Here's what I have done so far for my Strat: Copper shielding tape inside control cavity and copper shielding tape inside input jack cavity (I soldered the tape seams already, and the edges of tape extend slightly up and over guitar top as so to contact aluminum pickguard shield and jack cup.)

As I said I am installing an aluminum Fender pickguard shield under the pickguard.

So my questions are:
Do I reconnect the ground wire back to the trem/bridge as it was before, or ground it elsewhere? Do I run small wire in between input jack cavity and control cavity and solder so both cavities shields are connected?

Thanks for any info!

You would ground it as before (to the bridge)
Both cavities should be grounded without making a connection through the hole, but it's not a bad idea to tie both cavities together via a small wire through the hole (soldered on both ends) to make sure.
The copper on in the cavity should make contact with the shield on the pickgaurd when it's screwed down (best way is to have the copper go over the screw holes in a few places)

Thanks! I guess it makes sense that since the jack cup rests on the copper shielding, that it would be grounded > off the input > to back of pot > from pot > bridge.

I wasn't sure if the copper shielding was supposed to run to ground...but I guess it inevitably does.

Hi warmachine,

If you use a full pick guard shield, remove the black wires that connect the back of the pots together, as they will make a ground loop and can cause noise. The pots will be connected through the shield instead.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Thanks for the info.

I'm unfamiliar with what a ground loop is, but seeing as I do have my setup soldered (as the following pic shows) I guess I'll have to clip those grounds wires off the pots. That little bit of 2.5" wire really causes extra noise? Interesting :

I must have wired something wrong. I just reinstalled my pickguard and soldered my input jack. Strung up guitar but....no strings register on my digital tuner. So I put instrument cable in and measured other end with my multimeter. I get a 214.2 ohms on every pickup!! What is the likely culprit? I should have about 4.3 on the bridge, 6 at the mid, 9.9 at the neck.

This isnt good

The easiest thing to check might be to remove the jack plate and see if the tip connection is touching the shielding tape. It does sound like you have a short circuit, and you are just measuring the resistance of your cable. Start with the jack.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Here is my rig. I pulled the pickguard out and took these pics. With multimeter this time directly on jack leads I still get the high 214 ohm reading.

p.s. Each pickup reads correctly when probe placed on 5-way switch terminals. Something to do with my connections at the pots I'm guessing.

The only thing that sticks out is a glob of solder hanging from the middle lug of the volume pot, it could be touching the pick guard shield, or the metal of the pot underneath. If you can clean that off first, make sure that none of the pot terminals have any other excess solder connecting them, then check again. If it is still the same after cleaning off the excess solder, see if rotating the volume knob varies the resistance that you read at the jack. If the resistance doesn't vary a lot, disconnect the shielded wire positive from the vol pot (middle lug), and check the resistance from the middle lug of the pot to ground while turning the volume pot, it should vary from low resistance up to about 250K ohms. If the resistance now varies normally, then the shield of that cable could have melted through and connected to the wire inside while soldering the shield to the back of the pot.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Ended up being the switch. Most likely I overheated it with the soldering iron when desoldering / soldering. Fortunately I had a brand new genuine fender style 5-way switch lying around.

You were close as the insulation had melted a little on the pot back, but didnt break through enough. I ended up replacing the input wire with a fresh piece just to be safe.

Thanks for all the great assistance! Everything is working now

Awesome warmachine, congrats!

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.