Building A P: Wiring Question

[chad-th]

O.K., so I bought Fender P-Bass pickups already wired up with pots, etc., for this P-Bass I'm building. One ground wire has a little clip on it and is supposed to be screwed down inside the control cavity, I guess. The other ground is supposed to get soldered to the bridge. My question: how come I can't just screw that down, too? Won't it be just as grounded?

[Parabolic Box]

Don't have to solder it. Just has to touch the bridge.

[chad-th]

Well, sure. But here's my problem. The body I bought didn't have the hole bored between the control cavity and bridge, and I can't gat a shallow enough angle with my drill, even with a l-o-n-g bit, to bore it. So can I just screw that bridge ground wire to a stainless screw inside the control cavity and be o.k.?

[Dan1099]

That wire is to ground your bridge and strings. If it is not attached, your strings are not grounded. You are not grounding the control plate to the strings by attaching this wire, but rather, grounding the strings to the control plate, which is grounded through your instrument cable. This, in turn, grounds you when you have your fingers on the strings, which causes you to help absorb some stray interference, causing your instrument to hum less.

That said, if your guitar is shielded well enough, you may not need to have your bridge and strings grounded, and, in some technicians view, this is actually preferable due to shocking risks in venues with bad wiring.

Try leaving the connection out, wiring everything else up, and see how noisy your bass is. If it's acceptable to you, than you are golden.

Hope my explanations were clear enough to follow.

[chad-th]

Originally Posted by Dan1099

...Hope my explanations were clear enough to follow.

Very clear! Thanks, Dan!

[Dan1099]

Originally Posted by chad-th

Very clear! Thanks, Dan!

No problem! You'll have much better luck if you shield the entire cavity and pickup route with copper tape or shielding paint, and connect that all to ground. The back of the pickguard should be covered in some sort of conductive foil as well.