Should I ground a magnetic PU?

[bassteban]

This info will be applied to(forgive me)an EUB I'm building, but as I've seen bass guitar pickups rigged up onto DBs I'm posting over here. Anyone who has used a magnetic BG pickup on DB, did you/do you ground the strings? Thank you.

In my defense, I do own a real bass.

[paintandsk8]

need more info. Are you using just a mag, and if so what kind? Are you blending this with a piezo? Are you using any type of volume or tone controls?

[paintandsk8]

I will tell you that the mag set-up I used was active, and therefore a ground wasn't needed

[bassteban]

Passive w/a volume & tone knob- no piezo on this one, for simplicity's sake. As to which PU specifically, I'm thinking of using 3 halves of a P-Bass unit. I have an idea how to mount it so I can adjust it back & forth(parallel w/the strings)to find the 'sweet spot', if this bass will have one.

[ToneRanger]

Originally Posted by bassteban

I'm thinking of using 3 halves of a P-Bass unit.

Why 3 halves? You making a 6 string?

With two halves, the P-bass pickup is humbucking - with 3, I suspect you'll lose the noise-cancelling function (or at least some of it) so you might want to consider some extra shielding.

[ToneRanger]

I currently have half a P-bass pickup on a one-string bass I made (similar to this: http://www.cnet.ne.jp/atlansia/SOLITAIRE.ARS.JPG )

It has the 4 pole pieces in line with the string - I've toyed with the idea of making an EUB pickup out of 4 halves of P-Bass pickup, one in-line with each string.

btw, I did find it helped to ground the the string(s).

[mje]

Easy answer: Try it, and if it hums, ground the strings to the signal ground. Whether it hums will depend on your pickups, preamp and strings.

[paintandsk8]

Yeah, that's definetly your best bet. Try it out before your final installation though, no need drilling unnecessary holes or anything like that.

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by ToneRanger

Why 3 halves? You making a 6 string?

It's a 5 string, w/similar dimensions & radius(neck-wise)to a 3/4 DB- so getting the pickup close to each string will be tricky. W/3 halves, one can be under the B&A, one under the E&D, & one under the A&G. Because of the radius, it seems to me that the middle of each PU piece will be too far below the particular string to 'hear' it well; that's the main reason I'm thinking 1 1/2.

With two halves, the P-bass pickup is humbucking - with 3, I suspect you'll lose the noise-cancelling function (or at least some of it) so you might want to consider some extra shielding.

Because of the neck angle I'm using, the strings(& consequently the pickup)will be much higher above the body than most EUB, & any BG I've ever seen, so I don't know what I can do for shielding. I really gotta get some pics up.

[bassteban]

It sounds like the only potential problem re:grounding vs not grounding would be hum or noise- not(pardon my stupiditiveness)a low-voltage electrical shock?
And thanks for all the input, guys.

[paintandsk8]

Well there is some danger with getting shocked in certain circumstances when using string grounding. There is alot of info about that in the pickups forum on the BG side pickups forum, if you wanted to research it.