Hi all, today I removed the back plate of my strat to have a peek and was surprised to find a wire soldered to the trem. This seemed unusual to me and a quick google search revealed that this is the ground wire.

I am not electrically inclined, but what exactly is going on with this wire? And why is it soldered where it is, and did it likely leave the shop stock like this or is would it be an aftermarket mod? Is it beneficial in any way?

Just trying to pick up some new information, as always. Thanks!

That's stock and perfectly normal.

It connects the springs, bridge, and strings to ground. When you touch the strings your body gets grounded too -- it makes you part of the guitar's noise shielding.

Turn up your amp a bit and let go of the guitar strings -- you should notice an increase in buzz and noise, which gets quieter when you put your hand back on the strings. On a well shielded guitar in an environment without a lot of noise sources the difference will be minor, but with a poorly shielded guitar with strong noise sources nearby the difference between touching the strings and not touching the strings will be pretty dramatic.

Thank you strayedstrater, I appreciate your help.

Question: if you're part of the ground, then is that why you shock yourself sometimes when standing up to a mic. I thought it happens more if the ground wire came loose from the bridge....

Grounding issues with my old ampeg has given me quite a nasty shock back in the past too... so grounding became a big issue for me

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