Official Luthiers Forum!

My latest build is buzzing like crazy when plugged in, so I assume I have a grounding issue. all cavities are shielded properly with copper foil tape, I've triple checked my wiring and all looks good. the only thing I can figure, is that the bridge is not properly grounded. I have a brass baseplate for my bridge that is painted black, I scraped some paint off around where the ground wire comes in, but wasn't able to solder the wire to it, and if it did stick, it wasnt lining up properly with the hole, and would break off very easily. so after a quick google search, I read that people were just running the wire through the cavity, and leaving some bare lead under the bridge, but no technically attaching it. I tried this, but it hums very bad, and I also seem to have volume issues.
Is there a better way?
What do you guys do?

I drill and tap a hole in the base so my connections are always a sort of screw terminal type.

You could do this easily by getting the right size hole drilled and then hand tapping with a little bottoming tap. I can help you pick the drill and tap but you have to start with the right little screw and work back from there. Once you have the screw you want to use I can call out the right drill size for that tap.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

if all else fails, you can disconnect most or all of the wires, leave the control cavity plate off, get some alligator clip test leads, and fool around with different wiring permutations (with the guitar plugged in to the amp) till you get an acceptable circuit...
if the output signal is weak, a good portion of it is probably being bled to ground.. i'd look at the volume and tone pot(s) connections

thanks guys, Got it fixed, I was confused about the wiring of the jack apparently..... a little embarrassed....

I was going to say check the jack, swapping the hot & ground will produce your symptoms. DAMHIKT.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon