Three-Way Poistion Lever Switch

[MattSA]

Hi guys -

Can anyone tell me how to ground a three-way position lever switch? I'm working on a Standard Telecaster and have an extra lead. Initially I thought it was the bridge ground, however there is no ground plate for the bridge. All other components are properly grounded leaving the three-way position lever. I have checked for wiring diagrams and no telecaster diagram includes this ground. I have included a picture - although I'm not sure what you will be able to see. I can say this:

Neck Pickup ground to plate in pickup compartment
Tone Pot is grounded to Volume Pot
Volume Pot lug is grounded to Volume Pot exterior
Grounds from Neck ground plate and Bridge ground plate are also connected to exterior of Volume Pot
Bridge Pickup is ground to ground plate in pickup compartment

The superfluous ground is connected to ground plate in bridge pickup compartment and leads back to the Pot and Switch compartment.


Also - if looking at picture black wires are grounds, white and yellow are live.




Thanks,
MattSA

[MattSA]

Re: Three-Way Poistion Lever Switch

After a little down time, I began to wonder -

Since a three-way switch only conducts through specific posts - such as connecting the neck pickup to the pots or the bridge pickup to the pots or connecting both pickups to the pots - I don't know if it is possible to ground the entire switch. Is this why in 2-pickup telecaster diagrams the switch is not grounded? Looking at the Seymour-Duncan Standard Telecaster Wiring Schematic it appears as if the live leads from the pickup are connected to the outside top lug and the inside bottom lug respectively. The lead out from the switch (which connects the top two inside lugs and the bottom two outside lugs) runs to the pots. This leaves the inside third lug and outside second lugs free from connections on the lever-switch. Are these ground lugs?

Thanks,
MattSA

[MattSA]

Re: Three-Way Poistion Lever Switch

Here we go again -

Sorry - I have done some more research and found good information at:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/show...ele-to-the-pot

Seems like they fixed the problem of no ground plate on bridge by leaving a grounded wire with a bare end smushed between the body and the bridge plate. It is possible that my guitar was set up like this and when I removed bridge and pickguard the wire simply "looked" dislodged. Does this mean the switch does not get grounded at all? As said before - when looking at SD Wiring Diagram, the switch has no ground. If this is the case, what function do the middle terminals on the switch provide?

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Three-Way Poistion Lever Switch

I just use sandpaper to rough up a spot on the side of the switch, put a dab of flux there, and solder a ground wire to it. Flux makes the solder stick, because it's a pain to get it to stick otherwise......and you don't want to heat up the switch so much it warps the plastic.

Theoretically, on a tele, the switch may already be grounded, just because it's bolted to the control plate along with all the grounded pots.

[MattSA]

Re: Three-Way Poistion Lever Switch

I'm still unclear about grounding the three-way lever switch. I've checked through most of the Telecaster diagrams, and then went onto some diagrams utilizing five-way lever switches. Some of the latter show a ground from one of the terminals, none of the former are grounded. Does this mean the 3-way switches do not need a ground? I've also looked through Bing images for schematics, and none of these showed three-way grounded switches either. Obviously, I can follow the diagrams - but as a beginner I'd like to know why. Thanks.

Matt