Why is my soldering so terrible??

axisus

This is a thing of beauty:




My soldering by comparison always looks a total mess! What am I doing wrong? Is there a good tutorial anywhere? Anyone got some tips?

lovestrat74

I watch @sixstringsupplies on YouTube he is the master but my soldering still sucks 

goldtop

That's a combination of OCD layout skills and well-practiced soldering. The person who did that knows their iron, solder and components. They know how long to apply the heat to the pieces and when to introduce the solder so that it flows well, but not so much it wicks all along the component leads and lugs.

For small soldering jobs, IME, the #1 failure is not letting the soldering iron get fully up to temp and fully heat-soaked. The result is then that when placing the iron on the components to be soldered, the iron's temp drops and solder doesn't melt and flow properly.

(That said, I've seen super-ugly soldering that has survived 30+ years with no deleterious effect on reliability or tone. Instead of looking like someone with OCD did it, it looked like someone with ADHD did it.)

slacker

In my experience if you dont have three hands you need to find a way to replicate that. Once everything stays in place you can do all the things @goldtop suggests in a less stressful situation. 

Funkfingers

The commercial third party assembly in the OP photograph was done using brand new, clean components. First time solder joints almost always look better.

The assembler could choose the order in which the joints were executed. The parts would have been set into a template to ensure positioning. 

Working outside the control cavity improves access. So does having no existing cables to hold out of the way. (Masking tape is your friend.)

PeteC

If you want to get really picky there is a whole NASA guide to soldering - even down to how to properly joint two wires.  It's a fun read/watch.   Googling should find it.