I just came across a wiring diagram for the American Strat Texas Special pickguard assembly. In the diagram it shows two grounds (both from the volume pot) -- one goes to a ground mount/screw, and the other to the trem claw. My strat with TS only has one ground to the trem claw, coming from the input jack. Do I need to rewire to have these two grounds that are shown in the diagram? And if so, do I leave the ground from the input jack to the claw? Guitar is a little noisy -- could this be why?

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

I always ground the pickups,input,claw, ground wire to the volume pot than I run a ground wire from the tone pot to tone pot to the volume pot. That way you dont have a ground loop Some agree and some dont

Sounds like the one with the ground mount screw has been sprayed with shielding paint.If possible the tailpiece on any guitar should be grounded at the input jack.

Thanks for the input -- this strat does not have a ground mount screw, nor does it have any kind of shielding in the control cavity. The tone pots are grounded to the volume pot (tone to tone to volume), as are the pickups (I believe). The ground for the output is also soldered to the volume pot, and then a ground goes from the output to the claw. I guess my question is-- do I have to run a ground from the volume pot to the claw? And, to I need to install a ground mount screw and run a ground from the volume pot to that as well?

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

If there is no shielding in the body of the guitar (either by copper sheeting or conductive paint), there is no need for a body ground screw. However, all metal components (claw, bridge, control pots, output jack) need to have a common ground, typically the volume pot but you could use any pot.

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Bill