4 way switch with a neck humbucker grounding

[TheJacket]

All of this (see link) makes sense to me, but how and where do you handle the grounding to the chrome cover of a neck humbucker? I am using a Tonerider Alnico PAF IV. See the box that says, "Important"...

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support...matic=tele_4ws

ALSO - are there any other wires I have to worry about? The Seymour Duncan diagrams don't show a four way Tele switch with a neck humbucker.

If anyone has pics of this being done, or can explain it to a technical 'short bus rider', I'd really appreciate it!

[Newfie_J.]

I installed my 4-way on a 62 custom reissue with regular singlecoils but at the time my instructions didnt specify to ground the pickup cover itself.
So I found the only other ground on the neck pickup I could think of.

I soldered that 2nd ground wire right into the same eyelet with the origonal ground wire. It may be wrong to others but somehow it works great for me. Its 2 years later and it was one of the best upgrades on my Tele.

It may be worth a try on a humbucker. Just be carefull not to damage the coil wire.

[TheJacket]

This guy has been very helpful on a variety of issues...here is his reponse to my question of grounding to the chrome cover of a neck humbucker and a four way switch...

"The cover meets the baseplate which meets the conductive shield of the 4-conductor wire which meets the volume pot. No need for a separate wire.


If you have a continuity tester you can check that the pickup cover is connected to the output jack ground - you hear a "beep" on your multimeter when it's working.


Andrew"

[Deaf Eddie]

See the box that says, "Important"...

What they are talking about here is that when you put a pickup in series or out of phase, you are putting the ground lead on the HOT side of the circuit (in series, partially).

If the pickup has a metal cover or baseplate that has continuity with the ground lead, then that metal cover is ALSO going to be HOT - no smoke and sparks, but it WILL be highly susceptible to unwanted noise.

The trick on Tele neck pup is to "unground/reground" the neck cover. This has been covered many times here, and I have created a little document to help: Unground/Reground a Tele neck pup's metal cover. Even though you have a humbucker, it's a good read.

BTW, the lastest Tele neck pups from Fender now come THREE-CONDUCTOR, with the independent cover-ground lead already installed. They had to do that to utilize the S1 in a Tele.

Newfi_J, you missed the point of the second ground lead - it must be a separate ground lead, and MUST NOT connect to the coil's ground lead, the eyelet for the coil's output, where you connected it. It should only be connected to the pup's COVER.

The way you have described it, if you ran that second ground lead to the 4-way, your second lead is completely superfluous. When you have your 4-way in the SERIES throw, the metal cover of your neck pup is HOT. Wanna test for this? Put the 4-way in SERIES, and as you play, touch a string (which is grounded) to the neck pup's cover. When the string touches, it will SHUNT off the bridge pup, giving you the neck pup ONLY, instead of both pups in series.

Conversly, If you ran it to ground on the back of the pot, then your 4-way is NOT working correctly. If everything else in the 4-way is wired correctly, your neck pup would be ALWAYS ON.

You could easily "correct" it following the instructions in the doc I linked to...
BUT, if it works for you, there's always the first rule of plumbing to consider ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it...").

AND OF COURSE, the proviso here is, as Newfi_J has found out, even if you DON'T unground the metal cover, it still WORKS. If you NEVER touch the neck pup's metal cover, you can probably get away with it. Like I said, no smoke and sparks - but it ain't right.

Back to your ToneRiders...

"The cover meets the baseplate which meets the conductive shield of the 4-conductor wire which meets the volume pot. No need for a separate wire.

What Andrew is saying is, the ToneRiders already have the separate/independent ground lead for the baseplate/cover - it's the BARE wire/conductive shield wrap in the lead bundle. That's the way all modern four-conductor pickups are wired - you could say they are actually FIVE conductor, the four colored leads from the coils, and the bare lead ground/shield to the baseplate/cover.

For use in a 4-way, the COLORED hot and ground leads (red and green) would go to the four-way; the series pair (black and white) would be soldered together and taped off, and the bare wire ground/shield from the baseplate would go to ground on the back of the volume pot. No worries.

[TheJacket]

THANK YOU, !!!

[Newfie_J.]

Thanks Deaf Eddie.
I will have to check that. I have never had a problem even though I tend to realy dig in when I play. But I am very particular about my instruments and will have to check this out and repair it.

[TheJacket]

Here is Andrew Cunningham's (head of Tonerider Pickups) follow up email to me about the grounding of his Alnico IV PAF with a four way switch...

"The AC4 has a shielded film running the length of the wire. You should twist this and connect it to the ground on the back of the volume pot. It IS connected to the cover via the two baseplate solder joints that hold the cover on."


At the risk of sounding like I'm shilling for these guys, the service and PERSONAL support from Tonerider is incredible...and their pickups are fantastic too!