Pickup Mounting Screw problem

[7thSon]

Cheers Philly. I ordered the baseplate from Allparts in the end, now that i've finally got round to installing the BKPs after 2 years I didn't fancy waiting for postage from the states! Actually arrived today which was a nice suprise, and I had no problem bending the bits off with some pliers. But in my retardation as I've just gone to solder them on now, I've just realised I only bought one baseplate!

As for the soldering, do I need to heat the legs, or does it not matter if the joint is cold as long as it sticks? Don't want to risk damaging the p'ups.

[Philly Q]

As for the soldering, do I need to heat the legs, or does it not matter if the joint is cold as long as it sticks? Don't want to risk damaging the p'ups.

That's almost closer to metalwork than electronics, so I'm not sure of the best technique! 

But, if I was going to try it.... I would think it'll work best if you get both surfaces good and hot - a powerful iron should heat it quickly so the body of the pickup doesn't overheat.   Make sure there's no wax on the feet, roughen them with a bit of sandpaper, and tin both surfaces before putting them together then re-heating to join them.

Or maybe I'd just glue it.

Hopefully someone else can advise better.

[WezV]

give both surfaces a light scr@pe or rub down with fine sand paper, shouldnt take a second or two to tin them with solder - try it on the seperate bits first or practice soldering to the scr@p baseplate.  then when you get a feel for it do it for real

[HTH AMPS]

if you REALLY want it to bond, you could solder the two bits of the baseplate together, then use an epoxy chemical weld like the Bondloc stuff available from Maplin for under a fiver...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46006&TabID=1&C=SO&U=strat25&doy=search&ma=Maplin%20Bondloc%20B2013%20Cheap%20Deals

This stuff is VERY strong when applied correctly and left to cure over 24 hours.  I generally rough up the surface with rough-grade wet and dry (left dry).  Heat the surface slightly, then apply the epoxy - the heat helps to make a stronger joint that cures faster.  The patter on the back of the Bonloc tube gives simpler instructions, but the PDF on their site says that doing it the way I have done is best for the strongest joint.  Practical experience has proved this to be correct too.

I would just pre-mix the stuff, then apply it right after doing the solder joints as there will still be a little bit of heat in the metal.

Personally, I would've sent it back to Tim - I've taken pickups apart before and its a right fanny on.

[7thSon]

lol I'll pass on the epoxy considering the immense difficulty I've had just trying to solder the new 'feet' onto the pickup (well, to the discarded baseplate, as a test run).

I'm supposed to flow the solder onto the feet and not heat it directly with the iron right? It took ages to heat up one of the 'feet' when I was trying to tin it, to the point that the solder melted on its own. About a minute or so, is that right?

I'm using a 40w weller iron (SP40L) with a chisel tip , I also have a 45w weller station (PS3D) with a pencil tip (TCP 3), though I couldn't figure out how to set it to max temperature, im guessing the setting is on the handle, but it wasnt marked so not sure which way is max.

In fact I couldn't even tin the chisel tip, the solder just runs off it? The pencil tip tins fine though.

The solder i'm using is this which I saw recommended on another post here: http://www.rapidonline.com/sku/Tools-Fasteners-Production-Equipment/Soldering-Equipment/Solder-Fluxes/Future-HF-low-melting-point-halide-free-no-clean-cored-solder/60030/85-6372

Is it alright to tear a bit of solder wire off the spindle and handle the solder it directly, as long as I wash my hands afterwards? Or how should I be holding it?

Also any tips on how you manage 3 things with 2 hands :lol:

[WezV]

you can touch the solder and even inhale the odd fume - as long as its not something you do every day

cant help with 3 hands but when working in guitars the guitar is stationary so i move the iron and solder towards that.   just have something tha holds the p-up ring stationary and move the other two bits towards that

and dont forget, you do always have the option of sending it in for a new baseplate as has been suggested.  but i understand sometimes things need to be done quicker so these other methods come in usefull

[7thSon]

Couldn't afford to send it back to Tim, so the baseplate solution was a big help thanks guys.

In the end I didn't solder the broken-off baseplate bits to the existing baseplate legs, I tried that on one of the stock Epi pickups I took out and couldnt get the hang of it, probably fried that pickup. Superglue didn't hold either, so in the end I just held it with pliers and screwed them in. I set both pickups flush with the ring, if I need to make height adjustments to balance them, will adjusting the screw poles be enough?

I got the pickups in fine, but also put in new tone caps and I think i'm having a noise issue with them, as when I turn them up there's an increase in noise.

And when the tone cap is turned right down its completely noise free, but then if I move the volume pot through the middle of its sweep I can hear noise which peaks then lowers again when reaching the other end of the sweep (still a little when tone is on 10 tho). It happens on both pickups.

I had to use some extension wire from a friend for the ground and shield wires because they wouldn't reach the pots, not sure if its the correct wire or not, or if there's a reason not to join the ground and shield wire like that. Or maybe it's the way I've put the caps in? Or just dodgy soldering :lol: