4 Way Switch on Tele requires separate grounding??

[jtrezzo]

Hi there, this is my first post here, been playing since I was 13, about 12 years now then. I'm currently working on my second partscaster, this time a Tele. I am planning on a 4-way switch but have some questions about the wiring. I attached the wiring diagram below. I am planning on putting a P-90 in the neck (which I will remove the stock cover and put a gold metal cover on it) and standard Tele Bridge pickup, both Lollars. So on this diagram below it states that the cover must be ground separately. How should I go about doing this? I'm quite confused on what exactly has to be done to make this work and would rather get it right the first time instead of trying something then having to take it apart again, although that seems a lot easier with a Tele than Strat! Thanks!

 

[Patrick from Davis]

All of the grounds will go to the same place.  You can run into problems with: daisy chaining grounds, solder joints, and complex wiring.  But, ultimately the grounds will all go to the shield on the guitar cable.  If they don't, you will generally find that the guitar hums excessively.  If you can make a ground bar, or somewhere to have a star point for the grounds, this usually makes it easier. 
Patrick

 

[Dan025]

you need to remove the baseplate and unsolder the pickup lead and depending on how you want to do it maybe the braided metal cable jacket as well. then you need to add a external conductor, the extra conductor can either ground the cover (unsloder the braided sheild in this case) or it can be a pickup lead so you would solder it to the loose wire the originally went to the baseplate and braided sheild. you might want to change the cable all together for the sake of it being neat and shielding both leads.

you really only need to do this on one pickup depending on the way the switch is wired, in the schematic provided it is the neck pickup that needs to be rewired with an extra conductor.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The explanation of why it is ground separately is because of the extra position on that switch.  It makes both pickups in series, if you didn't ground it separately, it wouldn't work.

 

[Dan025]

yeah if you used your ground as a pickup lead only then your covers would be magnets for interference. if you tried to ground it as well you'd wind up shunting the other pickup in the series position. so you need 3 conductors  on one pickup unless you run non sheilded pickups like on a stratocaster where the alnico magnet pole pieces don't attract as much interference.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

In the other positions where that pickup is by itself or in parallel with the other pickup, that cover and the pickup's ground wire are electrically continuous like normal.  When they are in series together, it disconnects it for the above reasons.

 

[bagman67]

It may be kinda ghetto, but on Bete Noire, I just took all the several grounds and screwed them together with a single wire nut.  I didn't photograph it, but this gives you the idea how it looks in practice: