There is no ground wire under the bridge....

[Cam]

...of my new 62US reissue tele. Although it doesn't seem to be an issue I am curious though. Comments? Thanks.

[Jim.Collins]

It shouldn't need one. The vintage style bridge pickup has a plate on its bottom side. That plate is already grounded, by virtue of a jumper wire to the pickup's ground lead. Since the pickup mounts to the bridge plate by three conductive screws which contact both the bridgeplate and the pickup plate, the bridgeplate is automatically grounded.

[Cam]

Thanks. I am notorious for being lazy when it comes to thinking about circuit analysis even though I hack wire most of my own stuff. That closes (no pun intended) the question nicely.

[PhatTele]

Yea, but if the PU is wax potted, sometimes you won't get a good ground connection through the threaded area in the plate since it might be coated in non-conductive wax.

To play it safe, I'd opt for the separate wire. You can use a ground lug washer which goes between the spring and the plate or you can use wire (I use a multifilament wire and fan out the filaments) between the bridge plate and the body. I usually angle a hole from near the mounting screws into the PU cavity.

[jwells393]

Since the pickup mounts to the bridge plate by three conductive screws which contact both the bridgeplate and the pickup plate, the bridgeplate is automatically grounded.

That's all well and good in theory and if you don't have a noise problem the theory is working. I have a '66 Telecaster that was always noisy until I ran a ground wire under the bridge.

You can just lay the stripped stranded ground wire up over the edge of the pickup cavity. mellecaster posted a picture once showing how he puts a small brad in the pickup cavity wall to hold the wire in place.

Well........ what do you know ....... I found his picture.

......

[kylef]

thats what i do with my builds.

voodoo's, fralins, hamels, doesnt matter what the pickup, i always run a seperate ground...just for peace-of-minds sake.

[Cam]

but if it becomes one I will run a wire accordingly. Thanks all.

[joinpobob]

On my first build I was having a big humming problem. I was a bit noisy to begin with, but when I would play and touch the bridge plate itself, the hum would increase. It was really annoying. With some help from some friends, I determined that I had a floating ground that would change when I would touch it.

I used the method mentioned and now it is silent.

[Stylemaster]

Tagging this thread.

[mellecaster]

Here are my thoughts on the Issue, and why I have always run a separate ground to the Bridge plate....While Fender considers the (3) screws and metal baseplate on the pickup to be able to get the job done (and it can, on a New clean guitar)...that area on the Guitar usually attracts the most dirt, grime, sweat and "Body Pus" of any sector....thus over the years of neglect on guitars that aren't taken apart every 2 or 3 weeks, the optional ground wire is 25 cents of Cheap Insurance IMO