Ground wire?

[camardelle]

I was working on a p/j body and in my noobness and zeal, I think I've busted the ground wire. My question is what is the purpose of the wire? What does it attach to exactly besides sitting against the bridge? It doesn't attach to any of the rest of the guitar that I can see so where does it go?

Bottom line, have I created a p bass paperweight?

 

[Hopkins]

I was working on a p/j body and in my noobness and zeal, I think I've busted the ground wire. My question is what is the purpose of the wire? What does it attach to exactly besides sitting against the bridge? It doesn't attach to any of the rest of the guitar that I can see so where does it go?

Bottom line, have I created a p bass paperweight?

It ties the bridge into the ground loop, and yes it kind of needs to be there. It should be an easy fix though, take the bridge off and fish a new piece of wire through and re solder the connection.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Yup, it is fine, just put the wire back under the bridge, and connect it back to the jack, you should be good from there. Not a paper weight, but if your throwing it out anyways PM me.

 

[camardelle]

Here's a pic of where I'm at. I sanded the ground wire and have put wood putty over it to make it a clean finish. Here's an unsanded pic. It looks like I'm going to have to pull the putty and get to the wire, solder more wire to what I can find, and then putty the hole. Luckily this is all under the bridge so it'll be easier to hide than if it was in the open.

I should have done more research before starting this project, but I'm going to make this a learning experience. Thanks for everyone's input. Any additional information is welcomed.

 

[walterw]

yep, you'll have to dig all that crap out of there so the ground wire can be re-run;

the wire goes from under the bridge to get soldered to the back of a pot (doesn't matter which one as long as they're all grounded).

 

[walterw]

also, if there were screws going into the sides of those cavities with wires attached to them, they need to be re-installed in order to ground the shielding paint in the walls of the cavity.

 

[camardelle]

I only had to cut two wires which came from the pickup close to bridge and they were connected to the pots, other than that there weren't any wires connected to anything other than the pots and the thing that you plug your cable into. That 's why I was so confused I guess. It doesn't appear that the wire was connected to anything at all. The guitar funtioned great so I doubt there were any shorts or issues that I could find.

Could that be possible? Here's a picture of the wiring I took. I wish I'd taken better pics now but there were only two wires to remove.

 

[camardelle]

I double checked my electrics and found the ground wire, There was no way to feed it through the hole so I routed out a channel and ran the wire and re-puttied/patched the channel on the body. Tomorrow I start sanding my repair and the rest of the body with 220 sandpaper and I hope to be able to spray some filler/primer on the body and continue sanding by Sunday.

My plan is to be ready for paint come Monday.

 

[Roger Ford]

Yup, it's a paper weight. If you send it to me, I'll dispose of it for you...

 

[camardelle]

LOL It may not be now, but I may shoot it to you later when I'm done. LOL

I bought this guitar knowing it would need repairs and a sort of a learning experience for something I'd never done before. It's kind of an experiment of sorts. I'll post more pics later.

 

[tjh]

I may be missing something, but for future projects you may want to consider when you need to cut a wire, if you cut close to the point of attachment, you can resolder the wire without a midline splice ... also, if you need to feed a ground wire through the hole to the bridge, if you first clear out the hole with a heavier type of wire (light coat hanger, picture framing wire, etc) the light electrical wire will feed easier ... maybe even 'back feed' the wire from the bridge hole, as there is a bit easier access, and then resolder in the cavity ... just a couple ideas ... enjoy the project!

BTW, that screw hole in the lower left corner of your photo that is in the route channel in the black paint is where a wire was screwed for grounding purposes ... that black paint is conductive shielding paint ...

 

[walterw]

BTW, that screw hole in the lower left corner of your photo that is in the route channel in the black paint is where a wire was screwed for grounding purposes ... that black paint is conductive shielding paint ...

good catch!

i had mentioned grounding screws in general, but that is very much a specific example, and needs to be re-installed.