Grounding question...

[rompo420]

Hey guys, been a looong while since I have been on tdpri. Got kind of a silly question for ya.


Could there be trouble if I secure my ground wire to the back of my bridge plate with aluminum tape?? Like could it cause noise for example? What do most of you do? Solder? Anything? It just seems having it secured to the bridge is easier than "pinching it."

Any help you guys could provide would be not only awesome but immediately utilized.

[Jupiter]

When I shielded my PU cavities, I just made a little flap of copper tape that contacts the bridge plate. On the La Cabronita clone I'm putting together now, I just fanned out the strands of the wire and screwed the bridge down.

Seems to me that if you want to use tape, you could use any kind you like; I mean, it doesn't have to be metal tape. If you do use aluminum tape, I can't see how it would cause any extra noise.

[Keyser Soze]

It probably wont be a problem. But I also doubt it will offer any real advantages.

Physical contact is physical contact. When you screw the bridge plate down against the body the bare wire should end up squished securely between them.

The only problem that could arise would be oxidation, and the only real way to prevent that would be to solder the joint. Six decades of Telecasters says this is not necessary.

[mellecaster]

Here's a few ways of doing it.

[sjtalon]

Get a bridge pup with a metal base plate and you don't have to worrie about doing any extra grounding.

[David Collins]

Sounds like a solution in search of a problem. Ground wires screwed down under the bridge or tailpiece have worked just fine for the last 60-70 years. Sure you could tape it on and it probably wouldn't hurt anything, but wouldn't help anything at all either.

I like the copper foil Mellecaster showed, or the retaining pin/nail will keep the wire from falling about during assembly, or if bridge pickup has a brass plate then there's not need for either as Sjtalon said. Beyond that, there's nothing really that needs to be fixed.

[mellecaster]

While quite True in theory that a Pickup with a Baseplate is grounded to the Bridge plate for a True String Ground...It should also be noted that you are relying on the head surface of (3) very small 6/32 Machine screws, which on most Teles is the area subjected to the most Body Funk...Oil...Dirt...Blood (In some cases)...etc....that is why I tend to run a separate Ground wire Directly to the Plate....Just Cheap, easy Insurance IMO.....YMMV.

[donh]

The tape is more likely to hurt than help. Keep it simple.