Soldering

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Shortly before the old MR forum disappeared, there was a useful thread on soldering, discussing what type of iron and solder you need for which jobs. Having ordered a few pickups from Oil City, I realised that (a) my soldering iron is in another country, (b) I haven't done any soldering for over 20 years, and (c) the MR discussion I wanted to re-read was now gone. 

So, what kind of iron do I need for a basic job - switching pickups in two guitars?

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Comments

  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9978
    tFB Trader
    I took quite a long time over my soldering posts last time o the old MR ... and I will try and produce a 'soldering basics' post shortly.
    But essentially you need about a 40w/50w iron ... and I prefer pointed, needle tips. Thse are dirt cheap on the flea bay and you pretty much can't go wrong.
    I have a hatred for lead-free solder, and not much love for 'eco friendly' fluxes ... but lately I have been using Ecosol 60/40 tin/lead multicore solder with pretty good results ... though it smell like burning old moccasins! ICBM swears by the high silver content Lead free sold by Maplin ... and I've been trying that too lately. I have to say it's very good ... but quite expensive.
    Whatever solder you use ... you will need a wet sponge ... or one of those nice 'metal shavings' tip cleaners.
    The secret with soldering is good heat transfer ... so my routine is: heat iron, clean tip on sponge or tip cleaner, 'tin' the iron tip ... then clean it again. Oxides stop good heat transfer.
    Next, always try to make a good physical attachment of wires before you solder them. Twist two pieces of wire together and solder rather than just laying them together and expecting the solder to do the work. Loop wires through pot and switch tags. And with new pots DON'T use abrasive on the backs before soldering to them. They are most often pre-tinned and you will be undoing that.
    Heat and apply solder to the work pieces not the iron tip (hoping to transfer the solder) ... though a little fresh solder on the tip again helps with the heat transfer.
    Good soldering looks shiny and regular, poor soldering looks dull and porous. If in doubt do it again :)
    Watch out soldering some small components as you can over heat them  ... I have an old crocodile clip that I put on the wires out of sensitive components to act as a heat sink. It's mostly transistors and diodes that cause a problem here ... not found in simple pickup installations ... but it's worth getting into the habit of watching how much heat you apply.
    If you intend to remove and replace pickup covers you will need a much bigger (100w) and more brutal soldering iron ... you will find a description of that procedure in one of my other threads here.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    Thank you Ash, that brings it all back. I once managed to do a custom wiring job on my Strat but that was a long time ago and both my tools and my knowledge have vanished.

    How are those P90s coming along? 

    ... off to shop around for a decent iron now!



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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9978
    tFB Trader
    The Mighty Nineties will be with you on the 21st :)
    There are very few bad irons about  ... it's not worth spending too much.

    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11494
    tFB Trader
    I have two irons that I use  very successfully 

    The trick I have with pots is that I use an Antex XS iron - only 25 watts, but I use the biggest chisel tip available for it
    image
    This acts as a big heat conductor as it has a lot of heat energy stored in the bit.
    This way I can get enough heat to pots and switches for the solder to flow.

    My other iron is a temperature controlled solder station - although I confess that the Antex gets the most use

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • If you're thinking about spending a bit more on an iron i can recommend a Weller WTCP-51. They're an entry level pro grade bit of kit and will last a lifetime.

    I despise lead free solder too. It needs extra heat to flow, and as a result more care needs to be taken to prevent lifting pads. Plus you really need separate tips for leaded and lead free solders as the fluxes really don't mix. And lastly the fumes off lead free solder are pretty nasty and prolonged exposure is not good for you.

    Cheers
    John
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    And with new pots DON'T use abrasive on the backs before soldering to them. They are most often pre-tinned and you will be undoing that.


    See, i know i have done this before and its worked really well.   I generally use CTS pots now and there is no need but the alpha's i used to get were impossible to solder to without doing it... although i have since used other alphas again and they are fine

    Generally the pots that don't need it have quite a matt surface, others are much shinier and nothing will stick.  I have quite a selection of irons and tips too so i know its not that.

    I still say if you are struggling to get those wires to stick then you may as well run it over some wet & dry to key it.   may not be ideal but it does work 

     

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    edited August 2013
    Thanks for further comments. I must confess I failed at the first hurdle - I now have the pickups (thanks, Ash - delivered on time, securely packaged and all that) but I haven't managed to buy an iron. I have only so many days when I can sit at home and wait for a courier. This is highly annoying - just six bloody little wires stopping me now ... 

    NervousJohn, I think the Weller would be overkill in my situation. I'll bring my old iron over from Germany on Sunday - unless airport security regard it as a weapon and take it off me. 

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    edited August 2013
    ok, success #1:

    image

    Aria archtop now with Oil City Mighty Nineties. Looks good and sounds sweet. It was a bitch of a job though to get everything back into place, in particular the earthing wire. 

    Next up: the Strat will get an Oil City Honky Tonk Angel as its new bridge pickup. 

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  • NPP. Your guitars are all wonky and stuff. They look backwards or something.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9978
    edited August 2013 tFB Trader
    Ooooooo my 'Nineties' really suit the Aria :) looking good!
    Oh .... by the way, with me, if the solder doesn't like the pot back .... I bring out the 100w iron ... I know it's like bringing a Vulcan rotary cannon to a fairground shooting range ... but the merest touch of that bad boy scares any pot into submission (I only use it for a fraction of a second ... otherwise it may cause a bit of internal overheating - or create a wormhole to Narnia).
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    by the way, with me, if the solder doesn't like the pot back .... I bring out the 100w iron 
    I know that this probably qualifies as cheating but I just clipped off the last 5mm of the old wire going to the pot, and then twisted and soldered the new wire to that. 

    If I were gigging I'd give this job to a pro next time, this is much more difficult than working on a Strat pickguard

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    BigPaulie said:
    NPP. Your guitars are all wonky and stuff. They look backwards or something.
    while they feel right I must admit that, even to me, they look strange

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    I know it's like bringing a Vulcan rotary cannon to a fairground shooting range ...
    You really have no idea how much I enjoyed that mental image given the number of fairground shooting galleries I've been on with bent rifles, targets that appear to be welded into place or other cheats to avoid giving prizes... although perhaps an anti-tank missile would be even more satisfying :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9978
    tFB Trader
    3000 rounds per minute ... step back and give me the f--king teddy bear!

    image
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    My very belated thanks to @OilCityPickups for your first post in this thread, Ash! That got me going again after not soldering in yeeeeeeeears.

    Until a few years ago, I had the luxury of a next-door neighbour who was a good tech, so he put my new pickups in for me after I botched the installation, and one of my close mates is an ex-pro guitar tech and a colleague at work who has a soldering station in his office, so I could just run to him... Until we all got locked down. Damn virus.

    Now my latest guitar works again! Yay! Search function FTW!

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