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Hi everyone, new to the forums here but decided to register to post a question about a guitar I am 'building'.

The body is a strat body, but it is hardtail.. I know that guitars ground their pups to the tremolo or bridge usually, but the bridge on this thing wouldn't be usable for a connection unless I had the wire coming out of the pickguard (yuck!) I'm sure there's another way... I was considering grounding to the ground connection on the guitar's output jack. Can anybody tell me if this will work, and if I should try something else instead (maybe inserting a large piece of metal into the pup cavity on the body to ground to?). The more detailed the better, I am no electronics expert!

The pickups going in are a '59 neck and pearly gates bridge, btw! Going to be a sweet rig as long as the grounding problems get sorted out

Thanks,

Robert

Actually, there should be a ground wire under your hardtail bridge.

The other end of that wire should be connected to your volume or tone pots.

So if your guitar is made correctly that bridge will have a ground wire.

Lew


Originally Posted by LewguitarActually, there should be a ground wire under your hardtail bridge.

The other end of that wire should be connected to your volume or tone pots.

So if your guitar is made correctly that bridge will have a ground wire.

Lew

I think I might have been a bit confusing when I posted..

The guitar is one I'm putting together (I'm no expert on THIS either!), and basically its body is a strat body with no cut-throughs for a tremolo or any of that (the back of the body is completely solid), and the bridge going on it literally is screwed into the front of the body and nothing more. There is no wire connected to this bridge or anything like that, it just connects to the body with 4 screws or so, and then 6 holes are drilled through the body for the strings. There will be the slighest bit of space between the bridge and where the pickguard starts.. that's why I'm thinking I couldn't just run a wire out to this bridge.

Basically, if there was no hole through the body of a normal stratocaster to run the ground wire, how would you do it?

Thanks,

Robert


Originally Posted by rclI think I might have been a bit confusing when I posted..

The guitar is one I'm putting together (I'm no expert on THIS either!), and basically its body is a strat body with no cut-throughs for a tremolo or any of that (the back of the body is completely solid), and the bridge going on it literally is screwed into the front of the body and nothing more. There is no wire connected to this bridge or anything like that, it just connects to the body with 4 screws or so, and then 6 holes are drilled through the body for the strings. There will be the slighest bit of space between the bridge and where the pickguard starts.. that's why I'm thinking I couldn't just run a wire out to this bridge.

Basically, if there was no hole through the body of a normal stratocaster to run the ground wire, how would you do it?

Thanks,

Robert

There is a hole drilled from under the hardtail bridge into the control cavity for grounding the bridge on hardtail models. At least there should be. Its a pretty extreme angle from on the face of the body. You then strip back enough insulation to have the bridge make solid contact with the wire and hold it in place. Ideally this would be soldered but I have never seen an example where that has been done. The other end goes to the back of one of the pots.

Actually the pups don't ground to the bridge. They ground through the circuit to the ground tab on the output jack. The bridge gets grounded to that ultimately as well. Easy to misunderstand if you are new to it.

Sounds to me if I heard you right that you have a Strat quot;likequot; body, not a real Strat. If that is the case then you may or may not have the hole pre-drilled for the ground to bridge wire. That's a tough one, cause I do believe that ground wire is important to prevent hum. If my understanding is ocrrect then your best bet would probably be to figure out a way to drill a hole or maybe cut a groove from the pup cavity to under the bridge, lay the wire in it, and cover with wood putty. Probably means you will have to paint the finished product to keep it from showing. Anyhow... just my thoughts.


Originally Posted by TheArchitectThere is a hole drilled from under the hardtail bridge into the control cavity for grounding the bridge on hardtail models. At least there should be. Its a pretty extreme angle from on the face of the body. You then strip back enough insulation to have the bridge make solid contact with the wire and hold it in place. Ideally this would be soldered but I have never seen an example where that has been done. The other end goes to the back of one of the pots.

Actually the pups don't ground to the bridge. They ground through the circuit to the ground tab on the output jack. The bridge gets grounded to that ultimately as well. Easy to misunderstand if you are new to it.

Wow this definitely takes me back to the drawing board..

This is the schematic I was looking at ---
from : localhost//website...ones_3way.html

I guess now that I read what eveyone has said and take a better look at it, the gnd half of the output jack is wired to GND, as are the green/bare wires, and the two caps. Does this actually just mean that all of those things are connected, and the actual ground point is provided by the guitar amp? I guess that makes sense; I have looked at this diagram a few times but I've never seen the 2nd connection on the output jack (guess I had the wiring of my regular strat in mind). Can anyone confirm this is what happens? If that's the case, then there is no problem..Except, I have to actually ground the bridge??? I could drill a hole from the pup cavity to underneath the bridge, and then another hole perpendicular to that which would be hidden by the bridge. Is that what you guys are suggesting I do?

Sorry for all the beginner questions guys, but thanks for giving me good info

Robert


Originally Posted by rclExcept, I have to actually ground the bridge??? I could drill a hole from the pup cavity to underneath the bridge, and then another hole perpendicular to that which would be hidden by the bridge. Is that what you guys are suggesting I do?

Sorry for all the beginner questions guys, but thanks for giving me good info

Robert

That's it!

If you were to use EMGs, you wouldn't need the ground from the bridge...