Tele guys...

AniML

New member
Do you run a ground wire between the pots or rely on the control plate for common ground? I've done it both ways
 
Re: Tele guys...

The grounding through the control plate may not be perfect but it is an inherent part of the design. Adding secondary grounding between the pots creates a loop.
 
Re: Tele guys...

The grounding through the control plate may not be perfect but it is an inherent part of the design. Adding secondary grounding between the pots creates a loop.

Nah, most current Fenders have it.

I would have to check all mine, but I am pretty sure I did the last one '50's style.
 
Re: Tele guys...

The grounding through the control plate may not be perfect but it is an inherent part of the design. Adding secondary grounding between the pots creates a loop.

This seems to be pointed out many times on this forum ... that's not what a ground loop is!

An extra wire is unnecessary, but it does not create a ground loop.
 
Re: Tele guys...

I'm building a tele and I've always wondered why it's grounded to the bridge... Because when something goes wrong and you fret a chord, all the electricity goes towards the path of least resistance... you. isn't there a safer way? like sticking a small piece of metal inside (not in contact with the strings) and grounding everything there?
 
Re: Tele guys...

I think the point is to ground us. Our body acts like a giant antenna. If you ground out our body, you kill the antenna.
 
Re: Tele guys...

The grounding through the control plate may not be perfect but it is an inherent part of the design. Adding secondary grounding between the pots creates a loop.

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This seems to be pointed out many times on this forum ... that's not what a ground loop is!

An extra wire is unnecessary, but it does not create a ground loop.


Thank you. Ground loops are a non issue in guitar wiring. If you've got a ground loop going on, it is not being caused by anything inside your guitar. It's being caused by something outside of it – something that involves higher current flow than you have inside a guitar.

Though it is not necessary to run wires connecting the pot casings when you have a metal control plate connecting the pots, there is also no detriment to running them (other than the cost of the wire and solder, and the time it takes to connect the wires – i.e. practically nothing).

Running a ground wire from the Tele bridge should also not be necessary if you have a bridge pickup with a metal baseplate, yet people sometimes do it anyhow. Same as above: not necessary, and also not detrimental.

If you are really obsessing over it, you could test whether or not it makes a difference by temporarily wiring the ground wire through an on/off switch and recording how it sounds in each switch position.
 
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Re: Tele guys...

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Thank you. Ground loops are a non issue in guitar wiring. If you've got a ground loop going on, it is not being caused by anything inside your guitar. It's being caused by something outside of it – something that involves higher current flow than you have inside a guitar.

Though it is not necessary to run wires connecting the pot casings when you have a metal control plate connecting the pots, there is also no detriment to running them (other than the cost of the wire and solder, and the time it takes to connect the wires – i.e. practically nothing).

Running a ground wire from the Tele bridge should also not be necessary if you have a bridge pickup with a metal baseplate, yet people sometimes do it anyhow. Same as above: not necessary, and also not detrimental.

If you are really obsessing over it, you could test whether or not it makes a difference by temporarily wiring the ground wire through an on/off switch and recording how it sounds in each switch position.

That's exactly true about pickups with a metal baseplate. You don't need the separate ground wire because the bridge is making electrical contact with the baseplate on the pickup through the metal mounting screws. That baseplate is connected to the ground lead of your pickup, therefore the entire bridge is grounded. I HAVE seen a separate ground lug used in line with the black pickup lead in Telecasters where there is no metal baseplate on the pickup (pre-2012 American Standards).

Grounding the bridge (and in turn, the strings) is standard on every electric guitar. Even my Gibson with the wraparound tailpiece bridge has a ground wire run to the base of the hole under the mounting post. Strats have it too (usually connected to the trem claw). If you don't, you're just asking for buzz.
 
Re: Tele guys...

That's exactly true about pickups with a metal baseplate. You don't need the separate ground wire because the bridge is making electrical contact with the baseplate on the pickup through the metal mounting screws. That baseplate is connected to the ground lead of your pickup, therefore the entire bridge is grounded. I HAVE seen a separate ground lug used in line with the black pickup lead in Telecasters where there is no metal baseplate on the pickup (pre-2012 American Standards).

^^ Valid for a standard Tele bridge, but thinking a little outside the box (a Wilk cut off bridge or Strat hardtail with a body-mounted Tele pickup, or a HB in a ring for example) the bridge is not grounded via the pickup mount and a separate bridge ground is required.
 
Re: Tele guys...

^^ Valid for a standard Tele bridge, but thinking a little outside the box (a Wilk cut off bridge or Strat hardtail with a body-mounted Tele pickup, or a HB in a ring for example) the bridge is not grounded via the pickup mount and a separate bridge ground is required.

Well yeah, but then we're not talking about a Telecaster bridge.
 
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