Ls80 ground wire

[stevesemaphore]

My 1980 ls80 developed an earth hum that I quickly tracked down to a broken earth wire that seems to have cleanly broken between the pot and the bridge or tailpiece. Does any body know where the earth attaches to... The bridge has no bushings so I presume it attaches to the tailpiece bushings and it will have to be removed? Anybody know...removing the bushings doesn't sound like fun and god only knows how the wire broke in the first place

Thanks for any help

 

[JVsearch]

Yep, the ground wire is attached to the bushing that the tailpiece post screws into.

If you want to pull it out:
1. Use a very thin blade to cut around the edge of the bushing so the finish does not chip when pulling up the bushing.
2. Make your own "puller" tool using a long bolt that fits the bushing
3. Use the tail piece post or long bolt and a claw hammer (! )

Obviously you use some rags and pieces of wood on the top of the LP for the force of the puller or hammer to press onto.

Personally, I would have to get a luthier to do it...

It's not the greatest system in the world having the bare wire pinned against wood and bushing, and yours has lasted 30 years so that's not bad! There's a guy who came up with the idea of using a spring that sits in the threaded hole in the bushing with the ground wire soldered onto the bottom of the spring. That way when the post is screwed into the bushing for the tailpiece it is always pressing hard on the spring.

http://eksomething.blogspot.com/2009/02/les-paul-build-part-8.html

To do this you would still have to lift the bushing a couple of mm just to get the ground wire under it, unless the bushing doesn't go all the way down the full depth of the hole in the body. If this is the case you should be able to run another piece of wire into the bottom of the hole and hook it up into the threads of the bushing where the post will hold it in place, which would keep you going for a while.

Why did it come off? Maybe just corroded away, or the pot has been turning in the past and put some strain on it or something.

 

[stevesemaphore]

Ok looks like panic is over...this is what I did:

the wire had obviously come away right at the bushing. I saw a method for gently lifting out a bushing by putting a small flat ended screw or bolt into the bushing hole and gently screwing in the tailpiece bolt so that it pushes against the screw and lifts the bushing. It worked really well..no hammers no pulling and the bushing comes up straight no risk of enlarging the hole. I then fed the wire through up the side of the bushing hole and gently dropped the bushing in. Before tapping it home I checked for continuity with a meter and then with a wooden block and big hammer tapped the bushing back. All seems well.

Now as to why it broke. I wonder if the wire was originally under the bushing rather than up the side. The guitar had the tailpiece replaced with an aluminium one and was strung over the bridge with it screwed tight down so maybe the bolt cut the wire and there wasn't enough to hold. The wire was never under any tension. Anyway if you have a grounding problem don't assume that the ground wire is making a connection at the bridge. Check with a continuity tester

thanks for your quick response JV it saved me a bit of time

 

[JVsearch]

Ok looks like panic is over...this is what I did:

the wire had obviously come away right at the bushing. I saw a method for gently lifting out a bushing by putting a small flat ended screw or bolt into the bushing hole and gently screwing in the tailpiece bolt so that it pushes against the screw and lifts the bushing. It worked really well...

That sounds really brilliant! Good work for finding that and posting it here.

I might even be able to get the courage up now to pull the bushings on my LP if the need arises.