Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
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papersoul
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
Unfortunately, my radio Shack 40 watter didn't come with a holster so it just sits on that little cheap plastic stand. Last time I tried to solder, it rolled off the stand and burned a hole in the rug.
I never see the 63/37 solder anywhere. Who sells it? Computer and electronics stores?
Rich
nahfuten said:
Unfortunately, my radio Shack 40 watter didn't come with a holster so it just sits on that little cheap plastic stand. Last time I tried to solder, it rolled off the stand and burned a hole in the rug.
I never see the 63/37 solder anywhere. Who sells it? Computer and electronics stores?
Rich
papersoul
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
Unfortunately, my radio Shack 40 watter didn't come with a holster so it just sits on that little cheap plastic stand. Last time I tried to solder, it rolled off the stand and burned a hole in the rug.
I never see the 63/37 solder anywhere. Who sells it? Computer and electronics stores?
I found that apparently due to tollerance in production there is no way to know if 60/40 is actually 60/40 so maybe not worth worrying about.
Rich
Unfortunately, my radio Shack 40 watter didn't come with a holster so it just sits on that little cheap plastic stand. Last time I tried to solder, it rolled off the stand and burned a hole in the rug.
I never see the 63/37 solder anywhere. Who sells it? Computer and electronics stores?
I found that apparently due to tollerance in production there is no way to know if 60/40 is actually 60/40 so maybe not worth worrying about.
Rich
Schecter006Elite
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
^^^ Just in case you forgot the first time.....
I have a radio shack soldiering iron and it works fine for me, just changing pups out everyone once and a while. Only thing i know about the soldier i use is that it is rosin core...
^^^ Just in case you forgot the first time.....
I have a radio shack soldiering iron and it works fine for me, just changing pups out everyone once and a while. Only thing i know about the soldier i use is that it is rosin core...
nahfuten
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
you gotta get the holster separate... its a must, its so easy, no burning stuff. They are only a few bucks. My friends have built thier own, by welding a pretty stiff spring onto a slab of metal.... i guess if you have the stuff around, you can get creative...
63/37 can be found at high end electronic supply stores, or on the internet. radio shack should have it, but probably not your average hardward store. its used for soldering transistors and other ultra temp sensitive parts to PCBs. you can get solder that has a 1% tolerance so its +- 1% composition one way or the other, but it will cost you. I have to have the stuff for my classes anyways....
you gotta get the holster separate... its a must, its so easy, no burning stuff. They are only a few bucks. My friends have built thier own, by welding a pretty stiff spring onto a slab of metal.... i guess if you have the stuff around, you can get creative...
63/37 can be found at high end electronic supply stores, or on the internet. radio shack should have it, but probably not your average hardward store. its used for soldering transistors and other ultra temp sensitive parts to PCBs. you can get solder that has a 1% tolerance so its +- 1% composition one way or the other, but it will cost you. I have to have the stuff for my classes anyways....
papersoul
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
I talked to a few techs today and they said just use the 60/40 as that is the industry standard and is perfectly fine for guitar electronics.
I am concerned because all I am doing is changing some pickups so I think all I'll have to do is quickly remove the current pickups and install the new and maybe not even need any fresh solder? True?
I talked to a few techs today and they said just use the 60/40 as that is the industry standard and is perfectly fine for guitar electronics.
I am concerned because all I am doing is changing some pickups so I think all I'll have to do is quickly remove the current pickups and install the new and maybe not even need any fresh solder? True?
BlueGuitar
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
Most of the irons that Radio Shack sells have a philips head screw that holds the tip in place; no matter how you position the iron that screw is guaranteed to leave a tatoo between your thumb and forefinger... :saeek:
Several posts here mentioned variable power soldering stations; they might be less than half the price of a temperature controlled soldering station but I think that it is worth it to pay the extra money. One other alternative is the $65 Weller WP60, which is a 60 watt iron with a temperature controlled tip (I usually use a 700 degree tip). The advantage with a temperature controlled iron or station is that it will deliver the power when you need it, but it just idles the rest of the time to keep your electric bill down.
Of course if you only solder once in a blues moon it is hard to justify the higher prices but I'd recommend getting the 25 watt Weller iron instead of something from Radio Shack.
nahfuten said:
Most of the irons that Radio Shack sells have a philips head screw that holds the tip in place; no matter how you position the iron that screw is guaranteed to leave a tatoo between your thumb and forefinger... :saeek:
Several posts here mentioned variable power soldering stations; they might be less than half the price of a temperature controlled soldering station but I think that it is worth it to pay the extra money. One other alternative is the $65 Weller WP60, which is a 60 watt iron with a temperature controlled tip (I usually use a 700 degree tip). The advantage with a temperature controlled iron or station is that it will deliver the power when you need it, but it just idles the rest of the time to keep your electric bill down.
Of course if you only solder once in a blues moon it is hard to justify the higher prices but I'd recommend getting the 25 watt Weller iron instead of something from Radio Shack.
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
Can't say I've ever had that problem occur ... I just use a Radio Shack 40W, occasionally I'll drop the temp as needed (external regulator) . Temperature controlled tips and grounded tips (IC work) are great things to have if you find the need. a 15W to 30W (or 20W to 40W) switchable iron will also take care of 90% of everything your likely to encounter as well, and they can be had economically, Even Radio Shack has one that's well built for what it is (also uses the smaller tips, and has an assortment of different tips availble, more so than normal).
Yeah Fluke just *owns* the meter world, but not necessarily so, B&K, Tenman, and even Velleman make some units that are really nice ... go for true RMS reading meters, at todays prices there is no reason not to! And any DMM you buy should have an input impedance of at *least* 10Meg ohms (many Flukes are 40Meg or so), this becomes important in voltage measurements (not so much for guitar though). Auto-polarity is a worthwhile function if given a choice, auto-ranging is also, but you can definitely do without that (people did for years).
As for testing capacitance, most midline meters are accurate for guitar and pedal ranges, for test big electrolytic caps in amps, they aren't accurate, but for most uses you are fine.
Insulated alligator and microhook adaptors for your meters probes are a real *good* investment, the minihooks work better for grabbing the four conductor wires from pups, the alligators are better for anchoring to parts in amps.
Solder, 60/40 is fine, but get the lead-free formula (no reason not to), I tend to use the lead-free silver formula just because I like the extra strong bond, and I find it works better in pedals.
I prefer a solder sucker over braid, but that's personal bias, braid is good for when you really gotta get large blobs taken care of (after someone else has worked on something before you ... :yell: )
Hemostats double as heatsinks, but get a few legit heatsinks as well for ICs, everything else is really standard, strippers (that allow you to preset the strip depth), diagonal cutters, safety glasses, all that jazz can be as cheap or as expensive (a $60 set of wire strippers will last a lifetime, than a $5 set, but the $5 set still works) as you see fit ... other things like tip size, and type; solder diameter, mutlicore vs standard core is pretty much either personal bias or depends on what it is you are actually doing at the time.
Start sifting thru electronics component suppliers catalogues, as they have generally higher quality meters and at better prices than the electronic sections in most commercial stores.
BlueGuitar said:
Can't say I've ever had that problem occur ... I just use a Radio Shack 40W, occasionally I'll drop the temp as needed (external regulator) . Temperature controlled tips and grounded tips (IC work) are great things to have if you find the need. a 15W to 30W (or 20W to 40W) switchable iron will also take care of 90% of everything your likely to encounter as well, and they can be had economically, Even Radio Shack has one that's well built for what it is (also uses the smaller tips, and has an assortment of different tips availble, more so than normal).
Yeah Fluke just *owns* the meter world, but not necessarily so, B&K, Tenman, and even Velleman make some units that are really nice ... go for true RMS reading meters, at todays prices there is no reason not to! And any DMM you buy should have an input impedance of at *least* 10Meg ohms (many Flukes are 40Meg or so), this becomes important in voltage measurements (not so much for guitar though). Auto-polarity is a worthwhile function if given a choice, auto-ranging is also, but you can definitely do without that (people did for years).
As for testing capacitance, most midline meters are accurate for guitar and pedal ranges, for test big electrolytic caps in amps, they aren't accurate, but for most uses you are fine.
Insulated alligator and microhook adaptors for your meters probes are a real *good* investment, the minihooks work better for grabbing the four conductor wires from pups, the alligators are better for anchoring to parts in amps.
Solder, 60/40 is fine, but get the lead-free formula (no reason not to), I tend to use the lead-free silver formula just because I like the extra strong bond, and I find it works better in pedals.
I prefer a solder sucker over braid, but that's personal bias, braid is good for when you really gotta get large blobs taken care of (after someone else has worked on something before you ... :yell: )
Hemostats double as heatsinks, but get a few legit heatsinks as well for ICs, everything else is really standard, strippers (that allow you to preset the strip depth), diagonal cutters, safety glasses, all that jazz can be as cheap or as expensive (a $60 set of wire strippers will last a lifetime, than a $5 set, but the $5 set still works) as you see fit ... other things like tip size, and type; solder diameter, mutlicore vs standard core is pretty much either personal bias or depends on what it is you are actually doing at the time.
Start sifting thru electronics component suppliers catalogues, as they have generally higher quality meters and at better prices than the electronic sections in most commercial stores.
papersoul
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
So, what is the meter used for? Why would I need one?
Also, why would I need a variable temp iron? couldn't I get the job done with my 40 watter?
Finally, I was told the desoldering braid is best for small areas of solder and large areas should use the sucker. Using a braid on a large area would cause too much heat?
So, what is the meter used for? Why would I need one?
Also, why would I need a variable temp iron? couldn't I get the job done with my 40 watter?
Finally, I was told the desoldering braid is best for small areas of solder and large areas should use the sucker. Using a braid on a large area would cause too much heat?
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
Not sure what's directed where, so ...
Again, I think it really depends on what you are doing, for instance solder braid is good for removing solder from pot lugs, and switch lugs (yes I still heat sink the rear part of the lug with a pair of hemostats), much better than working a mechnical solder sucker(now a vaccum unit, that's different). On small areas like replacing a pedal component or small switch contact (DPDTs) I use the solder sucker because it gets in tight places (also the tip of mine fits right over the DPDT lugs which lets me get an almost unused condition to it for rework). So, to me it's kind of a space issue ... I don't think it's engraved in stone either way to tell you the truth.
Not sure what's directed where, so ...
Well, the meter comments where directed more towards GearJonser; However for strick guitar work they can help Identify unknown pot values (and taper types), troubleshoot connections, test caps for opens or shorts (also capacitance if the meter has a cap function), give general DCR readings for pups (spotting partially shorted coils, identify coil leads on unknown pups,etc.), check wall voltage and receptacle wiring (not strickly guitar but a life saver, literally perhaps),check for voltage beween things that should have voltage between them (see life saver comment again). Plus pedal related things, diode checking ( does that LED actually work?), is a transistor burnout out? How many mA of current does my pedal draw? Is this battery any good? Does this ground connect to the pedal case, or does it float? Stuff like that that you'll probably wind up dealing with at one time or another ...papersoul said:
Well, on sensitive things you can toast them no matter how careful you are, for most gtr work a 40W works well if you have good technique, however some other things (like pedals) don't tolerate too much heat well at all (even with heatsinks), a variable temperature iron always gives you the option of dropping the temp lower than you need for more sensitive components, plus on smaller things you just don't need the extra heat. for what it's worth I use an old 40W as well, for just about everything and only turn it down when i get paranoid (I do heat sink stuff well though)...
Again, I think it really depends on what you are doing, for instance solder braid is good for removing solder from pot lugs, and switch lugs (yes I still heat sink the rear part of the lug with a pair of hemostats), much better than working a mechnical solder sucker(now a vaccum unit, that's different). On small areas like replacing a pedal component or small switch contact (DPDTs) I use the solder sucker because it gets in tight places (also the tip of mine fits right over the DPDT lugs which lets me get an almost unused condition to it for rework). So, to me it's kind of a space issue ... I don't think it's engraved in stone either way to tell you the truth.
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
This depending on what Project you will work..For me weller is top class or also hakko. Soldering stations or Soldering iron with adjustable temperature is good for making more projects. You can see this from Hakko
or if you need a good soldering iron for good price you can see this Soldering iron kit form Sywon i have this one and i'm satisfied
or somthing proffesional from Weller but the price is very very big
This depending on what Project you will work..For me weller is top class or also hakko. Soldering stations or Soldering iron with adjustable temperature is good for making more projects. You can see this from Hakko
or if you need a good soldering iron for good price you can see this Soldering iron kit form Sywon i have this one and i'm satisfied
or somthing proffesional from Weller but the price is very very big
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
I'm going with the dual iron attack, it's insane. The 45 watt is good for soldering and desoldering lugs. It melts most small things relatively easily but doesn't harm the solder or device. Also usually use it to solder on to back of pots. The 100 watt is beast. It starts glowing dull red which means it's over 1000 degrees. I use it for desoldering things from the back of pots. Would be hard or impossible with the 45 watt. Also sometimes use it for hb covers or to solder things on to back of pots if there's a preexisting crag of solder that the lead needs to be melted into. It's too aggressive to use for delicate lugs. Will destroy them and it can burn up the solder a bit but is great for liquifying crags on the back of pots immediately that wouldn't melt at all with the 45 watt.
I'm going with the dual iron attack, it's insane. The 45 watt is good for soldering and desoldering lugs. It melts most small things relatively easily but doesn't harm the solder or device. Also usually use it to solder on to back of pots. The 100 watt is beast. It starts glowing dull red which means it's over 1000 degrees. I use it for desoldering things from the back of pots. Would be hard or impossible with the 45 watt. Also sometimes use it for hb covers or to solder things on to back of pots if there's a preexisting crag of solder that the lead needs to be melted into. It's too aggressive to use for delicate lugs. Will destroy them and it can burn up the solder a bit but is great for liquifying crags on the back of pots immediately that wouldn't melt at all with the 45 watt.
frostopsy
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
I got a Hakko 938 (I think that's the number) solder station off of eBay for a decent price. I messed with irons for years, they are all junk. They get too hot, they don't get hot enough... having a nice unit will make life so much better while doing projects.
I got a Hakko 938 (I think that's the number) solder station off of eBay for a decent price. I messed with irons for years, they are all junk. They get too hot, they don't get hot enough... having a nice unit will make life so much better while doing projects.
darthphineas
New member
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
I have the 936. Like it a lot.
I have the 936. Like it a lot.
Re: Best Soldering Iron and Accessories for Guitar Work?
i think that is good to reopen older thread. But I apologize if I have sinned.
i think that is good to reopen older thread. But I apologize if I have sinned.
