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Black bridge- how to attach the ground wire?


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Not a stupid question at all.

You'll have a hard time soldering to a bridge as it's such a big lump of metal that it'll suck all the heat from the iron. Normally it's enough to trap the wire between bridge and body...in the case of a black bridge I'd scrape some of the paint/anodising off where the wire is to make contact.

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There's not many soldering irons that could get up enough steam to solder to any bridge! Normal way is to fan out the bare ends of the wire & trap it under the bridge, best if it also make contact with one of the fixing screws. If you want to make sure of contact, scrape away a area of paint/anodizing where the wire will touch.

Cheerz, John

Snap - simultaneous posting :)

Edited by KiOgon
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You do not need to scrape anything. That is vandalism. You just shove it in the screw hole as suggested. The main issue is the bridge being held off the body by the wire which does, will and probably has done. You need to carefully gouge a channel from the wires hole to the screw hole with a sharp chisel and the palm of your hand to tap the handle while you hold the chisel firmly at the sharp end resting the hand on the bass to avoid nasty, nasty slippage.

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The powder coating wont stop a current. Just attach one end to the mains and hold on to the other end for proof. The screw will eat straight throu the 'black' and make more than adequate contact with your groundwire. The bridge needs to be absolutely flat and solidly seated on the body and any thing, even paper thickness will affect the tonal transfer which is why you have to make a channel.

Edited by lettsguitars
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Keeping a close on this thread as I'm fitting my first bridge tomorrow (waiting for some filler to dry properly tonight).

Quick question: if you shove the ground wire in one of the screw holes, isn't there a chance of splitting the wire by the time you've screwed everything down tight?

Scott

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[quote name='Scotticus' timestamp='1341946938' post='1726885']
Keeping a close on this thread as I'm fitting my first bridge tomorrow (waiting for some filler to dry properly tonight).

Quick question: if you shove the ground wire in one of the screw holes, isn't there a chance of splitting the wire by the time you've screwed everything down tight?

Scott
[/quote]No. The screw will make a thread and the wire instantly becomes part of the thread and doesn't get pushed downwards at all. You only need to screw the screw in once. It's not like a moving part that will wear through the wire.

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[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1341944745' post='1726827']
The powder coating wont stop a current. Just attach one end to the mains and hold on to the other end for proof. The screw will eat straight throu the 'black' and make more than adequate contact with your groundwire. The bridge needs to be absolutely flat and solidly seated on the body and any thing, even paper thickness will affect the tonal transfer which is why you have to make a channel.
[/quote]

right you are. I am a bit of a bloody fool, I mean it's an ionised coating- of course it isn't going to stop a current! Duh :gas: It's not even the bridge ground that was the problem, it was my crappy soldering onto the ground on one of the volume pots, which should have been pretty f***ing obvious to me since it did make a much less loud hum when I touched the bridge! I don't know, I am a f***ing idiot sometimes :blush: :rolleyes: I don't think I am having any problems with tonal transfer- the thing sustains for days.

Edited by EdwardHimself
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[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1341947601' post='1726906']
No. The screw will make a thread and the wire instantly becomes part of the thread and doesn't get pushed downwards at all. You only need to screw the screw in once. It's not like a moving part that will wear through the wire.
[/quote]
Great, cheers for that tip man. The way things have worked out here should mean I can carve a short channel through filler rather than solid body as well... simples!

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