Nostalgic Distortion
New member
So I'm going to be changing the way that my Triple Telecaster is grounded in order for it to accept a more modern (no baseplate) bridge pup & I'm looking for a bit of advice as to what the best corse of action is. Right now the guitar has got two 51 Nocaster pickups in the neck and middle slots, (which I want to keep) a Bare Knuckle Piledriver in its bridge, (Being replaced) & a vintage style Tele bridge with the 3 barrel lugs...
The Piledriver is definitely a great pickup if you're looking for a little extra midrange & the fact that it was a high output pickup that had a steel baseplate like the original 51 Nocaster bridge meant that I didn't have to deal with this the first time I swapped pickups. Actually that was one of the biggest draws to it for me but through a couple of my amplifiers it can get a bit dark sounding? I can adjust the E.Q. so it sounds pretty great but if I do the neck & middle pickups start to become overly bright. Anyway, instead of keeping the Piledriver I'm going to replace it with something I know I'm going to love even before buying it, probably a STL-2 Hot for Tele Lead or possibly a Quarter Pound Lead?
Here's my issue...
Obviously I'm going to have to run a new ground wire from one of the pots to the bridge in order to get it re-grounded because the new bridge pickup will likely lack the plate & unfortunately I don't think there's any way of avoiding doing some kind of modification to the body unless I'm missing something? As you can see from the picture above this body was routed for 3 vintage Tele bridge pup's & nothing else. I kinda figured they'd use some kind of swimming pool route in the neck but no? LOL, you can't even get a regular Tele neck pup into the route without getting the router or your chisels out!!! I guess I'm just wondering what the "best" way of doing this is, or if there even is a "best" way?
As I see it I've got two choices, I could either run a ground lug from one of the pots to the bridge pickup's back bottom screw like Fender has been doing with their Modern Telecasters which would require me drilling/routing a pocket out for the grounding lug to sit in? Or I could just drill a hole under the bridge into the pickup cavity & then clamp it down on top after giving it a good bang with a plastic hammer to make it somewhat flush with the body? Drilling the hole into the cavity & clamping the ground with the bridge would certainly be a easier but I'm worried about excessive noise &/or grounding continuity. So is one way superior to the other or does it really matter???
Also, I'm pretty sure I'll be set leaving the baseplates on the two stock pickups in the middle & neck slots but if anyone thinks they might cause a problem please don't hesitate to let me know....
THANKS!!!
The Piledriver is definitely a great pickup if you're looking for a little extra midrange & the fact that it was a high output pickup that had a steel baseplate like the original 51 Nocaster bridge meant that I didn't have to deal with this the first time I swapped pickups. Actually that was one of the biggest draws to it for me but through a couple of my amplifiers it can get a bit dark sounding? I can adjust the E.Q. so it sounds pretty great but if I do the neck & middle pickups start to become overly bright. Anyway, instead of keeping the Piledriver I'm going to replace it with something I know I'm going to love even before buying it, probably a STL-2 Hot for Tele Lead or possibly a Quarter Pound Lead?
Here's my issue...
Obviously I'm going to have to run a new ground wire from one of the pots to the bridge in order to get it re-grounded because the new bridge pickup will likely lack the plate & unfortunately I don't think there's any way of avoiding doing some kind of modification to the body unless I'm missing something? As you can see from the picture above this body was routed for 3 vintage Tele bridge pup's & nothing else. I kinda figured they'd use some kind of swimming pool route in the neck but no? LOL, you can't even get a regular Tele neck pup into the route without getting the router or your chisels out!!! I guess I'm just wondering what the "best" way of doing this is, or if there even is a "best" way?
As I see it I've got two choices, I could either run a ground lug from one of the pots to the bridge pickup's back bottom screw like Fender has been doing with their Modern Telecasters which would require me drilling/routing a pocket out for the grounding lug to sit in? Or I could just drill a hole under the bridge into the pickup cavity & then clamp it down on top after giving it a good bang with a plastic hammer to make it somewhat flush with the body? Drilling the hole into the cavity & clamping the ground with the bridge would certainly be a easier but I'm worried about excessive noise &/or grounding continuity. So is one way superior to the other or does it really matter???
Also, I'm pretty sure I'll be set leaving the baseplates on the two stock pickups in the middle & neck slots but if anyone thinks they might cause a problem please don't hesitate to let me know....
THANKS!!!
