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jumpchamp
08-18-2006, 09:37 AM
a thought i had while wiring up grounding for a guitar:

i like using vintage cloth pushback type wiring for guitars. but when you need to ground a bunch of wires together (like on a jazzmaster, for instance) it can be difficult sometimes to bundle them all up and get them all onto the back of a pot without making a mess or possibly bad connections.

would there be anything wrong, theoretically, with using a terminal strip (or maybe even a tube socket?) to tie all your grounds to one place? i was thinking something like this https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/store/ts3.jpg

you could then wrap it in electrical tape to isolate it from the rest of the controls and leave it in the cavity. i suppose you could even use a higher gauge bare wire as a 'terminal' and wrap and solder the ground wires to that and then insulate. any faults in these ideas that i'm missing? i'm not quite the electronics whiz yet, so tell me if i'm crazy!

-greg

levelfrets
08-18-2006, 10:02 AM
Use hemostats to hold the wires together. Tin the back of the pot and tin the wires. Then using the hemostats to hold them, solder them to the back of the pot. Boom, nice and neat and you soldered them all at once.

Lyle Caldwell
08-18-2006, 10:20 AM
Better and easier to screw a ground lug into the cavity wall, and then have all grounds connect to this one lug.

levelfrets
08-18-2006, 10:50 AM
If you don't have a sheilded cavity, then the ground lug won't work. You can go to an auto parts store and buy a ring with a tab on it. Just put it around the bushing on the volume pot and ground everything to that. This keeps you from potentially over heating the pot.

jumpchamp
08-18-2006, 10:53 AM
i like the ring around the pot bushing idea for sure. heck, could even do that right on a washer too.

levelfrets
08-18-2006, 10:56 AM
This is basically a washer but it has a flange off of it that has a plastic covering on it. Just break the plastic off and spread the flange open so you can solder to it. I wish I could remember what these were called but I'm no car mechanic. Its in the electrical section at Auto Zone

EADGBE
08-18-2006, 11:45 AM
Why not just shield the cavity with copper foil. And make all ground connections to that?

ScottB
08-18-2006, 12:02 PM
I've used a washer as a "star ground".

Seemed to work OK.

Lyle Caldwell
08-18-2006, 12:14 PM
If you don't have a sheilded cavity, then the ground lug won't work. You can go to an auto parts store and buy a ring with a tab on it. Just put it around the bushing on the volume pot and ground everything to that. This keeps you from potentially over heating the pot.
No, it still works. Remember, grounding and shielding are separate concepts, though many use the same wires to accomplish both.

Even in an unshielded cavity, a screwed in lug with all ground wires attached still works. For grounding.

The ring around the pot bushing works well, too.