New to soldering and fitting electrics in guitar (and setting it up!)

Jonathanthomas83

So I got my new Tele and want to do a bit of modding . Bought some nice pickups and hardware and now I need to fit it all.

Been looking at soldering irons, I know they're not meant to be super powerful but will something like Amazon's best seller do the business or is there something more appropriate...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Soldering-Adjustable-Temperature-Different/dp/B01EHGJW9M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1478104240&sr=8-3&keywords=soldering+kit

Do I need special solder? (Is there such a thing?)

Any video's you guys would recommend for fitting stuff? I mean, a quick YT search brings up a few, but I don't know who are cowboys and who aren't. I want to do a spot on job of this whilst teaching myself how to do it.

Then the setup...it'll be getting a new bridge and a set of 10s, I'm assuming there's 9s on there at the moment. So will probably need adjusting! Arrrgh, that bit scares me! (plus the fact I used to be impatient and shit at soldering in school!)

Any help and advice welcome from you pros!

Megii

You can definitely learn to do your own guitar wiring work - I taught myself to do this starting about 8 years ago, and initially knowing nothing. For ages I used to use the cheapest soldering iron sold in Maplins (i.e. £10 or less), plus their "silver solder". Probably not the best kit to use, and I've had to replace the iron a couple of times over the years, but thinking back I've done loads off mods and stuff, not to mention building 4 parts guitars from scratch. It's great to be able to sort any wiring issues out myself though, and to be able to buy and fit whatever pickups I might want to try without having to pay someone else.

One thing I'd say is to learn about the electronics and how it works, rather than relying on just copying wiring diagrams without knowing why you're doing what you're doing. If I think back, I picked up knowledge from a few helpful places on the web - can't remember what they all were I'm afraid, but it's well worth searching around. One place was:

http://www.1728.org/indexfun.htm

I think I also got "Guitar Electronics for Musicians" from the local library and read through it - a bit out of date, but it still helped a lot.

As to the setup, I'd have thought changing from 9's to 10's would just need a small tighten of the truss rod (maybe an eighth of a turn or less) and there are some decent how to set up a guitar type videos on Youtube. Re the replacement bridge, just make sure you get the right type, as they aren't all the same - find out the dimensions of the one you've got re where all the mounting holes/string-thru holes are positioned, and make sure your new one has the same - get that right, and it's pretty self-explanatory really.

randella

Megii said:

Re the replacement bridge, just make sure you get the right type, as they aren't all the same - find out the dimensions of the one you've got re where all the mounting holes/string-thru holes are positioned, and make sure your new one has the same - get that right, and it's pretty self-explanatory really.

Good advice.  To this I'd add that if you're replacing the bridge on a Tele (or Strat!), check the string-spacing is the same on your prospective new part - the strings are at specific centres, so measure the gap on yours between the precise point where the high-E sits on its saddle and the point where the low-E sits.  It'll be either 2 3/16" or slightly narrower 2 1/8".

randella

Also that soldering iron will do you fine.  Keep the temperature lower for soldering wires to lugs, or if you're soldering resistors or capacitors.  You'll need to ramp it up again if you're soldering earth wires onto the back of the pots as the pot body will just act like a big heatsink and a lower-wattage iron will struggle (ask me how I know!), so it's good you've picked one with a bit of juice.

boogieman

The trick with soldering is to heat the surface of the joint with the iron first, THEN add the solder and keep the iron on till you see it flow. Doesn't need to be heated for ages, just enough to get some heat into the joint. I've seen a lot of people melt the solder onto the tip of the iron first and then just dab it onto the joint. That's the best way to get a dry joint. There's a knack to soldering but it's not difficult ...experiment with some scrap wire first and you'll soon be off and running. 

Also when you're doing the ground connections onto onto the back of the pots, scratch or roughen up the back of the pot first... it helps the solder stick. 

streethawk

boogieman said:

The trick with soldering is to heat the surface of the joint with the iron first, THEN add the solder and keep the iron on till you see it flow. Doesn't need to be heated for ages, just enough to get some heat into the joint. I've seen a lot of people melt the solder onto the tip of the iron first and then just dab it onto the joint. That's the best way to get a dry joint. There's a knack to soldering but it's not difficult ...experiment with some scrap wire first and you'll soon be off and running. 

Also when you're doing the ground connections onto onto the back of the pots, scratch or roughen up the back of the pot first... it helps the solder stick. 

Good points.

The CTS pots I work with come pre coated in flux, no need to scrub them. You can check by holding the iron on the back of the pot for a few seconds, should start to sizzle and discolour if they're coated. 

I tend to pop the ground wire on the pot, heat that and the pot casing with a wide tip, feed in the solder and wait for the sizzle. Job done. Very unlikely you will ruin a quality pot by overheating it, much more likely to ruin one by overloading it with solder and having it run down into the pot. 

J_Mac

60W is twice as powerful as you'll need dude, though that one is adjustable so keep it cool like the other guys say.  

De-soldering can be a pain because many manufacturers use low-lead solder now, which needs higher power to melt.  Watch out for the back of your guitar, use plenty of masking tape or cloths to protect the wood!

Get some decent wire strippers, spare wire from Rapid and electricians tape (or shrink wrap if you're feeling pro)

champ222

the more power the better, but more power often means bigger a higher power iron with a small tip will make things easier.

Lead free solder is not as nice to work with as 60/40 lead and tin stuff.

ask someone to help you, and three hands make things easier when what your soldering isnt fixed.

boogieman

The three hands remark ^ reminds me, those helping hands clamp thingies are really useful when you're soldering. I got a Rolson one from TK Max for about a fiver.

This sort of thing 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-Helping-Magnifier-Light-Soldering/dp/B004RLODGA

Halikus

More importantly than the wattage of the iron is using the correct tip for the correct job,  using a sharp fine tip to solder pots is made of fail due to the tiny surface area of the contact point, you need a spade end for that job.  And also electricians tape is a banned substance always use heat shrink tubing. 

Now what I am doing in all my guitars is soldering in some quick release connectors to make future pickup swaps as painless as possible.