grounding strings

[kuzi16]

im kinda new to this so be nice...

I have a guitar that i am putting in 2 dimarzio humbucking pickups in. I looked at the wiring charts that they provide on their website ( www.dimarzio.com/media/diagrams/D.pdf ) and i have one question about them.

Where do i ground the strings from? I have a tremlo so i know ill be using the claw from that but should i run the grounding wire to the jack or to the pot that they have their grounding wire running to? does it matter?

[markd]

Hi there.

What they intend is that the back of the pot is to be the primary grounding point. The simple answer is to run your ground wire from the claw to the back of the pot. This is what most people would do. However, it is really not the best way to do it as your diagram contains a couple of ground loops.

You should read "Quieting the Beast" on the Main GuitarNuts site.

The star-grounding is explained there. Most manufacturers do not use star-grounding. You're diagram illustrates this, but while you're in there anyway, you can correct that.

Hope that helped.

Mark D

[kuzi16]

i was under the impression that the teeny-tiny black lines In my provided diagram were the ground and the other thicker black lines were just other wires.

am i wrong about this?


ill assume that i am wrong about this. This then brings the question how do i get this to work if i dont wire it the way they say?
the article helps but i dont own a strat and i have humbuckers not single coil. because im so new to this im having a hard time making the jump on this.

[michaelcbell]

your "teeny-tiny" wires on the diagram are actually braided shields (yes, grounds).

In VERY general terms, a ground is a ground - don't pretend that that's all it is, but if you connect all your grounds together and to the jack sleeve, you'll work. I STRONGLY encourage use star grounding and shielding as descibe in QTB: make sure your wirey stuff is surrounded by basically a complete metal cage which is connected to ground (sheilding) and also make sure everything you ground has only one path to get there (don't connect your pots together with the sheild and also with a wire).

For what it's worth...

[dd842]

kuzi16 said:

i was under the impression that the teeny-tiny black lines In my provided diagram were the ground and the other thicker black lines were just other wires.

am i wrong about this?


ill assume that i am wrong about this. This then brings the question how do i get this to work if i dont wire it the way they say?
the article helps but i dont own a strat and i have humbuckers not single coil. because im so new to this im having a hard time making the jump on this.

Hi kuzi16,

Frustrating ... this guitar business ...

I don't think anyone has suggested that you are wrong ...

Take a look at this www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/2h_1v_1t_3w.html

You may find it to be more legible, and it may answer some of your questions a little better.

I think what MarkD was getting at is that so long as you are in the guts of your guitar, shielding is a great idea and easy to do. You may, however, have more luck looking at the shielding a tele instructions, as it's likely closer to what kind of guitar you have.


After you have shielded, you will have ground loops if you do not, at a minimum, remove the wire that runs from the back of the tone pot to the back of the volume pot (that will likely be dealt with in the shielding instructions, anyway).

Have another look and see if it makes a little more sense. Then, when it doesn't make sense , come back with some more questions.

We'll get you sorted out - one way or another.

Dan

[kuzi16]

i think i understand what is confusing the heck out of me and maybe everyone else here.

on dimarzio's site it says that GREEN is ground

www.dimarzio.com/media/diagrams/4Conductor.pdf

half way down on the left hand side.

that being said why are all the other grounds in black?
strange people over there at dimarzio.

the other thing that i am seeing is that all references that i have been given deal with a 3 way switch with three posts on them and/or single coil pickups with only 2 wires coming out of em.

the diagram has a 3 way on-on-on switch with 4 poles per. giving me 12 poles.

i have that switch. the way they are showing is a "two hum-bucker three way center coil split. "

is there an easier way that I'm just overlooking ?


i think i picked the wrong pickups and setup for my first major guitar project.

i will reread all of the links provided here and see what i can make of it and see what i can do. ill come back with more questions I'm sure.

thank you for all of your help. (and patience)

[michaelcbell]

it's no problem, that's what we're all here for - ask some questions and answer the ones we can.

[kuzi16]

i called up dimarzio and asked a few questions about the switch i had.

this helped a ton. After that phone call, the links all of you showed me, and a little advice from the local guitar shop, i now have a great guitar that has so little hum that i kept turning it up to make sure it was working.

... then i hit a string. yup, its working.

this place is great. thank you so much.

[dd842]

kuzi16 said:

..... i now have a great guitar that has so little hum that i kept turning it up to make sure it was working.

... then i hit a string. yup, its working .....

THAT is awesome! Glad it worked out, kuzi.

Thanks for reporting back to us ... and don't be a stranger.

Dan