Starting my first telecaster build, my first telecaster anything. I am putting a Rio Grande Muy Grande in the bridge and a tall boy in the neck. But I am not sure of the best way to ground the thing.. The Rio Grande schematic doesn't show a ground. The Fender schematic shows it ground to a "pickup cavity solder lug" . I would imagine a good ground could be made to the bridge plate.. some advice would be nice.. first question of many to come.
Last edited by gibson-r8; 12-29-2009 at 04:43 PM.
A traditional Tele bridge pickup gets grounded by default when you mount it. The black wire is attached to the pickup elevation plate. The height adjustment screws connect the plate to the bridge.
You can add another ground wire for good measure if you like though it's usually not necessary.
Thanks Don, but the Rio Grande base plate is plastic..
The ground will be the pot cases.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Trap a wire between the bridge and the body and solder it to a pot case. Check it for continuity before putting the saddles on and stringing up.
thanks... I appreciate you knowledge and willingness to share with a short scale picker..
That does not excite me.Originally Posted by gibson-r8
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Me either, though in my quest for cool sounding Tele pickups I did hear a few bridge pickups without metal base plates that sounded good. A bit more subtle than a traditional Tele bridge pickup. They weren't for me, but I can see where some players would like them.
Well.. I am sure I would just as soon not even venture into what excites you.. but again.... I know less than nothing about telecasters.. what is the issue with the plastic base plate on the rio grandes.. and does the neck pickup really screw into the body, not suspended from the pickguard like a stratocaster?
most tele lead pups have a metal baseplate on them that grounds the pickup through the bridge to the strings. it also couples the bridge magnetically with the pickup, this is sort of the "tele magic". that is how the tele lead pup was originally designed to work, some newer designs do away with the metal baseplate. some people like, some don't. it's a personal preference.
i used to have an esquire with a muy in it, i liked the way it sounded.
as for the neck pup, yeah old skool pups screw into the cavity. you might be able to mod the pup so you can hang it like a strat type pup. it should take a 6-32 screw, so you might have enough meat on the bottom bobbin to drill out and tap. you'll just have to check it out.
good luck on your project.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
I have played some Tele pickups sans baseplates. They have a unique sound, but it isn't really what I would call the traditional Tele sound. A Tele with a happening bridge pickup is a magical thing. My ASe had no baseplate stock. Adding one turned a nice guitar into a real player. You can make a baseplate in about 10 minutes, and install in an hour. Time well spent.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Well thats cool.. I wanted to try the Rio Grandes out of curiosity and because of their Houston connection.. Since I know nothing about what a telecaster should sound like, my ignorance will be blissful. Thanks to you all for humoring me and providing insightful and pleasant answers..
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