Grounding a Half Bridge Tele and...."What does this wire do?"

stylesforfree

My gold foil tele has no ground going to the bridge so when i touch the strings the buzz isn't eliminated and it's a tad annoying.
There's a wire with a tooth washer soldered onto the end but it's just screwed into the wood!?

How can I ground this? Am I going to have to drill a hole from the control cavity through to the bridge screw hole?





 

ICBM

stylesforfree said:

How can I ground this? Am I going to have to drill a hole from the control cavity through to the bridge screw hole?

Unfortunately yes. Whoever built it should have!

I would start by drilling a fairly large hole, about 3/8" (10mm) diameter, straight down into the top roughly between the E and B string holes and slightly further forward of the bridge screw holes, and about 1/4" (6mm) deep - that will stop the sideways drill hole from skittering or wandering as you start to drill. You will then need a long enough drill to reach the control cavity from there without the drill chuck chewing up the body - size isn't critical but you probably want about 1/8"-3/16" (3-5mm). It may be easier to go into the pickup cavity instead, if you don't have a long enough one - it looks like about half the distance.

The toothed tag is to ground the shielding paint in the cavity - it needs to be there. I would connect the bridge ground wire to that as well, it's easier than soldering to the pot. I prefer to poke the bare end down one of the bridge screw holes to maximise electrical contact, as long as the plastic insulation isn't then caught under the bridge - you need to strip about an inch.

Does that help?

stylesforfree

ICBM said:

stylesforfree said:

How can I ground this? Am I going to have to drill a hole from the control cavity through to the bridge screw hole?

Unfortunately yes. Whoever built it should have!

I would start by drilling a fairly large hole, about 3/8" (10mm) diameter, straight down into the top roughly between the E and B string holes and slightly further forward of the bridge screw holes, and about 1/4" (6mm) deep - that will stop the sideways drill hole from skittering or wandering as you start to drill. You will then need a long enough drill to reach the control cavity from there without the drill chuck chewing up the body - size isn't critical but you probably want about 1/8"-3/16" (3-5mm). It may be easier to go into the pickup cavity instead, if you don't have a long enough one - it looks like about half the distance.

The toothed tag is to ground the shielding paint in the cavity - it needs to be there. I would connect the bridge ground wire to that as well, it's easier than soldering to the pot. I prefer to poke the bare end down one of the bridge screw holes to maximise electrical contact, as long as the plastic insulation isn't then caught under the bridge - you need to strip about an inch.

Does that help?

Awesome, yes it helps. You're always helpful thank you.

stylesforfree

ICBM said:

stylesforfree said:

How can I ground this? Am I going to have to drill a hole from the control cavity through to the bridge screw hole?

Unfortunately yes. Whoever built it should have!

I would start by drilling a fairly large hole, about 3/8" (10mm) diameter, straight down into the top roughly between the E and B string holes and slightly further forward of the bridge screw holes, and about 1/4" (6mm) deep - that will stop the sideways drill hole from skittering or wandering as you start to drill. You will then need a long enough drill to reach the control cavity from there without the drill chuck chewing up the body - size isn't critical but you probably want about 1/8"-3/16" (3-5mm). It may be easier to go into the pickup cavity instead, if you don't have a long enough one - it looks like about half the distance.

The toothed tag is to ground the shielding paint in the cavity - it needs to be there. I would connect the bridge ground wire to that as well, it's easier than soldering to the pot. I prefer to poke the bare end down one of the bridge screw holes to maximise electrical contact, as long as the plastic insulation isn't then caught under the bridge - you need to strip about an inch.

Does that help?

It worked, successfully drilled and grounded while heeding your advice, thanks!