Ground Wire location on my Polara

Dr. Hook

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Hi guys- I need to do some soldering- accidentally pulled off the ground wire on my 64 Polara s-100 and can't remember where it was attached. Does this matter at all? I had in mind to just solder it back to the bottom of the nearest capacitor, or even the input jack (not the tip side), but I don't want to *** it up, so if anyone can give me a quick piece of advice about this, I'd really appreciate it. These are last steps before the re-assembly and then off to my tech for a fretboard dressing which I am psyched about. I've missed my Guild and it will be great to have it back in playing shape.
 

GAD

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There are a lot of ground wires on a guitar. If within the cavity, all the metal parts should be linked together to form a common ground. There should be another wire going to the bridge and one going to the output jack. It really depends on which one got pulled, because if it's the one to the output jack and you wire it to a pot, the guitar won't work.

If you can post a pic then we can tell you more.
 

Dr. Hook

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Thanks GAD- I thought about a picture, so should have done. Here is it is- its the red wire coming out of the cavity:

xlgXcg4.jpg
 
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Nuuska

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Hello

If it is convenient - solder it on ground of output jack. Reason being - in unbalanced system like guitar the sound signal travels BOTH hot and cold wires - therefore the closer to amp input you can have it the better. In another thread I explained the better way of this - but if you are in a hurry and the guitar is otherwise fine so then this is it.

Finally - what I just wrote is hair-splitting - just solder it on most convenient ground location - since the distance to amp will be 100 times longer anyway.


But if you REALLY wish to know about better solution - just ask . . . and we will dig into signal grounding.
 
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hansmoust

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..... accidentally pulled off the ground wire on my 64 Polara s-100 and can't remember where it was attached. Does this matter at all?

From what I've seen the ground wire was usually attached to the back of the fingerboard volume pot; if you look closely you should be able to find the spot where it once was attached. The extra piece covered with red plastic that is attached to the ground wire may be an indication that somebody worked on it already.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Dr. Hook

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Thanks guys- I did spot where the wire came off from- I had to look closely to spot it as it is a bit grungy and messy down in there- it was indeed on the volume pot for the bridge pickup. I'll just stick on there again after cleaning the old solder off or possibly it might be easier on the output jack as you suggest, Nuuska. And yes, Hans, someone had worked on it many years ago; I had it in to the shop back in the 90s and I suspect that was when it was done, though no telling for sure as a lot of funny little things were done to it before I owned it.
 

Quantum Strummer

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It doesn't surprise me that the ground wire has been extended. Every single Fender Strat (and Strat copy) I've ever worked on has had stubby bridge-to-ground wires barely long enough to allow their pickguards to be flipped over for inspection. Except for the ones where someone else has already dealt with it. The first Strat I ever opened up resulted in a snapped wire.

-Dave-
 
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