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What is this wire in my ES-335?

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
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2,433
Howdy,

Now that I own an authentic Gibson 335, I want to experiment on my Epiphone Dot to learn about electronics. I was looking through the F hole on my Gibson 335 the other day and noticed this odd looking wire coming from the bridge pickup cavity in the center block. It does not appear to be an electrical wire, as it has no covering - it is just a solid piece of bare metal wire coming out of the pickup cavity and heading toward the end block end of the guitar. I cannot see where it actually goes. I don't think I can get a picture of it. I touched the wire with my finger and it feels pretty stiff. I do not see anything similar in my Epi Dot.

This does not sound like anything I have read about, so I have no idea what it is for. I was hoping someone could shed some light on this for me.

One other quick question while I have your attention. I keep reading about grounding things but do not quite understand this. I think all electrical components (pots, jack, switch, pickups) are supposed to be grounded to the bridge. In both the Gibson and the Epi I see a wire going into the center block that looks like it is headed for the bridge. If I am changing components, do I leave this wire in tact with the bridge, and just unsolder it from the component, then re-solder it to the new component?

Thanks,
John
 

Don

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Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
That's a ground wire. It should be trapped between a bridge stud insert and a hole in the body and soldered to a ground on a pot or pickup lead shield.

When I bought my ES-135 it wasn't connected at the bridge stud insert. They drilled the passage hole incorrectly. Because I use relatively low gain I hardly noticed it until I replaced my volume pots.
The other end of the ground wire is soldered to the bridge pickup lead's sheild.
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
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Now I am a bit confused. I probably should not have posted both of these questions in the same post. There is a black wire going into the center block that I thought was the ground to the bridge. This I believe should be soldered to the pots. Is this much correct?

If that is correct, then is the bare, stiff wire another ground? If so, do they both go to the bridge, and ground different components (e.g. pickups vs. pots)?

Sorry if this is all confusing, but I am rather confused myself. Electrical circuits have never been my thing.

Thanks!
John
 

RickN

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Feb 12, 2002
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7,143
Which guitar has this black wire going to the center block? The Epi or the Gibson?

The black wire you're talking about... could that be the pickup lead? :hmm The stiff, bare wire should definitely be the string ground, as Don described. I'm a bit confused about which guitar has this other black wire. Do both guitars have pickups with the usual exposed braided-shield lead?
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
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I know the Epi definitately has a black wire going into a small hole drilled into the center block near the top of the guitar. I believe this to be the ground on that guitar. The pickup lead is a different black wire I can see coming out of the pickup cavity (it is not braided).

The Gibson definitely has the bare wire coming out of the pickup cavity, as well as a braided pickup lead. I thought the Gibson has a black wire going into the center block as well (similar to the Epi) but I may be getting confused. I will have to check when I get home from my business trip tomorrow night.

So then, should I see the bare wire going into the center block, with a wire from a pot soldered to it? Or does it connect to the bridge via the pickup cavity?

Can anyone suggest a good reference for me to learn more about this kind of stuff?

Thanks again,
John
 

rockandroller

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Apr 1, 2002
Messages
703
here are some a helpful FAQs:

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources.1basicwiringfaqs/


http://alexplorer.net/guitar/basics/grounding.html

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Faqs/faq/faq.grounding.txt


Unless they have EMG active pickups - there should always be a "String Ground" wire on all of your guitars, and you should try NOT to disturb it where it connects to the bridge or the tailpiece ( can go either way, depending on the guitar)

as you surmised earlier, simply unsolder it from the component you which to change, and resolder it later!
 

Godot

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Feb 6, 2007
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67
When I recently gutted my 335 to replace the pups and harness - I found that I actually had 2 ground wires in there. It's a '72 and it originally had a trapeze tailpiece, which had a ground wire running out the end of the center block and wrapped around the strap button.

It was converted to a stop bar at some point and another ground wire was run into the hole for the threaded bushing insert. I guess I could remove the old one from the trapeze now...
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
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OK, I took another peak into the Gibson when I got home last night. I used a mirror, so I could see a bit more. The bare, stiff wire goes from the bridge pickup cavity, around the side of the center block and into a hole drilled into center block just near the bridge. This definitely appears to be the ground wire going to the bridge. Where does the other end go? Does it connect to the bridge pickup?

The black wire I saw before is coming off the switch. It is connected to one side of the switch, whereas two black and one yellow wire are connected to the other side of the switch (the yellow is in the middle, I believe this goes to the jack). So I believe this one black wire is the ground for the switch. It does not go into the center block as I first thought, but joins into a bundle with the other three wires on the switch. I cannot tell where any of these wires go, but I assume from what I have read and pictures I have seen on the internet that the ground makes its way from component to component.

This next question may seem pretty basic, but... The braided wire coming from the pickup, does it contain both the lead and the ground wire. Are both of these in the braided cover, then they split at the end, one going to the pot terminal and one connecting to the pot as the ground?

This electrical stuff is slowly starting to make more sense to me. Thanks for the help!

John
 

plaintop60

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Nov 20, 2006
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The braid is the ground and the center wire is the hot. This is called co-axial cable. The braid being at signal ground potential sheilds the hot lead(which carries the signal) from radio frequency interference(rfi).
 

sliding-tom

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Feb 11, 2005
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The bare, stiff wire goes from the bridge pickup cavity, around the side of the center block and into a hole drilled into center block just near the bridge. This definitely appears to be the ground wire going to the bridge. Where does the other end go? Does it connect to the bridge pickup?John

The grounding will most likely be wrapped around the shielding of the bridge pickup and soldered onto it. I think, when you remove the bridge pickup, you will see it.
 

Retika

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Feb 12, 2019
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Presently I am somewhat confounded. I presumably ought not to have posted both of these inquiries in a similar post. There is a dark wire going into the inside square that I thought was the ground to the scaffold. This I accept ought to be patched to the pots. Is this much right?


In the event that that is right, at that point is the uncovered, hardened wire another ground? Provided that this is true, do they both go to the extension, and ground distinctive segments (for example pickups versus pots)?


Sorry if this is all befuddling, yet I am somewhat confounded myself. Electrical circuits have never been my thing.
 

BLuesGuitarMart

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May 11, 2016
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22
Presently I am somewhat confounded. I presumably ought not to have posted both of these inquiries in a similar post. There is a dark wire going into the inside square that I thought was the ground to the scaffold. This I accept ought to be patched to the pots. Is this much right?


In the event that that is right, at that point is the uncovered, hardened wire another ground? Provided that this is true, do they both go to the extension, and ground distinctive segments (for example pickups versus pots)?


Sorry if this is all befuddling, yet I am somewhat confounded myself. Electrical circuits have never been my thing.

Anyone know what the purpose of this bot is? It just took an earlier post and ran it through a synonym generator type thing, never seen anything like it before! No links in the text or anything so not sure what the intention is. :hmm
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
Presently I am somewhat confounded. I presumably ought not to have posted both of these inquiries in a similar post. There is a dark wire going into the inside square that I thought was the ground to the scaffold. This I accept ought to be patched to the pots. Is this much right?


In the event that that is right, at that point is the uncovered, hardened wire another ground? Provided that this is true, do they both go to the extension, and ground distinctive segments (for example pickups versus pots)?


Sorry if this is all befuddling, yet I am somewhat confounded myself. Electrical circuits have never been my thing.

OK, this thread is a total throwback for me, as I started it 11 years ago!!! Wow! And this post is really odd. As BluesGuitarMart pointed out, it is my post from post #3 above, just with some wording changes. Very bizarre!
 

BLuesGuitarMart

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May 11, 2016
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OK, this thread is a total throwback for me, as I started it 11 years ago!!! Wow! And this post is really odd. As BluesGuitarMart pointed out, it is my post from post #3 above, just with some wording changes. Very bizarre!

Haha, yeah very strange. I bet you know what that wire does by now though!
 
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