Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Crow on May 20, 2010 at 12:23am

i don't see where anyone said you HAVE to ground the strings.

besides, you've got a great site and some really nice guitars, apparently ALL of them electric. don't you ground them? it seems like you should already know the answer to this one, that's all. :D

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Crow on May 20, 2010 at 12:26am

wow, and i mean some REALLY NICE guitars!

i really like that "three banger".. ow WOW, or the "Black and Tan"... a doubled three string guitar??? OOOOOH!

nice stuff man!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jerryrig240 on May 20, 2010 at 6:51am

I never bother with any knobs....switches or anything else of that nature.....just plug in and play.....I jut use my amp and pedal as the volume control. I have never been good at hooking up switches and knobs in a cbg, so I gave up on that a long time ago.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on June 2, 2010 at 12:09pm

Sorry it took so long to respond to this. I've been out of town.

I already know the answer to my question. Not trying to be a troll but trying to get some discussion going and get people to challenge conventional wisdom.

The answer is no, I don't always ground the strings. I make my customers pass a test before I will. If they are only going to play the guitar at home in a known safe environment, I'll ground the bridge. If they are a working guitarist, they need to confirm that they use a three prong tester to confirm that the house mains of the venue is correctly grounded (they don't know why I'm asking of course - I just throw it at them). If they are careful and test this kind of thing, I'll ground it. If they are not, I leave the bridge isolated. It may increase the hum in some cases, especially if the gain is way up, but I'm too wary of the risks to do it any other way.

Read the following article and you'll see why I'm so paranoid:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/technical/electrical/safety/index.php

Crow said:

i don't see where anyone said you HAVE to ground the strings.

besides, you've got a great site and some really nice guitars, apparently ALL of them electric. don't you ground them? it seems like you should already know the answer to this one, that's all. :D

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan on June 4, 2010 at 1:37pm

so is there any other way to ground the pick-up or is the bridge the only way. i'm planning on making my next four stringer electric and really don't know so much about it.

josh, i agree with crow your work is art and i often scroll through the smokehouse site for inspiration. and crow that plank guitar sounds mean. when i first saw it i was sceptical but when you started playing i was quite impressed.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on June 4, 2010 at 4:11pm

Well the pickups just get grounded back to the volume pot if you have one. If not, like if you had a couple of pickups going straight to the output jack, I'd solder one return wire of the jack lug and then the grounds from both pickups onto it.

Jonathan said:

so is there any other way to ground the pick-up or is the bridge the only way. i'm planning on making my next four stringer electric and really don't know so much about it.

josh, i agree with crow your work is art and i often scroll through the smokehouse site for inspiration. and crow that plank guitar sounds mean. when i first saw it i was sceptical but when you started playing i was quite impressed.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan on June 5, 2010 at 1:49am

so this explains why the volume knob might be needed. thanks.
i'm planning on buying a junked electric guitar and stripping it which means the wires would most likely be safely grounded anyway, huh. but i'll probably get one with two pick-ups and i believe one is all i'll need, so then rewiring will be required. always plenty to learn.

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

Well the pickups just get grounded back to the volume pot if you have one. If not, like if you had a couple of pickups going straight to the output jack, I'd solder one return wire of the jack lug and then the grounds from both pickups onto it.

Jonathan said:

so is there any other way to ground the pick-up or is the bridge the only way. i'm planning on making my next four stringer electric and really don't know so much about it.

josh, i agree with crow your work is art and i often scroll through the smokehouse site for inspiration. and crow that plank guitar sounds mean. when i first saw it i was sceptical but when you started playing i was quite impressed.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joker on June 5, 2010 at 2:13am

I have built them that way. The only reason I prefer a volume on the guitar is for control during a performance. I can roll the volume up for solos, or make adjustments when changing from distortion to clean without having to fumble around.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on June 5, 2010 at 4:43am

The article on grounding safety that I posted has to do with the ground of the building electrical system you're plugged into and not the guitar. The guitar could be perfectly grounded but if the house mains isn't then there is still the danger of shock.

Also, to my knowledge and from what I've read, most mass produced factory guitars are not properly shielded or grounded. You don't really get a good wiring job on a guitar until you pop some serious cash for something nice or take a crap guitar and completely rewire it on your own.

Jonathan said:

so this explains why the volume knob might be needed. thanks.
i'm planning on buying a junked electric guitar and stripping it which means the wires would most likely be safely grounded anyway, huh. but i'll probably get one with two pick-ups and i believe one is all i'll need, so then rewiring will be required. always plenty to learn.

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

Well the pickups just get grounded back to the volume pot if you have one. If not, like if you had a couple of pickups going straight to the output jack, I'd solder one return wire of the jack lug and then the grounds from both pickups onto it.

Jonathan said:

so is there any other way to ground the pick-up or is the bridge the only way. i'm planning on making my next four stringer electric and really don't know so much about it.

josh, i agree with crow your work is art and i often scroll through the smokehouse site for inspiration. and crow that plank guitar sounds mean. when i first saw it i was sceptical but when you started playing i was quite impressed.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan on June 5, 2010 at 2:41pm

Thanks josh, all very good to know. I skimmed the article but since i don't play out it doesn't really pertain to me. now i'll try and find some stuff on proper wiring. of course i'm like two months ahead of myself. i plan and research more than i actually build.

sorry i don't get this completely but if you choose to not ground are you trading a small hum for safety? If we don't ground the strings is it safer?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on June 5, 2010 at 5:51pm

Yeah, like I said, if you're not going to gig you should be fine and can ground the strings assuming your house is grounded properly (it most likely is). When you don't ground the stings you may or may not notice a small increase in noise. Hum and tone are all a balancing act. You could set your amp up one way, for example, and have perfect, noiseless playing. Turn up the gain though and you'll probably notice a bit of hum. It's just a constant exercise in tweaking variables, like when you're setting up a guitar for the playing action that suites you best.

Jonathan said:

Thanks josh, all very good to know. I skimmed the article but since i don't play out it doesn't really pertain to me. now i'll try and find some stuff on proper wiring. of course i'm like two months ahead of myself. i plan and research more than i actually build.

sorry i don't get this completely but if you choose to not ground are you trading a small hum for safety? If we don't ground the strings is it safer?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sonny Wentling on June 7, 2010 at 6:01pm

crow just saw your video on the plank guitar cool concept dude. It rocks

Crow said:

i used an old single coil and a jack. i grounded the metal bridge, but that's it. volume knob is not needed.

here's the guitar:
at 1:25 i play it clean tone
at 1:45 i add some awesome overdrive



hope this helps!

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page