Hi all, I recently purchased a J/V strat loaded pickguard, and noticed an extra ground wire with an eye on the end. Clearly it had had a screw in it at one time, and my only guess is that the original guitar it came from was shielded, since the pickgaurd is new, I'm wondering was the J/V strat shielded? Anyone out there let me know
Thanks, -Brett

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Quit sittin' around and play!
"This one goes to 11."

That ground was probably attached to a place inside the pickup cavity,with a screw,like you guessed.
I've seen them in American Standards that were factory stock,I can't say for other models.

MY JV Strat has a wire atteched to the trem assembly.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

JV's are not shielded, meaning the cavities are not painted or covered in copper shielding tape. The ground screw with the eye will screw into the wood in the pickup cavity. (make sure it doesn't interfere with the pups when you put the pickguard back down.) Don't screw it into the bottom of the space where the pots go because you could go through to the finish on the bottom. Use one of the vertical wood surfaces, that's where I've seen them connected. There also will need to be a ground wire that will go the trem spring claw. The other ground wire will attached to your input jack.

You could also shield your current body while you are making the swap since it will be wide open. It will quiet the hum down some depending on how you do it.

Does anyone know the exact size of the grounding screw? I lost the one that came with my '98 Strat and need another!

Thanks!