Grounding Neck Pup Help (4 Way Mod w/pics)

[lazy912]

I've asked this before, but didn't get a clear answer. But I have the switch now and already took apart the guitar, wouldn't hurt to ask again. I'm planning on installing the 4 way switch on my Tele. As normal, I'm curious about grounding the neck pup. I just want to be sure with what to do before I do any damage. Thanks in advance for any help.

I have some fender vintage noiseless installed.
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3980/58991719pr3.jpg

Is this where I cut the lead?
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/5538/75808039sm8.jpg

Is this where I add the extra ground lead?
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/803/51871079bg1.jpg

Could I possibly add it here instead of on the one shown above?
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/4887/71086849qh3.jpg

Thanks for any helpful advice.

[RvChevron]

Looking at the pics, either location is fine because they are on the same wire/connection.

[lazy912]

Thanks for you response, but that raises another question for me. Is there any lead cutting involved at all in my case?

[Chiba]

Cut the wire and run your cover ground like the red line in your picture.

If you don't cut that wire, you're not disconnecting the pickup cover from the pickup's ground. That wire connects the cover to the pickup wiring - so both the cover and the end of the coil ground with one wire sticking out of the pickup.

Think of it this way - you "need" 3 wires for a pickup to work right - coil hot, coil ground, and chassis ground. Since normally there's 2 grounds, why not connect them internally and just make 2 wires sticking out of the pickup? Super easy! Done.

To do the series/parallel thing though, you need coil start, coil end, and chassis ground. Therefore, you must sever the internal connection (or in this picture, external there on the bottom of the pickup) so you can do the fancy switching, which requires both ends of the coil be available.

Cut the wire :)

--chiba

[lazy912]

Thanks a bunch. You answered everything that I needed to know. Plus some bonus info. Well, off to make some noise~

[lazy912]

Well, I went ahead and wired everything up, but I messed up somewhere. I have a bad case of hum. Any clues? I'll post pics tomorrow, but I think I did everything correctly...

[Chiba]

Check all your connections... look for a missing ground connection.

You may need to shield the control cavity.

Tele pickups are noisy anyway :)

I did this some mod with P-90 pickups, once I got it sorted out it sounds great, but it took some trial & error to get it straight!

--chiba