Spent my last savings- on a soldering iron! :D

[Erlend_G]

Well, -

I was working with one of my pedals; when one of it's internal wires came loose.

And realized; "hey- I'm home alone with electric guitars, amps, cables n' all. But no soldering iron!" :o

...remembering my past experiences; with low-wattage, cheap irons; no holder; (burnt mark on my thigh, smelled like bacon crisps)-

; I decided to cash out for a good, 48w soldering station (variable temperature), good solder, extra iron tips; and one of those "little helpers" with claws and magnifying glass.

(I'm now dead broke. It's my 32th birthday on the 29th, and I've asked all my friends and family for loose change. Haha. If all else fails, well- I think it can be healthy living on a limited budget for a month!!)

I hope I'll be good to go now, for atleast a few years. Being able to repair a loose wire, a cable- or even solder joints in the amplifier- is a "must", I think.
Also, I've been dreaming of putting together a "fuzz face kit" one day.

-E ♪

[GuitarDoc]

Congrats on your acquisition. You are correct that every guitar player should have a good soldering iron and reasonable soldering skills for occasions such as this...a broken wire, loose connection, bad solder joint, etc. These things happen and it doesn't make much sense to spend the time and money to take your guitar to a tech to fix something that you can do in 10 minutes.

Fuzz Face kit sounds like a fun project.

[ErikH]

Yup. Knowing how to solder without making a globby mess can go a long way when it comes to maintaining and repairing your gear. Watch some videos on technique and practice if you need to. I use a desoldering pump and desoldering braid as well when swapping pickups or working on pedals, or anything really.

A Fuzz Face is a great first project. But be careful. Making pedal circuits can keep ya broke. I did a BYOC Yellow Overdrive (Boss OD-1 clone) and I absolutely love it.

[Mincer]

This will *save* you money in the long run.