Chris,I am trying to understand what all you mean. I have never had a static discharge on an electric. I used to build Fender type guitars when I was a teenager,as there was no information available on how to bend sides for making acoustics(which is really what I WANTED to do!). So,for many years now,I built only acoustic guitars,especially classical and flamenco guitars. In 1967 Sabicas,the World's greatest flamenco guitarist accepted a guitar from me.
More recently,I made my Gretsch copy,just before the foreign made Gretsches came out(Their necks are all TOO SMALL in width,except for a certain Country Gentleman which has a wider neck,for some reason). I also made the 1950's Gibson style guitar with sunburst finish,and a carved arch Super 400 size arch top which I have put a Johnny Smith Gibson small pickup on the end of its fingerboard. Removed it as it is a better acoustic than electric guitar.
So,this return to making Fender style Teles is rather a lark. Guess I'm chasing my youth. I ordered copper shielding tape. Perhaps I should have gotten the shielding paint. Same price,probably a lot easier to apply to the cavities on the guitar!
My 1952 Fender pickguard assembly is bakelite. I don't now if that will affect static discharge. We'll have to see.
I'm aware of the machined jack mounting piece(which I could easily make with my lathes,and nickel plate. I ordered the more authentic one. We'll see how it works out.
Are you guys aware that the original bridge surrounding guard plates were HARDENED? I'm sure that affects the tone. Why Leo did this I don't know. He was not a guitar maker but an engineer. Maybe he thought that hardening the steel surround would help keep it from bending under string tension?
By the way,the black pickups on the sunburst guitar are not P-90's. They are P-100's. A P-100 is 2 P-90's stacked one on the other,with windings going in opposite directions,so it becomes a humbucker. When I first got them,the pickups were huge,and I thought they could not sound good,being so large. I was wrong! They sound GREAT!!!! They take away the "Wildness" of the P-90,but still have that great P-90 sound. I fully recommend them. My favorite pickups are the Gretsch Filtertrons,though. The ones on the orange guitar are old ones I bought used. I don't know how similar the new ones made in Japan are in tone,or the TV Jones,either. Haven't tried those. I just wanted a Chet style guitar for my own use,without paying $10,000.00 dollars for an original at the time!
My Gretsch was not made to deceive: It has an ebony fingerboard(originals used rosewood). The scale is longer,and there is no label inside saying Gretsch,and no serial numbers stamped on the back of the peghead. And,there is no wooden "bridge" under the bridge,as the 6120 had. I had an early Gretsch with that bridge,and it made the guitar sound too hard to my ears. This is the electric I always go back to. It is just perfect as far as my ears are concerned. But a knowledgeable collector would not take it as an original.