grounding question

[KSDbass]

ok, my current bass has a set of SPB-3's(if that matters), a volume knob, and a tone knob. so what do I ground, where I do I put the wire, and what do I ground it to? I know I ground the tone pot off the top of it to the bridge though.
thanks

[KSDbass]

no one knows about grounding?

[DaftCat]

I've never heard of such a bass. Does it have a connector on it for ground itself?!?

If you do have that setting and are paranoid about doing it wrong, use an extra wire(nylon tied to your 1/4") and run it along to a ground outlet in a wall or power bar.

[bigbeefdog]

What you have is a Precision bass, or P-bass for short.

Does this help?

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-0139.html

EDIT:

Originally Posted by DaftCat

If you do have that setting and are paranoid about doing it wrong, use an extra wire(nylon tied to your 1/4") and run it along to a ground outlet in a wall or power bar.

Just noticed this part.

Don't do this, not a good idea.....

[DaftCat]

Why exactly?

Ground is ground....unless the establishment you are playing has bad electrical wiring overall.

Is that what you meant?

[bigbeefdog]

Originally Posted by DaftCat

Why exactly?

Ground is ground....unless the establishment you are playing has bad electrical wiring overall.

Is that what you meant?

No.

Grounding is good. Ground faults through a human body are bad.

And if your bass (and, by extension, the conductive strings you're usually in contact with) has a direct path to ground, you're in harm's way if you touch something hot.

The topic has been flogged to death over here....

basses and electrocution

...toward the end of the thread, you'll see me waving the flag for use of GFCI's (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters) to minimize exactly this risk. My crew and I use 'em on all our gear.

But I *think* (not sure, but I suspect) that the original poster was trying to figure out what to tie to ground in the electronics cavity of his P-bass, not how to connect the bass to an external "house ground".... which is why I posted the diagram....

[DaftCat]

Thanks for the answer and link.
I've never had this happen.....yet.

[KSDbass]

Originally Posted by bigbeefdog

What you have is a Precision bass, or P-bass for short.

Does this help?

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/I-0139.html

EDIT:



Just noticed this part.

Don't do this, not a good idea.....

yeah, the stewmac thing was what I was looking for. and for the record, its a chopped up SX100B, which I defretted, and the finish is drying right now. its also ugly as piss . and so basically, a ground could be understood as bad because it makes the bridge susceptable to touching something hot(which means it has electricity, right?) because when the grounded strings/tuners/bridge touches something hot, it completes the circuit, and shocks you if your touching it. but, if it's ungrounded, then nothing will happen. so, whats good about grounding in lamens terms?

[bigbeefdog]

Originally Posted by roguebass

so, whats good about grounding in lamens terms?

Reduces noise and hum. In some cases, greatly, particularly if your bass is near fluorescent lights, computers, etc.

It's a controversial subject, as you can see by the disagreement in the other thread. In *my* opinion (others will disagree), for maximum safety:

- If your bass is quiet without grounding the bridge/strings, don't ground the bridge/strings.

- If your bass is noisy (the sort of intolerable hum that goes away when you touch the strings with your fingers), ground the bridge/strings.

And in all cases (especially when you're playing "out", and cannot be sure of the house or generator wiring): make sure your amp has a 3-prong (grounded) plug (so that there's a better path to ground than your body if something faults), and connect to AC power through a GFCI (which, if working correctly, will kill the power quickly if current starts to flow through you).

Edit: for clarity