bridge earth on epiphone tunamatic

[bill rand]

hi guys having a problem with buzz which goes quieter when i touch metal on guitar or amp, checked the loom and pots etc pain in the arse through the f holes lol, anyway now wondering how the earth is attached at the bride end, stop bar or bridge? lifted all four stud mountings but cant see any wire, im assuming its the same as a les paul in this regard but i dont really know cheers all

[Paragon]

Usually there is a single wire going from the pot casing closest to the bridge/tp and goes into a hole. How it attaches is that before the stud bushings are inserted into the body, the wire is inserted through the side hole into the bushing hole and when the bushing is inserted, it makes contact to the bushing side and grounds every thing.
I think it is usually on the TP bushing as traditional vintage bridges do not use bushings.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/tonefre ... 135-a.html

[bill rand]

Thanks paragan your a star thats what i thought (good link by the way) just seemed odd that i couldn't see any hole for a wire hen i took out all the inserts lol i assume tp stands for tail piece? i will take apart again tomorrow just the treble side insert of it and have another look god knows how im going to either feed a new wire or fish the original one through to it though, anyway thanks for your prompt assistance mate

[Paragon]

Do you have a Dot?

TP = tailpiece.

Those epi bridges use bushings so it may be going to that. Looks like you can gain some access through the bridge pickup route. Just unscrew the pickup ring and lift out.. wrap the pickup with something so it doesn't scratch the top and you won't have to desolder that.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/custom- ... -wire.html

If it has a trapeze instead of a tp, then I think they send the wire to the end pin hole or something.

[bill rand]

yep i have a Dot studio which ive modded with better pick ups and put in two 3pos toggle switches to coil tap humbuckers individually, it has the solid tail peice like a les paul so im assuming your right about the wire going to the push in bushes will have look the info might help some one else one day

[retrobob]

You will need to pull the tail piece bushing on the treble side and this can be a little tricky.

First carefully cut any finish back off of the bushing, next pull the bushing using a bushing puller (do not try to pry the bushing out) http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Bridges/Knob_and_Bushing_Puller.html or make something similar. Once the bushing is removed clean the old wire from the hole and cut a new piece of 22 gauge wire about 24” long, strip the end of the wire back about 1-1/2” (one and one half inch).

Push the un-stripped end of the wire through the bridge post bushing hole into the control area. For now, only push enough of the wire into the cavity that is required to retrieve it using a pair long nose forceps, tape the wire to the pick guard to secure this end.

There should still be a fair amount of wire hanging out at the post. Prepare the wire at its stripped end by flattening it slightly and lightly coating it with an electronics grade silicone grease http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102858, the grease will help prevent the bushing from shearing off the wire as it is pressed back into place.

Bend a 90° angle 1/2” from the stripped end of the wire and gently pull the other end of the wire until the bend is even with the wire’s entry hole inside the bushing hole and pointing down inside the bushing hole. Carefully push the bushing back into the hole contacting the wire, as you push the bushing down to its finished level the wire should slide along slide the bushing into the hole without any damage, making contact with the bridge post bushing.

Test between the new wire and the post bushing to make sure there is a connection, if all is OK, solder the other end of the wire to any ground source inside the cavity.

[bill rand]

cheers bob xxxx lol your both good chaps will give it a go soon thanks again