Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

Davii

Davii

New member
Hi all,

I'm doing some work on a client's Aria Pro II LP, which will include removing the stock circuit board, and I'm wondering on how best to go about it; I'm tempted to snip the wiring close to their respective solder joints, rather than having to wait on the solder to melt with the iron tip, as that would be nice n' quick, and the board worked on outside of the cavaty at a later date if need be. But, I'm also considering that removing the remains of the wire ends later might turn into a faffin' pain in the rear to do cleanly, because I'd no longer have the lengths of wire to pull on...

I've always found factory solder a bit stubborn, it's not my guitar, it's circa 40 years old, and the client would like to be able to put it all back if they decide to sell it in the future.

Thoughts?

:)

Ps, the pickups are horrendous!
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

If you are rewiring with new electronics, I don't know if I'd bother with unsoldering, especially if you are not going to use the board. I'd just cut and strip.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

It's old solder so not lead free. Shouldn't be too bad. A tiny drop of flux will flow it easier. If there is plenty of wire lead, I'd cut it leaving enough to get a hold of and de-solder the board later. If it's real tight and you need all the old lead you can get, I'd de-solder instead of cutting. But even of you snip the wires real close and cant get every strand cleaned off when you de-older, it should still clean up plenty well enough with some solder braid to be able to re-solder later without it looking fugly.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

I did wonder whether there would be an issue regarding lead content, though guess I'd become preoccupied with taking it all out without doing damage. There looks to be plenty of wire, so think I'll go with the idea of snipping with enough to get hold of later. Might suggest the output socket be left attached, and he gets a new one along with the pots. The switch feels like it's seen better days too, not that I'll be able to get that out without cutting :-S
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

This lead solder is harmless as long as you don't eat it, so its safe inside the pickguard. I have tested lead-free (which is harder to find at least in ebay.co.uk) and it works as good.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

My point wasn't that there is any danger in the lead based solder, rather that the solder being lead free would likely make it easier to de-solder.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

I was under the impression that lead solder was easy to work with, and the likes of silver (which I normally use) much harder? Indeed, I'm not planning to eat it, though avoiding any fumes coming off it all would be nice.

...And no stirring the pot about "tone lead" :P
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

Davii said:
I was under the impression that lead solder was easy to work with, and the likes of silver (which I normally use) much harder? Indeed, I'm not planning to eat it, though avoiding any fumes coming off it all would be nice.

...And no stirring the pot about "tone lead" :P
Click to expand...

Lead is easy. Silver really isn't bad at all, depending on silver content. Lead free can suck. You aren't going to be dealing with lead free nor silver content solder in that Aria I don't think.

If there are any lead fumes I worry about, it's not from soldering or de-soldering. If I did it for a living, I'd probably have a fume extractor and filter set-up. At the hobbyist level, I'm not worried about it. Don't intentionally huff the fumes and wash your hands, and I think you'll be fine. My bigger lead concern is from lead styphnate from a different hobby, not related to soldering.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

It all came out very easily, and revealled that long shaft pots won't be required, which is a bonus :)
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

IMAG0647.jpg

It'll be getting gold covers for the pair of pickups I've made for it, but the suggestion was to see how it looked with just the double cream, and it turns out the rings aren't cream:

IMAG0648.jpg

...And the poker chip is black. Why do I get the feeling this is not necessarily how it started life :-S
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

Ah, I see. Not soldered to the pots, soldered to the board. That will be a bit of a pain if he ever wants to return it to stock. And honestly, I don't see any increase in value by putting the PCB back if/when he decides to sell it. But then again, I have no idea what the demand for those guitars or whether stock condition is a price increaser. I had an Aria Pro II (not LP style) back in the 80's.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

Darg1911 said:
Ah, I see. Not soldered to the pots, soldered to the board. That will be a bit of a pain if he ever wants to return it to stock. And honestly, I don't see any increase in value by putting the PCB back if/when he decides to sell it. But then again, I have no idea what the demand for those guitars or whether stock condition is a price increaser. I had an Aria Pro II (not LP style) back in the 80's.
Click to expand...

I've no idea either, other than the 1970s identical copy of a 1970s Les Paul angle, that's if it is indeed a 70s guitar. It looks like someone's deliberately tried to relic the hardware with gold paint, but whether that's just poor decision making, or something more nefarious, who knows! I still can't get over how shockingly bad the pickups are as well, but the luthier guy I know was quite quick to suggest that these guitars at that time were renown for having poor pickups.
 
Re: Aria Pro II LP Wiring/Board

They aren't huge on the used market, so I doubt you will hurt any value by making it easier to work on in the future.
 
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