Ground wire screwed into wood ?

[jimmybusk]

Hi , I was wondering why a ground wire is screwed into the body on the later model Tele's ????

[JohnS]

It is actually making contact (hopefully) with the shielding paint in the cavities.

[gionnio]

I had a similar ground lug on a bass I acquired recently. There was no foil in the cavity, but someone told me that the lug is there so you can add foil as an upgrade.

This brings to mind another question: If Fender thinks it might be a good idea to add foil, why don't they use shielded cable for their pickups and the rest of the wiring harness? I realize that we're talking about single coil pups, but it seems to me that you'd want to try shielded cable before adding foil to the cavity if the goal is too eliminate induced noise. Why not just do it right at the factory?

[bug music]

My american Tele had a wood screw under the bridge pickup, it was a connection point for 2 wires IIRC. I don't remember seeing any shielding paint, just a wood screw with 2 ground wires connected. Is that the one you mean, in the bridge pickup route ?

- Jay

[jimmybusk]

Originally Posted by bug music

My american Tele had a wood screw under the bridge pickup, it was a connection point for 2 wires IIRC. I don't remember seeing any shielding paint, just a wood screw with 2 ground wires connected. Is that the one you mean, in the bridge pickup route ?

- Jay

..........Yep ,Thats the one I mean...and its the same paint thats on the rest of the body. in there. So,maybe there's a conductive shielding paint under that paint ?????? Also ,I'm not an electrical genius,but isn't the bridge plate an electrical shield ?

[JohnS]

As I understand it, the American Series Teles had sheilding paint in the cavities (my 2000 sure does.)

[bug music]

Looks like the same thing here on my 1990 American Tele, regular paint not shielded. All I can figure is it must speed up production, having a common lug to solder the grounds to rather than running a wire straight through from the bridge to the control cavity. Just my guess though.

- Jay

[photoweborama]

Shielding paint is applied before the finish coats.
The screw is supposed to make contact with the shields.
A trick Fender told me is to break the finish paint out under the screw so you can make better contact with the shielding paint.
The contact the screw is supposed to make into the paint is a very thin layer, and it does not work at times.

[jimmybusk]

Originally Posted by photoweborama

Shielding paint is applied before the finish coats.
The screw is supposed to make contact with the shields.
A trick Fender told me is to break the finish paint out under the screw so you can make better contact with the shielding paint.
The contact the screw is supposed to make into the paint is a very thin layer, and it does not work at times.

That kinda' makes sense,and they do have that "star" washer with the teeth that bite through the paint on the screw. Is this shielding paint metallic??

[photoweborama]

Originally Posted by jimmybusk

That kinda' makes sense,and they do have that "star" washer with the teeth that bite through the paint on the screw. Is this shielding paint metallic??

I found because the screw is into wood, that usually the star washer can't be tightened enough to break through the thick finish coats to the shielding.

The shielding paint is just regular dark gray color.

Here is an example:



http://reviews.photoweborama.com/all...our/index.html