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Alright, I've suddenly been getting a bit of a hum from my stang. It's the kind of hum you get when you're not touching the strings so I guess my bridge isn't connected to my control plate like it should be.

So there's this little bit of wire that goes from my bridge under the pickguard to the controlplate is it supposed to be what grounds the bridge?? If it is it doesn't seem to be doing the trick anymore for some reason...
hmm

EDIT:
image

mysteriousj wrote:It's the kind of hum you get when you're not touching the strings so I guess my bridge isn't connected to my control plate like it should be.

???

the bridge is grounded so the hum goes away when you touch the strings.

Mages wrote:

mysteriousj wrote:It's the kind of hum you get when you're not touching the strings so I guess my bridge isn't connected to my control plate like it should be.

???

the bridge is grounded so the hum goes away when you touch the strings.

yeah so, when I touch the strings that hum is still there, when it should go away! Touching the control plate makes it go away.

step away from the laptop first!

Yeah what you're saying is correct. If it goes away when you touch the control plate then there's a problem with the ground connection between the control plate and bridge. Your picture looks like it should be fine though.

Remove the bridge and check that there's a clean metal surface to make the contact, you can lightly use a little bit of sandpaper to remove any grime if it's dirty. Check the back of the control plate also. Then I'd replace the bit of metal (which looks to just be a guitar string, which is fine to use). Those parts are probably all fine but they're all quick and easy fixes and could well be the culprit so they're worth doing.

Another thing to try is touching the bridge plate, do that before the stuff in the paragraph above because that will confirm the connections mentioned there. Just think through the path and check each stage.

James wrote:Yeah what you're saying is correct. If it goes away when you touch the control plate then there's a problem with the ground connection between the control plate and bridge. Your picture looks like it should be fine though.

Remove the bridge and check that there's a clean metal surface to make the contact, you can lightly use a little bit of sandpaper to remove any grime if it's dirty. Check the back of the control plate also. Then I'd replace the bit of metal (which looks to just be a guitar string, which is fine to use). Those parts are probably all fine but they're all quick and easy fixes and could well be the culprit so they're worth doing.

Another thing to try is touching the bridge plate, do that before the stuff in the paragraph above because that will confirm the connections mentioned there. Just think through the path and check each stage.

Cheers! Turned out you were right. I just gave it a wipe and tightened the screws and it seems to be all good now. The multimeter is saying it's connected now too while it wasn't before.