New Boy Help Needed

[kbambury]

OK Frank, you've spurred me on - the pleasure of not paying someone else (nothing against pro repairers by the way just would like the satisfaction of doing it myself!) is the inspiration I need!

Two questions then:

a) How might I remove the old solder to ensure I get a new clean join - I'd bought soldering wick (desoldering braid) but didn't seem able to get the old solder onto the braid. I also managed to create a gouge in the iron tip whilst trying to master this  :(

b) With regard to the green and white wires, I stripped back the sleeves back a couple of mm and twisted the two together before running solder onto the twisted wires. When I was happy this was done, I wrapped them insulation tape - is this correct?

Thanks again

[Frank]

read post number 1 again

Blimey, I'm supposed to read other people's posts now?

hehe, my bad

[Frank]

I never use desoldering braid, I prefer desolder pumps when I'm working on guitars. And as long as you got the twisted wires hot enough for the solder to run easily onto them, the joint should be ok but it's worth checking if you have a multimeter handy.

[kbambury]

Well I've got a pump as well but didn't seem to get very far with that either.

Excuse the newbie questions but what settings should I use on the multimeter to check the joint between the green and white and of course all the other joins too!

[kbambury]

Also, I've just read elsewhere that lead free solder is pretty pants - which is the only type of solder I could get from Maplins.

Where can I get full fat solder from?

[Frank]

Well if you've soldered two wires together then there should be no measurable resistance between the two ends so it's just a matter of finding the other ends of the wires and putting the meter across.

That's not always possible with pickups though so you're probably better off desoldering the hot wire and measuring the total resistance across the pickup from the end of the hot wire to where it's grounded. Check the manufacturer specs for DC resistance but remember those values are only approximate so as long as it's within a few kOhms then you've made a good solder joint. Jiggle the soldered wires a bit, if the needle doesn't kick then your joint is holding ok.

Oh yeah, I'm not a fan of lead free solder either. Try your local Maplin store or similar for the proper stuff.

woah, not reading posts again, Maplin only do lead free? shop online!

[kbambury]

Cheers Frank.

I appreciate this must be getting painful for you but if you can bear with me a little longer, which setting is best to use on the multimeter - although mine has a digital readout, it has a rotary dial with numerous settings available?

[Frank]

If you're measuring across the pickup use DC resistance in kilo Ohms

You won't damage anything if you use another setting, really all you're doing is making sure that there's a continuous circuit through both the coils. The voltage that the meter sends through the circuit to test it is way too small to do any harm and if you use another setting on the meter then nothing at all will happen.

Also, don't worry about which way round you connect the test probes, the pickup is just a resistance so it won't do any damage connecting the red probe to the ground wire. Truth is you can only damage a guitar with a multimeter by throwing the multimeter at the guitar.

[kbambury]

OK, I'll give that a crack.

Again having read around, I might have created a dry joint or two because although I was trying not too, at times I think I was melting the solder with the iron rather than heating the component/wire - particularly with the pots I was worried about burning them out so didn't want to keep the iron tip on it for too long.

Another stupid question but with a desolder pump, I'm guessing it's a case of priming the pump and holding it in position whilst melting the old unwanted solder. Then once melted pressing the pump tip into the pool of solder and pressing the button to suck up the old solder.

Does the fact that the pickup is working but with a reduced volume suggest that the more likely suspect joint is on the grounding rather than the live?

[Twinfan]

The suspect joint could be anywhere...

That's exactly how you use the pump by the way, and I feel your pain with the Maplin solder.  It's awful  :(

[kbambury]

Alright, cheers Twinfan!

I shall have a pop at systematically removing each of the new solder joints I created before re-soldering hopefully with an improved technique.

Worst case scenario and I get no further then I guess I'll have to take it to a man that knows - Jonathan at Feline isn't too far away from me so if necessary I'll drop it along to him!

[Frank]

I was melting the solder with the iron rather than heating the component/wire

argh nooooo!

heat the component, let the solder melt onto it

practice on an old jack plug or something, at least it'll use up that cr@ppy Maplin solder

[Twinfan]

In many years of modifying guitars, I've only ever had one where I completely gave up and sent it to a tech.  Even that one I guess I could have sorted myself with a complete re-wire but I'd had enough by that point!!!

Take your time, get some nice clean and shiny joints, and you should hopefully fix the problem  :)

[kbambury]

Ok lads, I'll keep you posted - thanks once again!

[kbambury]

By the way, that last post took me from being a lowly Straweight to a mighty Junior Flywieght - there's always a silver lining  :lol: