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Bridge Earthing?

M

meggeth

Guest
Aug 2, 2017
1
0
#1
Hi all. I am a electric guitar player, but recently delved into the black arts of bass guitars, and bought a second hand Epiphone EB-0 (I know! Not the best, but I need to start somewhere!), 3 stud mount bridge. When I first tried it, it seemed ok. However, I decided that I would have a good go at setting up the guitar, including action, intonation, etc. During this time one of the bridge studs started to come out (the one closest to the control cavity), so I knocked it back in with a small plastic mallet. Action, etc is now fine.

The problem I seem to have now is that there is a hum if I don't touch the strings or the bridge (I don't think it was there before). Looking in the cavity, the earth wire goes through a small hole towards the bridge (towards the stud as mentioned earlier), but there is no way of seeing where it goes. It seems likely that the earth wire has disconnect from the bridge, but how do I check this, and re-connect it if I have to? There is no access to the bridge inside the body.
 
#2
meggeth said:
The problem I seem to have now is that there is a hum if I don't touch the strings or the bridge
Click to expand...

If you touch the strings and the hum goes away, the bridge is grounded. If you're sure the hum used to be less severe, you might want to check the rest of the electronics for loose wires etc.

The sudden hum might also be caused by low current in your outlets (as if all neighbors maxed out the AC or whatever)
 
#3
The ground wire must contact the stud insert. It just sits in the hole and jams against the outside of the insert. If the insert pulled out the wire can dislodge when you drive the insert back in.

But yes if him disappears when touching the strings it's normal.

Make sure the single front screw is higher than the rear two. You want to slope the bridge body down to the rear. This relieves the levering effect of string tension by changing the force vector forward placing more down force on the front stud, less on the two rear.

A little super glue in the stud hole should stop future insert movement.don't get any on the ground wire or threads.
 
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#4
meggeth said:
Hi all. I am a electric guitar player, but recently devolved into the black arts of bass guitars...
Click to expand...
Welcome to Bass World. :woot:

What these guys said above regarding the ground wire. Personally, I have always questioned to concept of using the musician/player as the ground connection to Earth.

Zap!.jpg
 
#5
Jeff Scott said:
Welcome to Bass World. :woot:

What these guys said above regarding the ground wire. Personally, I have always questioned to concept of using the musician/player as the ground connection to Earth.

View attachment 1192128
Click to expand...
You don't use the musician as the ground. The bass is grounded. When you touch any part of the bass that is grounded (metal knobs, strings, bridge, etc) you ground yourself to the bass. Not the other way around. So many get this backwards!
 
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#11
Because hum. We didn't make the laws of physics we just have to obey them. The guitar is grounded via connection to the amp. Still it hums. By grounding the strings and the player hum is decreased. The alternative would be a second ground that you'd have to type to a ground that isn't part of the house circuit. Very impractical.
 

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