How To Solder Ground Effects On A Bass Guitar

You've just purchased a bass and want to know to solder the ground effects on a bass guitar. It is important that the pickups and strings are soldered to ensure the very best tone of a bass guitar. Soldering the ground affect correctly on a bass guitar will help to ensure the proper bass sound. The ground wires may also need to be soldered correctly to help get rid of that annoying buzzing or hissing noise that your bass guitar is giving off. You can follow a few, simple steps to solder ground effects on your bass guitar properly.

To solder ground effects on a bass guitar you need:

• Phillips screwdriver
• chisel tipped soldering iron
• small pillow
• damp cloths
• towel

1. Lay the bass correctly on a flat surface. First make sure to unplug your bass guitar. Then heat the soldering iron and put a damp cloth underneath it to prevent any burns on the work surface. Take a towel and place it underneath the bass guitar as you lay it on a flat work surface. This will prevent any scratches from getting on the body finish. Next, create a level surface by placing a small pillow underneath the headstock of the bass guitar.
2. Remove the strings and locate the ground wire. Carefully remove the strings from the bass, and then unscrew and remove the pickups from the bass' body pickup cavities. Follow the path leading from the wire of the pickup to the volume pot that is located on the control plate. The ground wire is the bottom wire leading from the volume pot to the bottom of the pickup on the bass guitar.
3. Adjust the connections. Check to see if the soldered connections are loose by gently pulling on them. Remove any loose connection by using the heated soldering iron to heat and pull away any loose solder on the ground wire joint. Reattach the ground wire to make a new connection onto the volume pot joint and liberally apply solder to the new connection.
4. Allow for the new solder joint to cool. Give it at least an hour to cool off, if not more. Reinsert and re-screw the pickups back in place in their cavities. Re-string the bass and once you plug it up, play it to ensure the buzzing noise from the pickups is gone. If you still hear buzzing noise from your bass guitar, repeat the above steps to apply additional solder to the ground wire connection.