Jazz Bass Pickup External Ground Question

[gjbassist]

I'm building a jazz bass right now and am planning on doing the copper strip outside the body for the ground. I know there is a copper plate that goes under the pickup that connects to one end of the ground strip. What, if anything does that plate need to be attached to so that it is properly grounded?

[line6man]

What on earth do you need an external ground for?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Anything grounded needs to be connected one way or another to the sleeve connector part of the socket.

I'm assuming he's either A) going for the look or B) not wanting to drill a hole to the bridge? *shrug*

[gjbassist]

Originally Posted by line6man

What on earth do you need an external ground for?

mohawk hit it on the head! One I think it will fit in with the vintage look I'm going for on this bass. That is how Fender did it on early Jazz basses. Two, the body I purchased does not have the hole drilled for the ground wire between the bridge and control cavity. I don't have a bit long enough and I'm not sure that if I did I would want to attempt it myself!

[line6man]

Originally Posted by gjbassist

mohawk hit it on the head! One I think it will fit in with the vintage look I'm going for on this bass. That is how Fender did it on early Jazz basses. Two, the body I purchased does not have the hole drilled for the ground wire between the bridge and control cavity. I don't have a bit long enough and I'm not sure that if I did I would want to attempt it myself!

Oh, you're referring to the old fashioned method of grounding bridges.
I had absolutely no idea what you meant by an "external ground".

All you need to do is ground the strip to the shielding in the pickup cavity.

[blipndub]

The grounding strips that I've used have a connecting wire from the brass plate to inside the control cavity to your ground in there. I've tried them a couple times and bailed on them in the end. They can raise the bridge up a little more than a squashed stranded wire and they introduce new complexities to the grounding process. But I agree they are totally cool and if you can get it to work you get my vote. I got mine from http://www.basspartsresource.com