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Control Cavity Grounding Wire

DocJ

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Sep 5, 2011
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221
I was looking into the control cavity on my R8 - the pots and caps are aftermarket vintage-style, installed by a very reputable tech. I noticed that the grounding wire extends across each volume and tone pot, but there is no wire connecting the two tone pots. Most images I have seen show the wire extending around the four pots in something of a circuit.

Is there a necessary section of wire missing here? Does it matter?

Here is a pic of the cavity for your reference.


Cavity01_zpsac5bc227.jpg



Anything wise minds and voices can tell me would be appreciated. Thanks!


:punk
 

Black58

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Oct 28, 2005
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10,139
The wire's missin' from the tone pots. .. an' I don't know a LOT 'bout wiring/electricity,
but I DO know that improper/wonky grounding definately spells some sorta disaster,
possibly LETHAL! :ganz
 

Black58

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.. an' DON'T trust the British, as far as, things made of metal or wiring goes! :spabout .. :ganz
 

singlecut 54

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Oct 16, 2007
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Get a continuity tester and check for yourself, all four pots are conected. All pots are linked by the shielding on the cables.
 

Don

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Dec 1, 2001
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There's nothing wrong with those grounds. As singlecut 54 said, it's all grounded. Either way, there's no safety concern here. If you removed both of those ground wires the tone controls simply would not function. The grounding fault that is dangerous would be within the amplifier or line wiring.
 

singlecut 54

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Thanks, Don. It's the actual grounding of the strings that makes a guitar
Lethal. Then, any amp fault goes straight to the player). Gibson tried to do away with grounding strings in the late seventies /early eighties for this very reason and tried to rely on total shielding instead, but that's another issue.
If it makes the OP happy then there's no harm in connecting the two tone pots with an additional piece of bus wire.
 
Last edited:

JDPS150

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Dec 30, 2001
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1,386
the braided wires are all soldered together @ the switch, so everything is a-ok .

I just swapped the pots & caps in my LPC & my ground wires are just like that
 

Jumping@Shadows

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Dec 11, 2003
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All late '60s LP's are wired this way from factory, and this is how i do my vintage harnesses and there's zero issue here, grounding wise nor safety. ;)
 

Gold Tone

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Apr 2, 2002
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:rofl

You're not gonna electrocute yourself with the measly millivolts / micro-current running through an guitar circuit.

:rofl

You're fine with zero grounding...guitar will be noisy as hell, but you're safe.

It's amps (tube mostly) with 350+Volts residual sitting in them waiting to zap novice curious amp owners.
 

DocJ

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Sep 5, 2011
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Well, there IS in fact some hiss (I sit about 6 feet in front of my amp when playing - what can I say, I'm old), and it largely abates when I touch the strings or other metal on the guitar. Would the hiss likely diminish if I were to solder on the connecting bus wire?

I never thought I was going to get zapped. I was wondering about the effect on the tone.

Again, I appreciate all of your input.
 

Gold Tone

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Shouldn't make a difference.

If you're curious just alligator clip a ground between the two tone pits and listen for difference.

Shouldn't change
 

Don

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Make sure there's continuity between the strings and the pots via the wire that's entering the cavity in the upper left hand corner of your pic. The joint doesn't look real good and sometimes they don't attach well to the tailpiece bushing.
 
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