Is it really necessary to ground the neck bridge on a Tele build? The screws that hold the pick-up in place contact both the bridge and the grounded part of the pickup, so it seems the bridge would already be grounded.
Any thoughts?
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Is it really necessary to ground the neck bridge on a Tele build? The screws that hold the pick-up in place contact both the bridge and the grounded part of the pickup, so it seems the bridge would already be grounded.
Any thoughts?
Hmmm don’t think I’d rely on that. Having everything properly earthed makes a big difference, the hole is there for the wire, it’s not like it’s a big effort to ground the bridge.
Its easy to find out with an ohms meter. Put one lean on the ring part of the jack and the other on the strings. If the meter shows close to 0 nothing further needed.
If the meter stays at 1 your pickup baseplate may not be grounded.
You shouldn't need a separate ground for the bridge since the screws to the baseplate should already do that if the baseplate is properly grounded...but you should still test.
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I'm with Sonic. I just do it. 2 minutes work can save extraneous minutes of frustration later.
On Teles, I normally solder a ground wire onto a small washer, which is then held against the bridge plate by one of the pickup mounting screw springs.
That's a cool idea Simon (washer on screw spring).
[QUOTE=Fatman;187699]Is it really necessary to ground the neck bridge on a Tele build? The screws that hold the pick-up in place contact both the bridge and the grounded part of the pickup, so it seems the bridge would already be grounded.
Any thoughts?[
Thanks for the help--love the washer and spring solution.
There is no one answer to this. Not all Tele bridge pickups have a copper base plate fitted, especially at the low-cost end of the market. So if the pickup doesn't have a copper (normally zinc-plated) base plate, then you'll definitely need a separate ground for the bridge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatman
Any thoughts?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatman
If it does have a metal base plate, then as Fender3x says, check with a multi-meter to see if there's a low resistance reading between the output jack ground and the bridge. If it's nice and low, then you can get by without a separate ground connection. But personally, I prefer to fit one to be sure. Over time, you'll invariably get some corrosion on the screws. Depending on how much and how acidic your hand sweat is this could vary from months to years. But it will happen, and the more rust and corrosion there is, the greater the likelihood that the resistance to ground increases.
Obviously it's not the end of the world; the guitar will still work but you may get more hum. It's a bit like whether you solder a ground connection to the back of both pots on the Tele control plate, or trust the plate itself to provide a good ground between the two. It's fine when the pot mounting nuts are done up nice and tight, but they do loosen up over time, and again, corrosion can set in. So I always solder a ground link between them. It is belt and braces, but it's certainly reliable.
Thanks again for the help, but I'm still stuck and also need to clarify some.
It was the bridge pickup--a humbucker--not the neck pick-up--a regular pick-up, that was not working. I did use the ohm meter and sure enough the reading was zero between the humbucker bridge and the jack base and obviously the strings and the jack also. When the volume is up and the tone is either off or on and I tap the bridge pickup (non-humbucker) with a screwdriver I can hear it through the amp.
I can also hear the screwdriver tapping on the humbucker "dots" on the pick-up through the amp, but only when the tone is turned up. However, even in this situation when I can hear the screwdriver through the amp, I cannot get the guitar to play through the amp from the humbucker pick-up. Also, the screwdriver is attracted tom the "dots" of the humbucker pick-up, which I assume is normal.
So, I'm really confused why the tone has to be turned up to hear the humbucker tapping, and since I can hear the humbucker tapping when the tone is turned up why no sound from the humbucker through the amp when I play the strings.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Can we see a pic of your wiring?
Also, what wiring diagram are you following? From your posts it sounds like you have a tele with HS pickups. The Pitbull wiring diagrams don't have this arrangement, so you could try comparing your wiring to this guide from the excellent Seymour Duncan library: https://www.seymourduncan.com/wp-con...S_3B_1V_1T.pdf
Also, post some pics of the wiring so we can look for potential issues.
For those who might have been following this, the problem turned out to be a bad humbucker pick up One of the tiny wires that connected the coils to the lead was broken. They are so tiny I didn't even see them till I used an ohm meter to test the resistance of the pick up, and saw it was the problem so went looking closer at the pick up. Thanks again for all the help--Simon I did use the washer trick when I put it back together.
I used the standard TL wiring diagram provided in the instructions plus grounding the bridge--using the washer trick as mentioned. Thanks--originally I thought it might be a wiring issue and with all the pre-wiring plus my novice wiring, but it turned out to be the pick up as mentioned in the last reply. Good to know someone had my back.
Picture of broken wire.
It's the tiny copper one in the upper right side.
This happened to me once on a wiring mod. Try as I might I just could not figure out why the neck pickup sounded so dead until it finally occured to me to test the resistance of the pickup. One of the coils had died.
This happens from time to time, in my case somewhere non-visible.
Now I test the resistance of the pickups before adding them to the wiring harness. Also test the pots, caps, switches, jacks and resistors (if you have them) to make sure they all work right before they go in.
On a different topic, I am thinking Simon should start a thread on 'tips and techniques not widely known.". The knot in the bridge wire, the washer trick, the many uses of veneer... I am sure I can think of more that I have either used already, or plan to in the near future....
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Probably just a broken earth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatman
Attachment 32855
cheers, Mark.
I am thinking that Simon should be on Pitbull's payroll for the amount of time he spends on this board giving advice. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by fender3x
I just do it for the love of guitars. And a lot of the stuff I suggest is stuff I've picked up here. I'm pretty good at remembering stuff (except where I put my glasses and my keys and my wallet). Some is 'original' (though undoubtedly done before) but it's all fairly obvious.
Yes, that looks broken! Have you fixed it? You said that you've reassembled it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatman
If not, it's possible to solder another bit of wire between that and the ground wire connection, though it will be very fiddly to do. You'll first need to push the red and black wires all the way back up through the hole in the baseplate, then unsolder the black wire and suck all the solder out of the hole. Then solder a thin bit of wire to the broken coil wire (hardest bit when its so thin). Heat from the soldering iron and solder should burn off the wire's insulation.
Then put the other end through the hole, put the black wire back in the hole as well, then solder it back up. The baseplate will probably be connected to the black ground wire as well, either directly, or via a short wire link, so make sure that's all electrically connected.
Then push the red and black wires back down through the centre hole and you should be OK.
I have to ask: what is the "knot in the bridge wire trick"?Quote:
Originally Posted by fender3x
Just drilling a hole just wide enough and deep enough where the bridge wire hole comes out that's big enough to hold a small knot on the bridge wire itself, so that the wire can't get pulled back too far when you're soldering the other end to the back of a pot and/or getting rid of any excess slack. Also works for trapeze tailpieces if you drill a small hole for them under the end plate and then a slightly wider deeper one for a knot.Quote:
Originally Posted by jugglindan
You certainly don't need to do it, but it does make fitting the grounding wire a bit more foolproof.
A lot of really great and inventive ideas are obvious in hindsight. It is the having them in foresight that requires ingenuity and creativity, and that would make a sticky thread most useful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
I have a Google docs file where I try to keep good ideas I don't want to forget. Simon has a few threads there. I have now used the veneer trick so many times I don't need to refer to it anymore.
Or more succinctly, it ain't obvious if it wouldn't occur to you without someone pointing it out ;-)
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When in doubt, earth.
Almost every guitar wiring problem is an earth problem.
Every pot has to be earthed, sheilding has to be earthed.
Auto electrics are the same.