can we talk about ground

[Koolaide]

Hi all,
First off let me say I have built several successful electronic projects.Including tube amplifiers and I understand that grounding is a huge issue, both for the circuit to work properly and with a low noise floor, and last but certainly not least for safety.
I can make a circuit work, and I think be safe as it relates to grounding.
But... I am really struggling to understand the physics of ground. and.... What is ground vs. 0 voltage potential, are they really the same?

I plan on building some pedals and am planning to use a wooden enclosure and this has again brought up my lack of true understanding.

All input is really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[xtian]

Yeah, this is a tricky thing to get your head around...but some basics for our amp building include the idea that, for safety, our chassis must be connected to Earth, and this is the same as ground, and zero volts. In order to have a voltage potential, you need more than one thing (ground). Potential is the DIFFERENCE between two points. Whenever we talk about DC voltage, this is with respect to (WRT) ground.

Merlin has some good docs on the basics of grounding for low noise in tube amps: http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Grounding.pdf

[MakerDP]

I plan on building some pedals and am planning to use a wooden enclosure and this has again brought up my lack of true understanding.

As long as your "ground" is passing from the guitar through the cable, through the pedal, out the other cable and eventually into the amp unbroken, you will be OK. That's the important thing to design for. Other than that, you MAY need some shielding that is connected to your ground inside your wooden enclosures to keep noise out.