Do I need a bridge ground for an active system?

[Gojiberry22]

Im in the middle of my first project build and will be using an all active emg sytstem. (EMG35dc+bqs controll)

I have no experience with active systems so im not sure if ill need to route for a wire from the control cavity to the bridge.

 

[Edwcdc]

Yes.

 

[Gojiberry22]

Yes.

I cant seem to find any mention of a bridge ground wire in any of their instructional videos or diagrams. There also doesnt seem to be a bridge ground wire included in the package it came with.

 

[Edwcdc]

Usually a bridge ground is used in active and passive systems. They probably wouldn't supply the wire. You just run it from the bridge to the back of a pot. If you are redoing all the electronics in the base I would use a star ground. This basically grounds everything to the same point.

 

[adje]

I thought that if you shield the control cavity with conductive silver paint all around, also on the inside of your backplate in a way that it makes contact with the cavity shielding, then that should be all the grounding you need, as long as the pots and switches and jack make sufficient contact with the shielding material.

 

[Edwcdc]

The bridges of electric guitars and basses need to be grounded for a couple of really good reasons:

• The instrument will hum, usually at 60Hz, and this humming will change or go away when the player touches the strings or bridge.
• The possibility of a serious electrical shock exists if the bridge ground is faulty and the player touches a microphone or piece of gear attached to a different signal chain.

Due to laziness I copied this from the internets.

 

[ddnidd1]

I thought that if you shield the control cavity with conductive silver paint all around, also on the inside of your backplate in a way that it makes contact with the cavity shielding, then that should be all the grounding you need, as long as the pots and switches and jack make sufficient contact with the shielding material.

That is correct, as far as grounding the electronics in the back plate.

However, it doesn't take into consideration grounding the strings through the bridge ground.

On any normal production bass a bridge ground wire would have been pre-installed and electrically connected to the common ground.

 

[Edwcdc]

When I wire a bass, I just ground the crap out of it. Shielding, pots, pickups, and bridge all get grounded together at a central point.

 

[adje]

The idea of running a ground to the strings is because it is a cheap way of shielding (silver shielding paint is costly). If you shield the electronics, you don't need to ground the strings or the bridge to get the shielding.

 

[Edwcdc]

The ground to the bridge is not shielding. It is a ground. The silver paint, or copper shielding, shields your electronics from outside interference and helps to reduce hum. The ground from the bridge is just another grounding point. They all kind of work together.
Use one or don't use one it's up to you. Every bass I've ever owned has had the bridge grounded so that's good enough for me. Years ago before I was even born, somebody smarter than me figured this out. Who am I to argue.

 

[adje]

Alembics seem to do pretty well without running a ground thingy to the bridge.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

On a true active system, I don't think there is a bridge ground. Mind you, most "active" basses are passive with an active pre-amp so I have never actually worked on a fully active system.

The idea of running a ground to the strings is because it is a cheap way of shielding (silver shielding paint is costly). If you shield the electronics, you don't need to ground the strings or the bridge to get the shielding.

I do not think that is correct. Running a bridge ground will not replace shielding nor is it intended to.

 

[RSBBass]

My understanding is shielding is not a ground. It is designed to act like an antenna picking up rf and other noise sources. This noise is then shunted to the ground. Thus the rf is picked up by the shielding instead of the instruments electronics. By shunting it to the ground it doesn't enter the signal chain and reach the amp. Bass strings are also fairly effective antenas. By grounding them you prevent the rf noise from being amplified. There also are safety reasons. It is a pretty simple job and certainly wont hurt so just do it.

 

[inanimate_carb]

Yes, even if EMG says you don't need one.

 

[NigelD]

Im in the middle of my first project build and will be using an all active emg sytstem. (EMG35dc+bqs controll)

I have no experience with active systems so im not sure if ill need to route for a wire from the control cavity to the bridge.

No. EMG active pickups Do Not require bridge ground. (I have the 35s' + BQS.)

 

[IGotGas]

Short answer: always!

I even ground my basses (Alembic) which are not traditionally grounded.

 

[line6man]

Despite people on the internet saying otherwise, EMG's literature specifically states that a bridge ground is not necessary with their active pickups. Hence, you need not ground the bridge, if it is going to be an inconvenience.

A lot of people argue that a grounded bridge puts you in danger of electric shock, so there is a good reason to avoid grounding the bridge if you don't need to ground it. On the other hand, it would be a good idea to have the ground there, in case you change your mind and want a set of passive pickups, later down the road.

 

[inanimate_carb]

Despite people on the internet saying otherwise, EMG's literature specifically states that a bridge ground is not necessary with their active pickups. Hence, you need not ground the bridge, if it is going to be an inconvenience.

A lot of people argue that a grounded bridge puts you in danger of electric shock, so there is a good reason to avoid grounding the bridge if you don't need to ground it. On the other hand, it would be a good idea to have the ground there, in case you change your mind and want a set of passive pickups, later down the road.

Although I'm a "person on the internet", I'm simply reiterating that Roger Sadowsky installs a ground wire to the bridge when he installs EMG pickups in his instruments with active systems. I genuinely recognize you as an authority on this subject with no sarcasm intended, but he's been doing the wrong thing successfully for the last 30 years?

EMG circuits can and do get noisy under certain conditions such as clubs with antiquated wiring and certain theater and stage environments. Those of us that still perform regularly need quiet, buzz free instruments. The real world we perform in says that things you read in instruction manuals aren't always correct. YMMV.

 

[line6man]

Although I'm a "person on the internet", I'm simply reiterating that Roger Sadowsky installs a ground wire to the bridge when he installs EMG pickups in his instruments with active systems. I genuinely recognize you as an authority on this subject with no sarcasm intended, but he's been doing the wrong thing successfully for the last 30 years?

EMG circuits can and do get noisy under certain conditions such as clubs with antiquated wiring and certain theater and stage environments. Those of us that still perform regularly need quiet, buzz free instruments. The real world we perform in says that things you read in instruction manuals aren't always correct. YMMV.

No one said that grounding the bridge was wrong. If it were my bass, I would be grounding the bridge, too. But it isn't strictly necessary to ground the bridge. The OP does not need to do additional routing on his bass if he doesn't want to.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Not only do EMG that the bridge ground is useless with their active pickups, they specifically instruct in the manual that there should not be one.
I don't know the reason though but EMG equiped basses tend to be dead silent so they must do something right.