Installing Pickups..Ground wire from bridge?! HELP!!!

[soulsharborax]

ok my band got picked up by seymour duncan...and i took all the EMG's out of my Michael Kelly guitars and am putting these Seymour Duncan Invaders in them...in the diagram it says something about a ground wire from bridge....i didnt see any ground wire coming from my bridge at all in any of the cavities of the guitars...i know a couple of my RG 7's have them connected to the floating bridge...but where are they on the Michael Kelly guitars?! do i not need them?

 

[94Tremoverb]

Yes, you need them with passive pickups or you'll get a lot of buzz.

If the guitars have Gibson-style stop tailpieces or tune-o-matics and through-body stringing, the only way to fit the ground wire is to pull the stopbar or bridge body insert on the treble side, drill a hole through into the control cavity, run the wire into the hole so it contacts the metal, and refit the insert. Depending on how the guitar was made (how deep the insert, whether it's glued in or just friction fit, and whether the finish goes over it) it may be less or more difficult to get out...

If that doesn't sound like something you want to attempt, you'll need a tech to do it, or possibly choose the Duncan active pickups instead, which I think may not need the ground wire.

 

[Anonymous]

also you may have to shield the inside cavities of the guitar or you'll also have ground issues.

good luck

 

[moondawg]

I would have just made life size pictures of the SD pups and glued them to the EMGs... who'd know.

 

[MesaENGR412]

Congrats on Seymour Duncan man!
What made you choose the Invaders instead of the Blackouts or EMTY's that are active like the EMG's in your guitars? Just curious. It seems like the actives would sound closer to what you had than passive Invaders (that is if you liked your sound). Also, Active EMG's don't require a ground wire, due to their on-board EQ and internal shielding I believe, and that is why there is not one installed on the guitars that came with them already installed.

-AJH

 

[soulsharborax]

thanks man!!! we are stoked...great people to work with over there at SD...i just wanted to get away from the actives man...first with the EMG's it just seems like you always sound like a EMG...i could put one in a $200 shitty guitar...or a $2,000 great guitar and it would sound the same...i feel you dont get the true sound of your guitar with them...and also the low end just isnt there like it is with these invaders...i also picked them b/c they are the highest output for pickups without them being active...so i just wanted to give something else a shot...i have always played EMG's...all my stage guitars had EMG's in them on top of the back ups...so that was alot of 9v batteries ha...im totally stoked with these invaders though...sound soo good in the guitars..i want to try some others they have too though in some of my other guitars...thanks for the tip on the ground wire...i was like WTF!?!?! ha

 

[Guitar GeeK]

Just get the Blackouts. That way you don't need to rip out the pots, and do all that b.s with the grounding. It works off the plug and play 3 prong thing that EMG has.