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Bridge grounding wire

josiah goldfish

josiah goldfish

Guest
Jan 10, 2012
1,339
289
E.Sussex UK
#1
Hey TB peeps,
You know the piece of wire that sticks out the hole and touches the bridge? Well, I'm making a bass, and I wondered what shape I should bend the tip of it too. Should it be bent about like a paper clip? Or a spiral? Or does it not matter?
Sorry for the stupid question, this is my first bass build and I don't wanna mess it up.
Thanks!
Joe
Btw, I'll be putting pics up of the initial sketches soon. IMO, it's a bit different compared to most first builds!
 
#5
The shape of the end of the wire is not too important, but of the shapes you mentioned are fine. What is important, however, is there must be a good electrical connection. On the underside of the bridge, rough up the metal with a little sandpaper where the wire will be making contact. That is to remove any wax or grease or oils or varnish. Now when you mount the bridge to the body it will make contact with the metal. It will also crush right down into the wood a little which will give it a solid contact.

And as tbub said above, don't use duct tape because it will have a residue that could impair a good connection.
 
#9
Do it like this.
3453959497_6835e9c930_z.png
 
#12
josiah goldfish said:
Sorry! I can't make out the pic. Is it covered in a huge blob of glue attached to a piece of copper?
Click to expand...

Why would there be any glue involved? A "huge blob of glue" would almost certainly prevent the bridge from laying flat on the body.

What you need to do is take a strip of copper tape, and lay it on the surface of the body, for the bridge to screw down over. In the recessed area where the ground wire comes through, solder the ground wire to the copper.
 
#13
line6man said:
Why would there be any glue involved? A "huge blob of glue" would almost certainly prevent the bridge from laying flat on the body.

What you need to do is take a strip of copper tape, and lay it on the surface of the body, for the bridge to screw down over. In the recessed area where the ground wire comes through, solder the ground wire to the copper.
Click to expand...

Ohhhhh, sorry, my phone doesn't display TB images very well. That's a great idea! I'll probably do that if I can get some copper tape. I have some thin sheet copper, would that work too?
 

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