Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

Ayrton said:
If doing two volumes, no tone then both pots get grounded to themselves. Bend the lug back against the pot or add a jumper.
Click to expand...

I'm doing 2 volumes and one master tone. I still have to ground all pots together though, right?
 
Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

You really shouldn't need the bare wire connecting all three pots... the foil on the back of the pickguard connects the pots (or at least until one becomes loose down the road).

Check and prove to your self that the switch lugs do not contact the foil shield in the control cavity

Also check that the foil on the back of the pickguard makes electrical contact with the foil lining the cavity. You should have a 1/8-1/4" overlap to make a faraday cage.


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Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

Relying on the pickguard foil to be your ground is never a good idea. You are already in there, so why not run a proper ground.

Shielding in the cavity is not even needed unless you are experiencing RF noise. Most of the time the application is flawed, and in my experience, the tape dampens resonance while doing nothing else.
 
Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

SawDusty said:
You really shouldn't need the bare wire connecting all three pots... the foil on the back of the pickguard connects the pots (or at least until one becomes loose down the road).

Check and prove to your self that the switch lugs do not contact the foil shield in the control cavity

Also check that the foil on the back of the pickguard makes electrical contact with the foil lining the cavity. You should have a 1/8-1/4" overlap to make a faraday cage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ayrton said:
Relying on the pickguard foil to be your ground is never a good idea. You are already in there, so why not run a proper ground.

Shielding in the cavity is not even needed unless you are experiencing RF noise. Most of the time the application is flawed, and in my experience, the tape dampens resonance while doing nothing else.
Click to expand...

You know, I'm never sure if the faraday cage really ever worked, I may have not done it correctly since there is little overlap and I'm not sure it connects to the foil on the pickguard.


As an update, I went ahead and rewired it and finally got it working on the third try. I switched all the lugs on the pots and made a new ground bus wire to the other side of the pots, connecting them. Maybe I didn't need to but it's done. I think it's fairly quiet overall but my house is a little noisy too. I'm a little confused as to why the SD diagram didn't work for me but at least I figured it out. I'm assuming the switch wiring is for a different kind of blade switch, maybe the new ones Fender is using?

Anyway, the pickups sound great and I'm finally excited to play my Strat again. I guess I'm just not into single coils anymore, I wish I had done this years ago instead of constantly fighting it. Thanks to those who helped!
 
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Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

FWIW, here is the final version. I played for 4 hours straight last night, I'm definitely loving it!

jocoPbnh.jpg
 
Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

Nice!

Glad to hear you are digging it.
 
Re: Do the grounds need to be all tied together? (Strat w/ 2 HB's)

Ayrton said:
Nice!

Glad to hear you are digging it.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm just not into single coil pickups anymore, this solved it for me. I wish I stuck with mint green for the pictures but I can always change that later. I appreciate the help!
 
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