Grounding to a black bridge

[Simmo84]

Hi there, I’ve just finished wiring up my EX1 and I’m about to install the tailpiece bushes, I’ve run the ground wire into the cavity, but I’m just wondering if there’s anything special I need to do because my tunomatic bridge and tailpiece are both black. These are the ones that came in the kit and I don’t know if they’re painted or coated in some kind of electrically conducting coating?
Does anyone know if the black tailpiece needs any special modifications to get the ground wire to work properly? If I scrape away some of the coating, I’ll need to do it on the bushing, the stud, the tailpiece itself and presumably every string hole, and it just seems like more modification than should be necessary for a standard tailpiece, so I thought I’d check the forums before taking any action.
Thanks in advance for any help!

[Trevor Davies]

Hi Simmo84.

The paint is non-conducting.

With my LP-1SS build I scraped (with sand paper) the bushing where it was going to touch the ground wire. I also scratched off some paint on the stud and tailpiece where they joined. That was all that was needed.

I tested with a multimeter to ensure conductance from strings to the jack ground and all was OK.

[Simmo84]

Thanks Trevor, I’ll give that a go then, just wanted to check before hacking into it. Cheers!

[Simon Barden]

Not all black hardware is non-conducting, so as Trevor says, use a multimeter to double check to see if it's necessary. But the black hardware the kits use seems to use a black paint rather than black anodizing or another colouring method that is conductive.

[Richard Arnold]

Scratch some paint off then run the wire to the post and put a small strip of copper tape around the post and wire . Insert and jobs done

[patrickparks1]

Yeah, I just went through this with my DJB-4 kit. Tested conductivity with my multimeter and found out it wasn't grounding properly. Used sandpaper to sand down the paint on the back where the wire touches, and sanded my saddles where the strings touched to ensure they got good ground. It's all good now.