two guitars (including one that I've built myself) and no issue with grounding in both cases. But yes, sanding a bit the back of the trem should solve the issue...

 

[Shooweri]

Paint? I wonder who painted it?

It came painted straight from manufacturer. It's pretty odd that people in LTD wired bridge ground wire in place but didn't check for continuity between strings and output jack. I sent mail to Kahler and also ESP so they can fix this problem in manufacturing.

 

[ICTGoober]

My bad. I didn't make myself clear... Is the bottom of the Kahler painted?