Earthing of the bridge and strings in a Mayfield

[Gilbert]

Good morning, I am the proud owner of Mayfield "Tears of Dracula" D150160-09 010/024.

I have an interesting problem with this instrument. It would appear that the bridge, tailpiece and strings are not earthed properly. This problem only becomes apparent when the guitar is used through a particular make of valve amplifier, i.e., Hiwatt.

A check with a meter shows that there seems to be very poor conductivity between the bridge and the earth ( ground). This leads me to believe the earth wire may have been slightly dislodged during assembly. The guitar is in mint condition and has never been altered in any way.

Please can someone tell me how exactly the earth is connected to the bridge so I can check it? - it is. as you can imagine, quite difficult to see inside through the F-holes. I don't want to remove more hardware that I have to, not on what is virtually a brand new guitar. The wiring diagram doesn't show the earth wire.

Hads anyone else had a similar problem?

Hoping someone can assist with this, thank you.

Gilbert.

 

[Alexandre]

Good morning, I am the proud owner of Mayfield "Tears of Dracula" D150160-09 010/024.

I have an interesting problem with this instrument. It would appear that the bridge, tailpiece and strings are not earthed properly. This problem only becomes apparent when the guitar is used through a particular make of valve amplifier, i.e., Hiwatt.

A check with a meter shows that there seems to be very poor conductivity between the bridge and the earth ( ground). This leads me to believe the earth wire may have been slightly dislodged during assembly. The guitar is in mint condition and has never been altered in any way.

Please can someone tell me how exactly the earth is connected to the bridge so I can check it? - it is. as you can imagine, quite difficult to see inside through the F-holes. I don't want to remove more hardware that I have to, not on what is virtually a brand new guitar. The wiring diagram doesn't show the earth wire.

Hads anyone else had a similar problem?

Hoping someone can assist with this, thank you.

Gilbert.

Hi there,

Grounding of the bridge is done on all our Framus models. I'd advise you to go to your dealer or a local tech, as usually the cable for grounding is located in the tailpiece or bridge threaded insert holes (the contact surface might just need to be sanded to increase conductivity). Removing them to replace or adjust this grounding requires proper tooling in order to avoid damaging the instrument. Same if the grounding is unsoldered from the pot, checking it requires dentist mirror, and resoldering it requires removing the pots from the instruments, which can damage your instrument if not performed properly.

 

[Florin]

Welcome to the forum Gilbert

 

[Gilbert]

the ground cable to nowhere

Thank you for you help Gentlemen, I am guessing the instrument is now out of warranty. I live in a remote part of Scotland and Framus dealers are many miles away.

I am a grandfather who has been playing Frami for many years , my first electric was a Riviera in 1967 and that wasn't yesterday. SO I decided to have a little look myself.

The first thing I notice is how well the cables have been run inside this quality instrument. I immediately located the earth ( ground) wire coming, as you would expect, from the lower post of the bridge. But the other end of this bare ground wire didn't go anywhere- it was still coiled up neatly, and had been placed in the central body cavity. It certainly shows no signs of ever having been soldered or connected to anything.

Perhaps my photo can describe this situation a little better.

And so now I am able to repair my cherished Tears of Dracula ( which I hope to pass down to my grandson one day) and another mystery of Transylvania has been solved.

 

[The ShadowKnight]

Glad that it was not a big repair Welcome to the Forum from a fellow Framus and Warwick player!

 

[Gilbert]

Glad that it was not a big repair Welcome to the Forum from a fellow Framus and Warwick player!

I have been chasing this earth fault for weeks! I am delighted it has turned out to be a an easy fix. You'd need a masters degree in gynaecology to be able to work inside those F holes.

The wiring in there is beautiful very simple and robust. Very neat, too. Hope I never have to go in there again.

 

[The ShadowKnight]

I changed the Pu on the neck of myr Renegade Custom and I have to agree, though like with any wiring...one is happy to have completed it successfully

 

[Alexandre]

Thank you for you help Gentlemen, I am guessing the instrument is now out of warranty. I live in a remote part of Scotland and Framus dealers are many miles away.

I am a grandfather who has been playing Frami for many years , my first electric was a Riviera in 1967 and that wasn't yesterday. SO I decided to have a little look myself.

The first thing I notice is how well the cables have been run inside this quality instrument. I immediately located the earth ( ground) wire coming, as you would expect, from the lower post of the bridge. But the other end of this bare ground wire didn't go anywhere- it was still coiled up neatly, and had been placed in the central body cavity. It certainly shows no signs of ever having been soldered or connected to anything.

Perhaps my photo can describe this situation a little better.

And so now I am able to repair my cherished Tears of Dracula ( which I hope to pass down to my grandson one day) and another mystery of Transylvania has been solved.

Damn,

I forgot about the Humbucker access... >_<