Another Grounding issue thread

[bassfart]

I have an 2008 Am St. Fender Precision and the bass is dead quiet. I changed the pickup to a Nordstrand NP4 and while doing so, I noticed a little screw in the control cavity with a grounding wire connected to it, and a grounding wire routed to the bridge.
I also have a Lakland Bob Glaub, which was 3 times more expensive then the Fender, and when I take my fingers off the strings, I get that grounding buzz. I was wondering if I could double ground the Lakland like the Fender and get some good quiet results? What kind of screw would I need to use? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[ZolkoW]

If the noise stops while touching the bridge, the bridge is grounded.. maybe some extra shielding helps, but I wasn't succesful with shielding EVERY time.

[walterw]

the little screw is there to ground the layer of shielding paint that's under the regular paint in the fender. without the shielding, the screw is irrelevant.

[SnakeKappele]

Originally Posted by bassfart

I have an 2008 Am St. Fender Precision and the bass is dead quiet. I changed the pickup to a Nordstrand NP4 and while doing so, I noticed a little screw in the control cavity with a grounding wire connected to it, and a grounding wire routed to the bridge.
I also have a Lakland Bob Glaub, which was 3 times more expensive then the Fender, and when I take my fingers off the strings, I get that grounding buzz. I was wondering if I could double ground the Lakland like the Fender and get some good quiet results? What kind of screw would I need to use? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Well, if you want the bass shielded properly, you will need to use copper tape with conductive adhesive and cover the control and pickup cavities. The pickup cavities will need a wire connected to the copper running into the control cavity and connected the copper shielding there. The control pots will touch the copper shielding and ground it. This drastically reduced the noise in my Jaguar (have to turn it all the way up with the preamp cranked to hear noise). Make sure the control cavity cover is shielded (a metal control plate is) and makes contact with the copper shielding (making a metal box around your electronics).

The conductive paint used by most manufacturers works but is nowhere as good as copper.



I also use a grounding strap I made like the one mentioned here:
http://www.futureguitarnow.com/forum...hp?topic=115.0

[line6man]

Originally Posted by SnakeKappele

The conductive paint used by most manufacturers works but is nowhere as good as copper.

While conductive paint is more resistive than copper tape, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "nowhere as good." A good conductive paint job (Not just one coat, as some manufacturers do.) should have a fairly low resistance.
Nothing beats copper tape though.

[FromTheBassMent]

I play EBMM active basses which are usually DEAD quiet. But even so, I would not do a gig without my trusty ElectroHarmonix Hum Debugger. Sometimes you end up in a club where the wiring is so bad that you can't dodge that 60-cycle bullet. I've never met a situation that the Hum Debugger couldn't cure. Best $120 insurance policy I've ever bought.