Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jim on September 26, 2009 at 3:42pm

huh , 1 wire ? 1 conductor, dont make cents

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Permalink Reply by Tim on September 26, 2009 at 4:12pm

if it has just one wire then its probably shielded. just use the shielding as your ground.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on September 26, 2009 at 4:14pm

It could be a shielded wire. The inside is the hot wire. The next layer is braided wire surrounding it, which is the ground wire. There may be plastic insulation over the whole thing.

Skeesix

http://skeesixcbgs.com
Making Your Cigar Box Guitar Rock!

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Permalink Reply by Tres Seaver on September 26, 2009 at 4:20pm

I think we need to see pictures here, or a model number, or something. Without a ground, you aren't going to get any signal.

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Permalink Reply by MJohnson on September 27, 2009 at 4:29am

Tres Seaver said:

I think we need to see pictures here, or a model number, or something. Without a ground, you aren't going to get any signal.

Wow ... thanks for the help. I will attach some pictures. I'm not sure how well the close up shows it, but it appears to be a shielded wire as Tim and Skeesix suggested. If this is the case, do I just solder the ground wire(s) to a metal bridge? And then take the "hot" wire to the jack ... therefore, only one wire to the jack? (forget a volume knob for now ... cause I don't plan to have one now.

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Permalink Reply by MJohnson on September 27, 2009 at 5:30am

Ted ... Thanks a million for the explanation! It's EXACTLY what I need! My membership to this site has already paid for itself ;) Thanks again

Ted Crocker said:

MJ, you need 2 wires to the jack for any circuit to work. Carefully strip away the (red or blue) insulation to expose more of the shielding and inside wire. Carefully twist the shielding - this is your ground wire. Strip away the insulation from the hot (white) wire. You can solder the shielding to the negative lug of the jack, but to make it easier to handle I would solder another wire to the shielding and solder that wire to the negative lug. A wire from the metal bridge is soldered to the same lug, which will ground your strings. The hot (inside) wire is soldered to the positive lug of the jack.

Plug into the amp, crank it to 11 and rock out!

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Permalink Reply by Diydc on September 28, 2009 at 1:34am

Hi MJ, you could always try refering to a wiring diagram for further help, such as this one...
http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources/

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