Posted by Mister Scott on August 30, 2011 at 1:20am
My next piece is going to feature a tune-o-matic bridge and a short, Kay-style trapeze tailpiece. Since both are metal, doesn't only one of them have to be grounded? Or would i need two separate ground wires to each piece?
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Seems to me the strings would ground both through contact? Meaning if you ground one the other would have a mechanical connection to the ground through the strings?
The Hermit is correct, but it would also depend on what type of pup you're using, piezo or magnetic. With the piezos I'm using in my builds, I find that the cutlery tailpieces and bolt saddles don't require additional grounding, because the piezo is not designed to create a magnetic field, but works by transmitting vibrational energy (which I'm sure you already know, just thinking my way through the problem). I have not yet built with a mag pup, but do know that my commercially-made guitars with the trapeze setup you describe typically have just the bridge grounded, although one of them does have the trapeze / strap button grounded to the jack. I suspect this was to prevent a ground loop, as it has multiple humbuckers, and a more sophisticated wiring harness.
Replies
Seems to me the strings would ground both through contact? Meaning if you ground one the other would have a mechanical connection to the ground through the strings?
The boys over at TDPRI seem to recommend grounding the bridge.
Oily
The Hermit is correct, but it would also depend on what type of pup you're using, piezo or magnetic. With the piezos I'm using in my builds, I find that the cutlery tailpieces and bolt saddles don't require additional grounding, because the piezo is not designed to create a magnetic field, but works by transmitting vibrational energy (which I'm sure you already know, just thinking my way through the problem). I have not yet built with a mag pup, but do know that my commercially-made guitars with the trapeze setup you describe typically have just the bridge grounded, although one of them does have the trapeze / strap button grounded to the jack. I suspect this was to prevent a ground loop, as it has multiple humbuckers, and a more sophisticated wiring harness.
Hope this helps,
Oily