So Iām building a DC Gibsonesque guitar. Itās beautiful. Iāve put the bridge in. No way those plugs are coming out. Wait, whats this wire? Oh bugger, the earth. Which should go to the bridge plugs. Which now wonāt come out.
Honestly the buzz isnāt too bad - the guitar has two humbuckers after all. But it āfeelsā wrong. Are there other options for earthing - or do I just hide that wire and hope for the best?
if you donāt care ā¦ thatās the only thing that matters 
So
But also be carefulā¦"hope is often disappointment deferred " 
Good luck ,Greetings
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Yeah, I figured. I even considered drilling through from the cavity to the bottom of the bridge plug and then somehow forcing some copper sheeting in there to earth to. Messy, but hidden.
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I donāt think Iād do that.
I just did a bit of reading as I wasnāt sure the purpose of the ground.
After that reading. I really think it needs to be grounded!
If not for noise issues, ground it for safety reasons.
w/o grounding, and the right conditions happen, you may become the ground.
fwiw, I just googled āwhy grounding guitar bridge installationā.
There was enough info with that search to convince me, that ground needs to be there.
I understand the bridge plug wonāt come out.
However imho, ya need to figure a way to remove it. It is just friction your trying to overcome to get it back out.
I can think of two ways ya might get it back out.
use the male screw post to push into the guitar body. Itāll stop at the wood, if ya continue to screw it in, 'hopefully the plug will start coming up. As opposed to the post pushing through the back side of the body. This is a risk Iād think.
The other way would be to use a auto body type dent puller. A slam hammer. You may have to engineer the dent puller to accept your post screw. Iād use something other than the post itself so not to damage that. Then figure a way to keep the body of the guitar staionary and carefully slam away. Since itās friction holding it in, it will come out if enough force is used. How much force is the question.
Anyways, Iād go read up on why the bridge must be grounded. Make up your own mind as to whether youāre willing to take the chance of it not being grounded. Myself, I donāt think Iād want to play a guitar that I could become the ground for high voltage.
Iād figure a way to get that plug out for several issues that seem to happen when ungrounded. The most sever issue the possibility of me becoming the ground. This sound real dangerous for you imho. Let alone the tone issues, static issues, etc.
Good luck!
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Hey - thanks for the reply. I think if I were gigging and plugging into unknown older/tube amps, then electrocution does become a risk. Plugged in at home to my new Fender is unlikely to be a drama, I think. Exerting enough force to remove the plug is going to damage the body, I fear. I think Iāll try re-drilling through the cavity and to the bottom of the plug and then figuring out how to get some solder to hold thereā¦itāll be messy, but less risky in terms of damaging the body or the plug and/or post.
Hi Scot, send me a picture. There are lots of ways around it, and it must be grounded. Cheers HEC
Grounding the bridge is entirely for noise elimination purposes, not for safety.
The grounding here is nothing like proper grounding on mains powered devices, where the ground/earth is there as a specific safety mechanism and is not part of the normal circuit. In that case, it is to deal with (for example) an internal live wire becoming disconnected and touching a metal case. Without the ground connection, the case would become live and present a major risk of electrocution. The ground connection diverts the live current to make it safe (and, on modern installations, results in the breaker tripping).
This isnāt whatās happening with the ground connection on an electric guitar. Here, the ground connection is part of the signal path, effectively the return path for the signal, as electrical signals require a complete circuit to flow.
If the bridge is not grounded, thereās no way it can become live because itās not connected to anything and thereās no live wires near it. So, grounding the bridge has no impact on safety.
If you were connected to a faulty tube amp which put high voltages into the guitar, grounding the bridge isnāt going to protect you from electrocution.
So why the grounding?
Because metal parts, especially the strings (which are connected to the bridge) can act as antenna, and pick up electromagnetic radiation from equipment in your home/studio/stage. This can come from nearby lights (especially fluorescent lights) or appliances or just mains āhumā from the electrical cables in the walls. Grounding the strings (via the bridge) can significantly reduce this electrical noise.
So, even if you do gig and plug into old tube amps in dingy clubs with poor wiring, whether or not your bridge isnāt grounded isnāt going to affect whether you get electrocuted or not.
Cheers,
Keith
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Thanks for the explanation - Iāve done a bit a reading around this and yours is the easiest to understand that Iāve come across! If Iām getting it right, if thereās no buzz or other interference where Iām playing, then earthing the bridge is unnecessary? (Yes, Iām looking for an easy way out of the fix Iāve gotten myself in!)
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Basically, yes.
Note that, if you do get interference then, often, touching the strings with your hands will provide a ground path, and will reduce the noise
Cheers,
Keith
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Hi Scott, yes, and it is still an easy Fix, believe me, those posts will come out, and you know you will feel better if you get that ground cable on, itās meant to be there, so put it back, my friend, itās no great deal cheers
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If I get time today I will post a photo of how I remove them cheers HEC
No rush - and thanks again. Always willing to learn 
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I love how sleeping on a problem helpsā¦ One cotton T-shirt, one old credit card and a very old claw hammer. You were right HEC, it did come out 
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Good Scott and not far from what I do, but not the old hammer, but yeah, they come out easy, and I bet you know youāre a happier man, ground cable in and back to your build, well done mate, keep us posted on your journey, cheers HEC
Iām intrigued. I love technical mechanical/woodwork problems, not necessarily to do with guitars. How did this work?
I was worried about using force and damaging the finish on the body. So T-shirt, credit card under the fulcrum of the hammer, and using the screw in for the bridge for leverage. In my head I was ready to buy new bridge pins, but it popped out without damage.
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