How to ground powder coated bridge?

[Tomtom]

Ok. Building an AG model with black hardware.
I understand that the strings must be grounded through the bridge post.
Problem is that through all the black coating I dont think I will be able to get continuity without filing off powder coat which could get ugly.
Anyone had this issue?

[Dedman]

the ground happens through the threaded inserts that you tap into the body ,so sanding the powder coating off the outside wont matter as they are inside the body.( I usually strip a far bit of wire after poking it through the hole and wrap it around the insert before tapping it in)If you want to be doubly certain of a good earth you could knock the coating off the threads as well

[Tomtom]

After another look it is the tailpiece insert where the ground wire goes.
But the tailpiece to the post is still powder coat to powdercoat. So how do strings get grounded?

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[fender3x]

That's a good question, particularly If the saddles are powder coated. In that case, the most important question might be whether the powder coat is conductive. You can test this by touching the saddle with one electrode and the base of the bridge with the other electrode on an ohm meter. If the meter goes to zero (or close to zero) you have continuity, and won't need to worry about scratching the bridge.

I don't have any powder coated guitar parts, but I do have a powder coated jack stand in my garage. Just tried it, and the powder coat was conductive. I don't know whether this is always the case, but since the way a powder coat is applied is with an electrostatic charge, it stands to reason that at least some powder coats will be conductive. If you get really lucky, your hardware may actually anodized black...which I think is always conductive.

In any case it's worth testing if you have a meter.

[Tomtom]

All good. Plugged in andcno earthing issues. Happy days.

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[Daw]

So I'm dealing with the same issue that Tomtom was last month. I have the black hardware for my EX build. Using my multimeter, I'm not getting any reading thru the powdercoated pieces.

So I assume the solution will be to strip all the metal to metal contact points. Should this be done from the inserts, through the posts, all the way to where the strings make contact with the tailpiece?

Wiring is my Achilles heel, and I don't want to have to do this twice.

[agus]

Think of it as "shiny to shiny" on each component connection of the bridge assembly? It doesn't need to be BIG - those wires are smaller than a ball point pen head in general, it need not be bigger than that if you know it is SHINY to SHINY when assembled.

So use your meter, and say a very tiny file and remove the paint, assemble it, and meter it, being careful to not get "where somebody will see it" size. After you do that once, you'll have a feel for how small it can be, and, as long as it shows connectivity, you're golden. The level of current flowing in guitars is generally so tiny that very very narrow gauge wire/contact points work fine.

Having said that, the American Man in me says "WTF MAKE IT THREE TIMES BIGGER THAN WHAT THEY ASKED FOR"

[Daw]

HaHa!! Bigger is BETTER indeed!!

I've got some filing to do...