Ton-o-matic Ground

[cgforero]

Hi,

I am wiring a typical 2 humbucker, 3 switch selector, 1 volume and 1 tone guitar with tunomatic bridge. Where should I have the final common ground? Do I have to drill a hole to wire the bridge to that ground? In that case which part of the bridge should be soldered to ground?

I am also shielding the cavity with Conductive Copper Tape. Should I wire the tape to ground?

Can anyone tell me where to find good photos of electronics. I understand the diagrams but I would like to find photos because I get lost big-time.

Thank you very much. Regards.

[westhemann]

you don't solder it to the bridge.rather ,you drill a tiny hole from the control cavity to the bridge stud hole(close to the bottom of the hole)and you simply insert the bare wire and insert the stud...making sure to compress the wire between the stud and the wall of the stud hole

[Southpa]

Another option, if you are using a pickguard that reaches the bridge, is to cut a little channel under the pickguard area from the high e side bridge post to the bridge pickup cavity. Push the wire into the hole, insert bridge stud and then run the wire along with the pickup wires into the control cavity.

Edited April 24, 2005 by Southpa

[KTLguitars]

Try without grounding the bridge - as you use humbuckers it is normally not required.

Copper tape should be wired to ground or clamped beneath the metal housings of the pots/switches.

Normally all pot housings are grounded.

If you use metal pots, humbuckers and sheilded cables (also between pots/switches) you normally do not need any sheilding - or only shielding in the bottom of the control cavity.

[Setch]

Try without grounding the bridge - as you use humbuckers it is normally not required.

←

I guess you're not much of a medium/high gain kind of fella? Try kicking in even a mild overdrive with an ungrounded bridge, then try again with the ground connected - you'll sure as hell spot the difference! Certainly you can be less **** about your shielding with humbuckers, since they automatically kill 60 cycle hum, but you *definately* still want them grounded.

[westhemann]

i agree with setch.no way i would ever play through an ungrounded passive.

if you don't want to ground the bridge,buy some active emgs.

[Southpa]

Rergardless of what kind of pickup you use I think ALL bridges should be grounded. This in turn grounds the strings and tuners. In the small chance that you receive an electric shock from an outside source the current will pass thru the grounding system of your guitar (path of least resistance) rather than thru your body.

[GuitarGuy]

you don't solder it to the bridge.rather ,you drill a tiny hole from the control cavity to the bridge stud hole(close to the bottom of the hole)and you simply insert the bare wire and insert the stud...making sure to compress the wire between the stud and the wall of the stud hole

←

When I built mine I soldered to the inside of the stud. (alot of them have a hollow depression on the bottom) The reason being is that if the wire ever gets corroded you will have to pull the stud, but with the soldered it wil be less likely to do so.

You can then just thread in the wire and push it down. Make sure that stud is drilled a little deeper to accomodate the wire at the bottom.

And contrary to what was said. If a bridge is grounded its not necessarily you thats grounding it but your body is absorbing the interference. If you have a potential difference between you and the guitar. Like for instance a reversed polarity wall socket. IT CAN KILL YOU!!! SO if you ever get a shock from your guitar stop and figure out the problem!

I put a fuse on my ground to the bridge. Its not a guarentee that it will save you. But its better than nothing. I usually go with a low value fuse. (only taks 40mA or so to stop your heart granted there is a lot of resistance bettween your hands and your heart.)

[westhemann]

Rergardless of what kind of pickup you use I think ALL bridges should be grounded.

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not emg actives.you do not ground the bridge with those.

if you use passives,ground it.all that other stuff about electric shock coming from grounding the bridge is just crap.

by the way i built my very first guitar,and back then i didn't know enough to ground the bridge with my passives...so it was very noisy and it would shock the crap out of me...because the bridge wasn't grounded.

with actives that danger is not there