Official Luthiers Forum!

I know that a bridge or "string" ground wire is important and is included on many electric guitars, but I don't see one in the wiring diagrams for a Les Paul nor is there anything shown on the plans for the one I am building. Do LP's usually have a ground wire to the bridge or tailpiece, if so how is it routed and how is it connected to the insert?

It's usually a bare wire running to the nearest tailpiece or bridge post via a small hole drilled during assembly, and then grounded in the controls somewhere.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks Chris, that is what I did. Drilled from the bridge p/u cavity to the bridge post, pushed a wire in as tightly as I could against the post and superglued it in place in the hole. There was no way to solder or screw connect it to the post, which unfortunately was already in place.

No need to solder it to the post.
Just has to make contact.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I usually push the wire through the hole, and then mount the threaded bushing, so that the wire is trapped between the mounting stud for the bridge post (or tailpiece) and the inside wall of the mounting post hole.
If you are saying that you drilled a hole to a post that was already installed, I'd pull the mounting stud and do it like I just posted above. I'd have serious misgivings over whether or not the ground would be a good one if I just pushed a wire through a hole until it just touched the stud. MHO.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I second Mike.

Yes, that dawned on me after I had the stud pressed in the hole - the best would seem to be stranded wire spread out in the stud hole and the stud pressed against it. So, how would you pull the stud without damaging the finish? It is the bridge, by the way

The way I'd remove the stud will be frowned upon by many here, but this is how I do it.
Get a heavy piece of cloth or leather and fold it over a few times to protect the finish. Lay that on the guitar, followed by a piece of wood( I usually use a cutoff from a neck blank). Thread the stud into the bushing enough to get a good grip on the threads. Take a claw hammer(yes, you read that right) and use the wood as a fulcrum to GENTLY(did I mention gently?) and slowly pull the stud and bushing out of the hole.
It doesn't take much force, and once the bushing starts to move, you can switch from the sideways pull of the fulcrum to a more straight up and out one. The key to this is to go gently and slowly.
I've also read on this forum that you can also take a deep well socket that will fit over the bushing, and run a bolt and washer that has the same thread as the stud through that, and then use a wrench to slowly tighten up on the bolt, and pull the bushing. I would think that you would need something that would fit the base of the socket to protect the guitar's finish if you went that route as well. I imagine you could find a rubber washer at the hardware store that would do the trick.
StewMac sells a bushing puller that is basically based on this design.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Electronics,_pickups/Knob_and_Bushing_Puller.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=15619
I refuse to pay $45 for that, but there you are.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

StewMac makes a great stud puller, or you can make your own if you feel up to it.
You can also screw a long bolt into the insert which will climb out of the hole on the threads, but be careful!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

An alternate method to remove the bushing is to take a 1/4" length of 1/4" steel round stock (cut a piece off a 1/4" bolt), insert into the hole, then screw in the stud. The bushing will pop right out.