Grounding the tone pots?

[jackpax]

Have an old 70's Strat and am putting new volume and tones pots in.  (The old one make a lot of noise when turning the knobs)    It will be wired very standard, 3 single coils, 5 way switch, no push/pull anything.  I'm relying on wiring diagrams I found online to put everything back together.  Here's my dilemma:  I find some diagrams where both tone pots have a ground wire soldered on them leading to the volume pot (and then out to the bridge ground).  But I've found other standard Strat wiring diagrams where there are no ground wires at all on the tone pots.  So are the tone pots ground wires necessary?

 

[Cagey]

Traditionally, the pot bodies are grounded to provide some shielding to the internals, as well as to provide convenient points for the various commons connections you need to complete the circuit(s). If you ran separate commons, you wouldn't have to ground the bodies, but it would add wiring complexity and you'd likely end up with a noisier instrument.

A better way to do it is described here. Keeps you from overheating the pots and tempting early failure.

 

[jackpax]

Thanks, Cagey!

 

[line6man]

The pots are often grounded via shielding, as a cost-cutting measure. It is debatable whether or not this is desirable, however, as it works in the short run, but may not hold up when the mechanical connects corrode, or a pot comes loose. That's why some prefer a soldered ground.

If you are in doubt, use a soldered connection. That is the most reliable way to ground.