(stupid?) Pot grounding question

T

The Craptain

New member
What part of the pot actually needs to be in contact with the (strat) pickguard shielding if I want to avoid wiring the backs of the pots together for grounding purposes? When I install the pots in the pickguard, the shafts stick up too far on top so that the knobs don't press down all the way to the pickguard. If I use another nut under the pickguard to lower the pot, the back of the pot is no longer in contact with the pickguard shielding. However, the part of the pot that the nut screws onto is in contact with the nut, which is contact with the pickguard shielding - is this sufficient to connect all the pots so I only need one wire from the back of one pot going to ground? Hope this makes sense...

Thanks,
Mark
 
Re: (stupid?) Pot grounding question

Looking at the back of the pot with the lugs along the bottom, the lug on the right (also known as lug 1) goes to ground. Even with the pot body not touching the pickguard, it should still be in contact with the shielding via the washer and nut that you put there to lower it some. Just make sure lug 1 is connected to ground. You can put the output jack ground wire to that same lug to be sure.
 
Re: (stupid?) Pot grounding question

It is best to run a thin G. wire to everything from switch to tone pot to Bridge or spring claw. Not A Stupid ??
 
Re: (stupid?) Pot grounding question

ErikH said:
Looking at the back of the pot with the lugs along the bottom, the lug on the right (also known as lug 1) goes to ground. Even with the pot body not touching the pickguard, it should still be in contact with the shielding via the washer and nut that you put there to lower it some. Just make sure lug 1 is connected to ground. You can put the output jack ground wire to that same lug to be sure.
Click to expand...

Erik, thanks for your quick reply. I've been mulling this over all day...just so I understand what's going on, would these two wiring setups be equivalent?

1. Running the black wires from each pickup, the ground wire from the output jack, (and wires from the back of each tone pot, if pickguard shielding is absent) to lug 1 of the volume pot, which also has a wire going to the trem spring claw.

And

2. Running the black wires from each pickup, the ground wire from the output jack, (and wires from the back of each tone pot, if pickguard shielding is absent) to the back of volume pot, which also has a wire going to the trem spring claw. In this situation, lug 1 of volume is bent back and soldered to the back of the pot, as is often shown in wiring diagrams.

I guess, in other words, is the back of the pot connected to anything inside the pot, or is it just a convenient place to solder a bunch of wires together?

Thanks for your help. I'm kind of a dud at thinking about these sorts of things.

Mark
 
Re: (stupid?) Pot grounding question

Both of those methods will do the same thing. Just as long as all the grounds are connected, that's what matters. The back of the pot is convenient because it is a bigger area for several wires. The pot lug is really good for one or two wires at most so bending and soldering it to the pot shell is most common, or use a paper clip to or small wire to connect it to the shell with the rest of the ground wires. In order for the pot to work as a volume, that lug (lug 1) must be connected to ground.
 
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