strattones
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 15
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Post by strattones on Feb 2, 2010 0:14:59 GMT -5
I'm building a new strat with a Hipshot fixed bridge. How should I connect the ground wire to the bridge? Should I solder it? It's a pretty tight space to do that and I would expect that I'd need a really strong iron to get the bridge hot enough. Is it enough to run the bare wire underneath the bridge when I install it? I thought about running the ground wire into the screw hole for the bridge. It would push the wire into the finish, but that would be under the bridge anyway.
Thanks for the help.
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Post by sumgai on Feb 2, 2010 1:19:11 GMT -5
tonester, I'm building a new strat with a Hipshot fixed bridge. How should I connect the ground wire to the bridge? Should I solder it? It's a pretty tight space to do that and I would expect that I'd need a really strong iron to get the bridge hot enough. Nope, for the reasons you just named - can't get it hot enough to make solder stick to it. Yep. Probably the most common way to do the job, ala Fender Tele's and hardtail Strats. This also works. Most Gibson-styled bridges do this. Lay 1/2 to 1 inch of bare wire above the finish, and tighten down the bridge screws. The small dent in the finish is hidden, as you say, and it's entirely normal - no one's gonna call BS on you at some later date. HTH sumgai
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Post by dunkelfalke on Feb 2, 2010 3:02:27 GMT -5
Nope, for the reasons you just named - can't get it hot enough to make solder stick to it. shouldn't rosin help in that case?
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Post by D2o on Feb 2, 2010 10:16:06 GMT -5
shouldn't rosin help in that case? Funny you say that, DF … I had a guitar in which the ground wire appeared to have been soldered to the bridge. I cannot now recall if I removed it while working in the guitar (I do have a tendency to ruin almost anything I touch), or if it was no longer connected at the time I looked at it (I think it was the latter – in which case it may never have actually / successfully been connected). Anyway, no matter what I tried, I could not solder it on again. Every time I seemed to be making any kind of headway it would come right off at the slightest provocation … I could never get it to stick and ended up doing pretty much as sumgai has described. FWIW. D2o
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Post by sumgai on Feb 2, 2010 13:00:17 GMT -5
dunk, It's not a matter of the materials, it's a matter of heat. The bridge is (usually) mild steel, and that soaks up heat like a sponge soaks up water. Only a sponge will fill up pretty quickly, whereas a piece of steel like this will take many minutes to become hot enough to melt solder. The "cure" for the problem is to apply enough heat quickly, before it can disperse from the point of application. To do that, with steel of any sort, would require several hundred watts with a normal iron or soldering gun. Most places that do this will use a small gas-operated torch... that'll do the job, but how many of us have one of those in their workroom? As noted, Leo found the same thing. He could solder a wire to the vibrato "claw" (for the Strat) because it's small and thin - not much metal to soak up the heat, so an iron (in the 1950's, soldering irons ran upwards of 60-100 watts!) could do the job. Even so, he still just laid the wire under the bridge plate for the Telecaster and the hardtail Strat. As a radio repairman of old, this didn't set well with him, he wanted to get the best connection possible, but there comes a time when one has to relent, and that's what he did; relent and use the next best option, which as we all know now, works just fine. HTH sumgai
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Post by dunkelfalke on Feb 2, 2010 18:38:01 GMT -5
okay, got it. thanks for the explanation :-)
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strattones
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 15
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Post by strattones on Feb 2, 2010 19:10:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the help. Just laying the wire under the bridge seemed like the obvious thing, but I never put it past myself to get something wrong....
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Post by sumgai on Feb 3, 2010 0:31:31 GMT -5
tonester, Don't put it past us to get it wrong either! ;D dunk, You're welcome. sumgai
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Post by gitpiddler on Feb 3, 2010 9:25:36 GMT -5
Just a bare wire underneath a brass Mighty Mite hardtail worked on mine. Maybe a little dielectric grease on the wire could help? I later shaved the existing finish down to the wood under the bridge which really boosted the bridge-to-body tone transfer ;D
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Post by Teleblooz on Feb 9, 2010 16:19:42 GMT -5
I took the concept just a little further - put a piece of copper shielding tape where it'll make contact with the bridge, and soldered the wire to the tape.
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Post by ashcatlt on Feb 9, 2010 23:25:48 GMT -5
tele, that's a good idea too. I think with most strats you could just extend the cavity shielding tape, at least in a thin strip, to go under the bridge and accomplish the whole thing without the need to route an extra wire. The pickguard usually jams up against there tight enough to where it wouldn't be visible.
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