Bridge Plate Flateness - Help!

I'm working on an Esquire build and am having issues with the flatness of my bridge plate. Here's the issue:
* I'm mounting my Glendale plate to the body. Plate is very flat (I checked it using a machinist block, so I'm confident the plate is very flat).
* Everything fits fine and is flat, until I screw it down. I'm not over-tightening. I believe it is my bridge gound wire. I am using 22 gauge wire, with the individual strands fanned out, under the bridge (normal grounding practise). I believe this is causing the front lip of my plate to come up (slightly) when I tighten the 4 plate mounting screws.
* When I remove the bridge ground wire from underneath the bridge, it definitely doesn't do this.

Am I obsessing over something that won't make a difference? I can't really find a better (more reliable) way to ground the bridge...I guess I could drill two holes at the front lip and screw down the plate (Callaham style), but i don't want to do this if it isn't necessary. Thanks for any insights or help!

Is there any of the wire insulation beneath the bridge plate or just the fanned wire strands?

Is there any of the wire insulation beneath the bridge plate or just the fanned wire strands?

Hi Glen,
There is no insulation beneath the bridge, just the fanned out wire. 22 Gauge is very thin, so it is a little surprising. I may try flattening the individual wire strands on a flat metal plate to see if that helps...

What pickup are you using? If it is a "normal" Tele type pickup with a baseplate, you don't need a ground wire under the bridge, as the pickup height screws ground the bridge from the baseplate!

Thanks Ron,
I'm installing a Rio Grande 'Half-Breed' Tele bridge pup, and it doesn't have the metal baseplate. Wish it did, that would solve the grounding issue:)

If you don't have a baseplate, you can solder that ground wire to a ring terminal (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104013) and loop it through one of the height adjustment screws. Make sure it is contacting the base plate and you should be all set..

solder a small washer to your ground wire and put a pup screw through it with washer between underside of bridge plate and rubber tube.

I usually pot my whole bridge assembly so it doesn't lift up front. If you don't want to go to this extreme, drill a couple of holes in the front edge and screw them down.

Thanks to all for the great ideas. JimmyT, the small washer is perfect, on that idea just as soon as my iron heats up! I also think I'll drill 2 holes at the front of the bridge. If I have any problems with micro phonics, I can then screw it down without taking the bridge plate off again. Thanks again, everyone!