Ground Wire Thickness?

[Hues]

Does the size/gauge of a bass' ground wire make a difference?

I ask because my New-2-Me bass has one that resembles a strand of Angel Hair pasta...And I've seen others that are a good bit thicker.

Yes, there have been humming issues.

[EricssonB]

There's a certain threshold that can send lightning to earth, but I can't recall the minimum gauge. Other than that...

[line6man]

Makes no difference whatsoever. The current is extremely low, and the skin effect does not come into play in this application.

[1958Bassman]

If you have a test light, you can easily check for a ground loop. It's the current flowing between two separate devices that causes the problems. If you connect the clip to one piece and touch the probe to the chassis of the other, you definitely have a ground loop if it lights up. Use the kind with a bulb, not the LED type. The ground wire's gauge has little to do with whether is causes/inhibits a ground loop. If the equipment is connected to different circuits or different phases of the power supply feed, a ground loop is likely.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

There's a certain threshold that can send lightning to earth, but I can't recall the minimum gauge. Other than that...

Basses are not built to handle lightening strikes, and nor could any practical design choices be implemented to allow them to be.

[Hues]

Thanks for the feedback.

I was thinking I'd need to do a new install.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by Hues

Yes, there have been humming issues.

Hum, or buzz? Humming can be cause by single coil pickups. The high pitched buzzing is usually fixed with shielding.

[Hues]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Hum, or buzz? Humming can be cause by single coil pickups. The high pitched buzzing is usually fixed with shielding.

Buzz might be the better word.
It was a case were I'd play and noise happens when there was no skin contact with any metal. Strings, bridge,knobs,etc.

*By the way,...Just what part of the bridge is the ground wire soldered to?..The underneath?
I have a standard P-bass copy.

[warnergt]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

There's a certain threshold that can send lightning to earth, but I can't recall the minimum gauge. Other than that...

ArcAttack

[EricssonB]

Originally Posted by warnergt

ArcAttack

There's always someone who knows more.

[Tense Zombie]

I always just use left-over 22AWG wire with a multi-strand core.