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Quote Originally Posted by fender3x View Post
You can get a pretty nasty hum if the strings are not grounded. On steel covered strings a lot of the hum will go away once you touch the strings, which means your body is acting as the ground.

I didn't know that the originals came with tape wounds, but I would think that would be an even better reason to ground the tailpiece. The string core is still ferrous. I have a set of D'Addario tape wounds on an ES bass with a tailpiece. The "ball" on the bass end is colored metal which is conductive. The metal string core wraps around the ball, so a grounded tailpiece will ground the string, even if tape wound. The wrap is also pretty loose on the G string, so I am pretty sure it would ground at the bridge as well. .
I don't think tape wounds existed when the Hoffners came out. The kit comes with standard round wounds. I thought I'd try tape wounds for something different, but I believe flats are the preferred strings. I have a set of Pyramid short scale strings on there. They are a very heavy gauge.. they don't give you a choice.. 55, 75, 95, 112 hehe... I normally go for 45, 65, 85, 105 . As per my previous previous post, the metal core of the strings *are* earthed. And yeh, the treble/bass switches are on/off switches for the pickups....not sure where treble and bass fits into that <chuckle> .