aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

hi,

so instead of linking all the 'to be grounded' wires to the pots then them all ending up at the jack lug, you mean i can jsut link all the wires up themselves and not bother soldering them to the pot?

so it i jsut link all the wires that need to be grounded together somehwere and they all end up at the jack lug it doesnt really matter?

what other types of pot work with strats?im very unsure about pots only i heard CTS ones were the best? or at least good?

thanks
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

Well, I wouldn't say it doesn't really matter where. It DOES matter. For one thing, you don't want your ground leads to touch anything that shouldn't be grounded (i.e. other connections). This is why it's a good idea to make sure they all link up somewhere that is fixed and solid. Having your ground leads soldered together and floating around somewhere in the control cavity is a bad idea. If that lump of grounds moves to somewhere it shouldn't, you'll short everything out. This is why you should always join them to something that is solidly connected to the body of the instrument and accepts solder well. The three things I recommended (ring lug of jack, copper shielding taped to body, control plate) all fit that criteria and you won't burn any components soldering to them.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

Gearjoneser said:
I've always wanted to create a grounding star that looks like a little glove. The "wrist" would be soldered to the back of the pot or shielding, and the ground wires would attach to each finger loop.
Click to expand...

Thats a beautiful idea man. A grounding lug. All you would have to do is solder one lead to the back of one pot. Of course, it would be an extar hole in the guitar.Thats the downside.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

I know this thread has been dead for a while but I might as well pick up where I left off. I'm liking the idea of a ground star on the back of one pot!

What metal would be good for adding an extra little tab onto a pot to attach the ground wires too?

I'm thinking if I just bend a little piece of metal into a right angle and solder that to the edge of one pot, I can the ground the switch/pickup wires/trem claw and my cavity shielding to this 'extra lug' if you will?

Thanks
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

devilfish, i've read that you constantly have problems with soldering. what kind of iron and solder do you use?
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

Ok, if for some reason the ring lug of the jack, the shielding, or a control plate won't work for you (and I'm having difficulty figuring out why), you can try using a washer as a ground "ring". Solder all your ground connections to the washer, and either glue or tape it to something solid - a bare patch of pickguard, the back of a pot, etc. As long as you ensure the washer isn't going to float around inside the guitar, it will be just fine.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

super rad ska said:
devilfish, i've read that you constantly have problems with soldering. what kind of iron and solder do you use?
Click to expand...

an Antex Hp40 iron and rosin core solder.

There's just something I need clearing up. I'm under the impression I NEED to solder the pickup ground wires, switch ground connection and the shielding to the back of the pots then connect the pot casings to the output jack to ground the pot casing's aswell?

Or do the pot casing's themselves not need grounding?

I'd find it easier to for instance, attatch a solder tag to the back of one pot, then attatch the trem claw ground wire, shielding ground wire, pickups ground wires and switch ground wires to there, then wire that solder tag to the output jack?

I'm just having a little trouble understand if the pot casing's themselves NEED to be grounded at all?

Thanks
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

devilfish said:
an Antex Hp40 iron and rosin core solder.

There's just something I need clearing up. I'm under the impression I NEED to solder the pickup ground wires, switch ground connection and the shielding to the back of the pots then connect the pot casings to the output jack to ground the pot casing's aswell?

Or do the pot casing's themselves not need grounding?

I'd find it easier to for instance, attatch a solder tag to the back of one pot, then attatch the trem claw ground wire, shielding ground wire, pickups ground wires and switch ground wires to there, then wire that solder tag to the output jack?

I'm just having a little trouble understand if the pot casing's themselves NEED to be grounded at all?

Thanks
Click to expand...

dood, all of the parts in your cavity need to be grounded. switches, pots, jack, pickups, everything.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

super rad ska said:
dood, all of the parts in your cavity need to be grounded. switches, pots, jack, pickups, everything.
Click to expand...

This is completely wrong. Please learn a little bit about electronics before posting "information" like this.

There is absolutely no electrical reason to ground the back of a pot. People use the backs of pots as ground points for convenience only. In reality (and this has been posted before), a pot is not designed for this, and you actually risk damaging it if you do so.

Your actual ground point - the spot where all your ground connections are supposed to end up - is the ring of the jack. This is what grounds your guitar via the cable. As long as you have all your grounds end up at that point, you're good.

All that said, if you're shielding your Strat's cavity and you connect the conductive shield on the pickguard to ground like you're supposed to, you will effectively ground the pot casings as well. It should be fairly obvious why: since the pots are mounted onto the pickguard, their casings are connected to the shielding, which provides them a connection to ground. There is nothing wrong with grounding the pots in this manner. It's the act of soldering to the back of the pot that causes problems, not the fact that you're grounding them.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

hey,

Okay thanks. That's cleared things up loads! Do you think I'd be alright to solder a solder tag to the back of one pot, and use that solder tag to collect all ground wires. then solder a wire going to the output jack's ground lug?

(I know from what you've told me that WILL work, but would it be a problem if the solder tag came into contact with the paint or anyways?)

Thanks
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

ratherdashing said:
This is completely wrong. Please learn a little bit about electronics before posting "information" like this.

There is absolutely no electrical reason to ground the back of a pot. People use the backs of pots as ground points for convenience only. In reality (and this has been posted before), a pot is not designed for this, and you actually risk damaging it if you do so.

Your actual ground point - the spot where all your ground connections are supposed to end up - is the ring of the jack. This is what grounds your guitar via the cable. As long as you have all your grounds end up at that point, you're good.

All that said, if you're shielding your Strat's cavity and you connect the conductive shield on the pickguard to ground like you're supposed to, you will effectively ground the pot casings as well. It should be fairly obvious why: since the pots are mounted onto the pickguard, their casings are connected to the shielding, which provides them a connection to ground. There is nothing wrong with grounding the pots in this manner. It's the act of soldering to the back of the pot that causes problems, not the fact that you're grounding them.
Click to expand...

again, sorry for the mis-info.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

devilfish said:
hey,

Okay thanks. That's cleared things up loads! Do you think I'd be alright to solder a solder tag to the back of one pot, and use that solder tag to collect all ground wires. then solder a wire going to the output jack's ground lug?

(I know from what you've told me that WILL work, but would it be a problem if the solder tag came into contact with the paint or anyways?)

Thanks
Click to expand...

That would work from an electrical standpoint, but why not try the washer idea I posted instead? How many ground connections do you have?
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

ratherdashing said:
That would work from an electrical standpoint, but why not try the washer idea I posted instead? How many ground connections do you have?
Click to expand...

You could also use these (you can pick them up from your local hardware store -- they're called figure eight connectors and are used to attach a table's top to the aprons). Bend one end of the tab up a bit and screw the other end to the body in an out of the way place. Run all your grounds to it and be done with it.
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

ratherdashing said:
That would work from an electrical standpoint, but why not try the washer idea I posted instead? How many ground connections do you have?
Click to expand...

The washer idea is the same idea in principal isn't it?

I just have an abundance of these lying around and it seem to me with pickups the back of a pot is a good AREA in the cavity to wire to as most wires seem to lie in that area anyways. So just thought a solder tag soldered to the back of a pot is a slightly 'neater' way of the washer technique?

Thanks
 
Re: aternatives to soldering to back of pots...

3th3r said:
Perhaps this is a little off topic, but the pencil-type soldering tools, are not appropriate for use near magnetic pickups. Instead try use a soldering station type, such as this:
Click to expand...

That's the exact one I use.

It really makes a difference to be able to dial in the right amount of juice.



Ratherdashing is making a lot of sense. ;)
 
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