Quote Originally Posted by Trevor Davies View Post
With the ground wire that is connected to the trem claw; there is a cut-out slot on the claw that I assumed was for the ground wire. Is it expected that the wire is soldered, or is it OK to simply clamp the wire in the slot?

I did use a thicker gauge wire than the kit wire. I also do not think my soldering iron would be able to heat the slot in the claw to a high enough temperature so as to melt the solder, and therefore I expect it would produce a dry joint. So, I clamped it in place! I do have a low resistance between the string and the ground at the jack as measured with a multimeter.
I worried about this too, but just did it for the first time recently. I have a pretty cheap soldering "station" (Velleman VTSS5U) that has a variable wattage dial that goes up to 50 Watts. I turned the dial to about "40+" I also sanded a spot on the claw with 320 grit. I tinned the wire, and the sanded spot on the claw. I got the solder molten on the claw, and then attached the wire. The trick that you need to leave the iron on the claw considerably longer than you would with a pot. The good news is that you can't fry the guts of a claw like you can the innards of a pot ;-)

Cool looking guitar! Love the color. I also particularly like the name you gave it ;-)