So I've decided to (re)teach myself how to solder in order to swap my own pickups in the future. I'll be learning on a Les Paul Junior—single P90, 1 volume, 1 tone—and swapping the pickup, bridge, output jack, and pots at the same time. It should be easy. I've read up on wiring diagrams, the importance of making a wiring harness first, tinning leads, scoring the backs of pots, minimizing heat on pots and using heat sinks when working with the capacitor, etc. I've actually taken "classes" on soldering at a past job, so I'm sure I can do this.
Where I'm stuck is when it comes to the actual wire I should use. I've heard of people using coaxial cable, speaker cable, shielded and unshielded wire, various gauges from 22 to 28 AWG, solid and multithreaded, etc. It seems like a lot of people recommend
this stuff (shielded push-back wire) as an alternative to modern PVC-covered wiring because there's no stripping involved, just push the cloth part back. (I've also seen
this stuff (shielded circuit wire) recommended quite frequently.) But it seems that even people who recommend the push-back wire use multiple types of wire in the same guitar, like shielded for the bulk of the wiring and unshielded for ground (or maybe it's vice versa?). Is that really
necessary or is there something else I'm not considering, like minimizing cost or simply using different colors to keep it organized?
I'm also picking up some heat shrink tubing and copper tape. Anything else I'll likely need?
