I think Ibanez forgot a bridge ground in my M80M?

[Matt08642]

I've had my M80M for a few years, and when I was playing it the most I was using double noise gating with a plugin (Guitar > Boss NS-2 > MOTU M4 interface > Omega Grano VST with noise gate). I was also basically only playing Meshuggah shit full blast so I never really noticed the noise too much. Eventually I noticed the M80M was way noisier than other guitars I had, but wrote it off as a result of the high output M8. My EMG 81 is also noisy as hell in my room, so I figured I'd just need to live with it.

Fast forward a few months and I noticed that when I touched the metal part of the guitar cable the noise almost went away entirely, so I figured maybe a ground connection came undone in the control cavity. I tried taking off the back plate to inspect, but the route is so tight to the plastic I wasn't able to get it off even with some suction cup tools I normally use for flush backplates.

Fast forward again to today, I want to play the M80M with my actual amp and the noise when using a TS9 makes it pretty much unplayable. Used my multimeter (which I don't think I had years ago when I first noticed the noise) to test continuity and I confirmed a lack of bridge/string ground, finally manage to pry the backplate off with some feeler gauges and a lot of fingernail prying, and I see this:



As far as I can tell, the factory took what was supposed to be the bridge stud ground wire and just... routed it back to the pickup cavity and attached it to something? I tried giving it a gentle tug and it's pretty solid, but I have no idea what they'd solder it to in there. Maybe they jammed it down the hole you screw the pickup screws in to and thought that would do the trick? The bridge ground hole is present and has no wiring in it



Guess I have a project for the next string change lol.

 

[Yul Brynner]

Isn't that like super dangerous potentially deadly?

 

[ToRNOuTLaW]

Isn't that like super dangerous potentially deadly?

I was told by two separate people, that today's amps and stage-technology use circuit-breakers and stuff that should prevent surges through the guitar cable. But yes, potentially this could be deadly.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Isn't that like super dangerous potentially deadly?

That "mic ground" scene in Almost Famous made me paranoid every time I am on stage.

 

[cbeswick96]

Did you ever fix this? My M80M has the same thing

 

[ArtDecade]

It can be deadly - Google Keith Reif. My guess is that Ibanez wants to kill you, too. I don't know why. Maybe you offended them....

 

[philkilla]

"The low F that ended my life" by @Matt08642

 

[BabUShka]

I read that two M80M guitars here has the same "issue". I would at least measure the continuity before doing anything, maybe they chose a different ground route than the predrilled hole. Just use a multimeter and measure between strings/bridge and pot-meters.

Also you would usually gear a constant hum without cancellation if you touch the strings => There is ground wire
Of the sound still there without reduction of hum while touching strings -> Missing groud wire

At least you have the ground wire hole.. I had to drill in 3 of my guitars, nearly missed the electronics cavity of my Ran Crusher It was easy to ground the hipshot bridge, much worse with the string-through guitars where you potentially have to pull out the TOM system

 

[Matt08642]

I read that two M80M guitars here has the same "issue". I would at least measure the continuity before doing anything, maybe they chose a different ground route than the predrilled hole. Just use a multimeter and measure between strings/bridge and pot-meters.

Also you would usually gear a constant hum without cancellation if you touch the strings => There is ground wire
Of the sound still there without reduction of hum while touching strings -> Missing groud wire

At least you have the ground wire hole.. I had to drill in 3 of my guitars, nearly missed the electronics cavity of my Ran Crusher It was easy to ground the hipshot bridge, much worse with the string-through guitars where you potentially have to pull out the TOM system

No continuity when using the multimeter, and the buzz improves drastically when I touch the metal/ground of the cable that I have plugged in. I wonder if the black finish on the bridge is non-condictive and messing with continuity? Though surely that would present itself as an issue in every guitar with an FX Edge-III.

All these months later and I still haven't taken the strings off and ripped things apart First thing I'll do is take the pickup out and see where the mystery wire goes. I did find out that the hole I thought was a bridge ground hole simply stops in the wood somewhere, very shallow and definitely doesn't make it all the way to the bridge post or under the bridge. Strange...

 

[cbeswick96]

I read that two M80M guitars here has the same "issue". I would at least measure the continuity before doing anything, maybe they chose a different ground route than the predrilled hole. Just use a multimeter and measure between strings/bridge and pot-meters.

Also you would usually gear a constant hum without cancellation if you touch the strings => There is ground wire
Of the sound still there without reduction of hum while touching strings -> Missing groud wire

At least you have the ground wire hole.. I had to drill in 3 of my guitars, nearly missed the electronics cavity of my Ran Crusher It was easy to ground the hipshot bridge, much worse with the string-through guitars where you potentially have to pull out the TOM system

With my M80M the bridge wasn't grounded at all. I've since added a ground

No continuity when using the multimeter, and the buzz improves drastically when I touch the metal/ground of the cable that I have plugged in. I wonder if the black finish on the bridge is non-condictive and messing with continuity? Though surely that would present itself as an issue in every guitar with an FX Edge-III.

All these months later and I still haven't taken the strings off and ripped things apart First thing I'll do is take the pickup out and see where the mystery wire goes. I did find out that the hole I thought was a bridge ground hole simply stops in the wood somewhere, very shallow and definitely doesn't make it all the way to the bridge post or under the bridge. Strange...

I pulled mine apart yesterday and can confirm the hole in mine is indeed for a bridge ground, however the bushings are indeed costed so you'll have to scratch some paint off. I grounded it yesterday and experienced a drastic improvement. However the solder work is extremely shoddy because I only have poor quality solder till tomorrow.

I'll keep you updated, but double check the hole in your control cavity, as mine only goes in about 15mm before making contact with the bridge post, but because the bushing was coated it made it extremely difficult to see.

Upon researching this, it would seem that many M80Ms were shipped with awful QC, resulting in issues like this.