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Topic: 1950 Fender Champion bridge grounding |
Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2020 7:42 pm |
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First time poster; I checked elsewhere on Goolgle and SGF. Apologies if this has been already covered:
How is the bridge grounded on an early 50s Champion? I purchased a "Kit" Champion body and metalwork (without pickup, controls and jack cup, of course). After installing a drop-in Seymour Duncan Heritage p/u and off-the shelf controls and repro knobs, I'll still come out ahead (I hope), it just won't be 100% original.
Anyhow, I'm trying to figure out how the bridge grounding was done on the originals. If I use my imagination, I can barely make out a surface blem where a bare wire may have gone from beneath the bridge, over a short bit of body to the control cavity where it may have either been trapped (pinched) under the control plate, or possibly soldered to the back of the tone pot.
Anyone know for sure how this was done?
Thanks, all!
--Mike |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 3:12 am
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| Iirc, its all one piece so the pickup screws ground the pickup and the bridge is part of the plate. Wire it just like a Tele except intead of a switch go right to the volume pot. |
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Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 7:16 am
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| Iirc, its all one piece so the pickup screws ground the pickup and the bridge is part of the plate. Wire it just like a Tele except intead of a switch go right to the volume pot. |
I don't think this is correct. In a Champion, the pickup is separate from the bridge, and there's no plate like in a Tele.
My Champion is in another building right now and our town is on Covid-lockdown, but here's a gut shot purloined from the Seymour Duncan forum. I don't see any connection from the bridge to the control cavity.
Original URL: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?323777-Original-Early-50-s-Fender-Champion-Lap-Steel-Pickup-Identification
Thanks.
--Mike |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 7:50 am Re: 1950 Fender Champion bridge grounding
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| Mike Schway wrote: |
I can barely make out a surface blem where a bare wire may have gone from beneath the bridge, over a short bit of body to the control cavity where it may have either been trapped (pinched) under the control plate, or possibly soldered to the back of the tone pot.
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I believe you've answered your own question, as what you describe should adequately ground the bridge and strings. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 7:56 am
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The purpose of grounding the guitar is to reduce hum, and to do that, the bridge and strings need to be grounded. This connects you, the player, to the ground side of the circuit and your body shields the system from electromagnetic interference. This is good as long as you don't have a reversed ground on the amp or othewise have a hot amp chassis - then watch out!
As you can see pickup from the photo - the black pickup wire is connected to the base of the tone pot. The base of the tone pot is connected physically to the pickup cover and thus the base of the volume pot, so they are all electrically connected. The right side of the bridge cover should touch the right side of the bridge, over which the strings go - I just looked at my '53 Champion to confirm this. Thus the bridge and strings are now connected to the pickup cover and thus the pickup ground-side wire and the base of both pots. Then the volume pot base is connected to the ground side of the output jack.
This grounds the bridge and strings to the ground side of the circuit, as required. |
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Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 8:14 am
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| Dave Mudgett wrote: |
| ...The right side of the bridge cover should touch the right side of the bridge, over which the strings go - I just looked at my '53 Champion to confirm this. ... |
Thanks, Dave. So, the two pieces of metal (bridge and cover plate) just butt against each other? I'm not arguing the point, but this doesn't seem like a reliable connection (not to mention being a potential source of rattles). I'll check that out once I have it all in front of me.
If that's indeed how it was done, I'm inclined to just run a snippet of 22g solid wire from under the bridge across to the cavity. (as long as the wire isn't keeping the bridge from making firm contact over its entire length with the body).
Again, thanks,
--Mike |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 8:50 am
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On mine, the cover-to-bridge connection is very tight. I get no rattles, and the ground connection, as measured on an Ohmmeter, is good.
If I was worried about the connection, I'd cut a small piece of fairly thick copper sheet, such as used to shield guitar cavities, and secure it in between the plate and bridge at that connection point. This would firm up the cover-to-bridge connection without interfering with the bridge connection to the body. |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 5:43 pm
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| Yes, i had a later one than that. |
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Mike Schway
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2020 6:10 pm Re: 1950 Fender Champion bridge grounding
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| Mike Schway wrote: |
| ... a bare wire may have gone from beneath the bridge, over a short bit of body to the control cavity where it may have either been trapped (pinched) under the control plate, ... |
UPDATE: Upon finding a recent gutted project- Champion on eBay, there are several photos. There is, indeed, a bare wire leading from beneath the bridge, over to the control cavity, which descends into the cavity, presumably wedged in between the tone pot and the cavity wall. At the very least, the control plate itself is in firm contact with that wire. I could post photos, but as these are active sales, I don't want to be seen as shilling for them.
Mystery solved.
Mystery #2: It appears the pickup is mounted atop a pair of springs which didn't ship with the guitar body. Does anybody have the specs for those?
Thanks, all. Stay healthy!
--Mike |
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