Don't solder like this.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Don't solder like this.

An interesting comparison. However, the twist-on Romex connectors have been tested and proven reliable nearly 100% of the time in a home setting. Wire connections in a guitar, even when soldered (but with a cold solder joint) have proven over the years to be highly UN-reliable. Wires twisted together and taped have been proven to be even MORE un-reliable. 100% unreliable? No! You have been lucky in your success with this type of repair/connection.

Just because you or anyone else may have had success doing it this way does not mean that that is a good way to do it. If I'm going to give advice to someone, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to suggest the BEST way to do it. Not some haphazard way that you have been "lucky" with, even for 20 years.

Oh yeah, I agree. Were I to redo the guitar today I'd do it properly. But compared to everything else going on in there, it's not that bad.

You just gave Gibson ideas

So I should sue now, or wait a bit?

 

[Artie]

Re: Don't solder like this.

P.S. I just looked up the pot code, and it's '74.

I'm impressed. My luthier friend told me it was a '74. How did you figure that out from my pics?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Don't solder like this.

I'm impressed. My luthier friend told me it was a '74. How did you figure that out from my pics?

This time, I put the stamped pot number into a Website that tells you: https://www.guitardaterproject.org/potcodereader.aspx

But you can figure it out fairly quickly, if you are in practice and remember how to read them. There's a year code, a week code, and a manufacturer code (those ones you have are CTS pots).

Pot codes don't always match the year of the instrument, but they should be the same year, or maybe up to a handful of years earlier. Guitar factories bought large batches of pots, which would sometimes not get used up till later years.

 

[Artie]

Re: Don't solder like this.

Cool website. I'm just amazed that you could see those numbers through the old flux and solder. (Maybe I need new glasses.)

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Don't solder like this.

Cool website. I'm just amazed that you could see those numbers through the old flux and solder. (Maybe I need new glasses.)

It's on the other side (upside down in the original pic): 1377451. 137 = CTS, 74 = 1974, 51 = 51st week of the year (so the bass itself probably a '75 model at the earliest).

 

[Artie]

Re: Don't solder like this.

Sweet! I owe you a beer. :beerchug:

 

[Mincer]

Re: Don't solder like this.

Actually, Dave, if a solder connection is done well and done correctly, there is no reason it won't last and be reliable in a guitar for at least 100 years.

Oh, I agree. It just seems to be a skill that is a lost art. Would more pickups sell if they were easier to install? Probably. I can't count how many people I met who refuse to learn to solder and stopped playing certain guitars because 'the jack went bad and they don't know how to fix it'. :/

 

[Artie]

Re: Don't solder like this.

^^^^ Yes and no. It is an art. But I'd trade my soldering skills in a flash for some musical skill. The "trick" is . . . we techs and musicians need to hook up.
I'll teach you to solder. You teach me how to play.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Don't solder like this.

I was thinking...what would be the best connectors over time? All molex connectors? Soldering has some challenges in that not everyone can do it, and even if done well, it isn't always reliable over time.

Mil C 5015, though might have a tough time fitting them in a guitar cavity.

On a serious note, crimp connectors allow the wires to flex more before the connection breaks. Now inside a guitar how much does this matter?

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Don't solder like this.

Oh, I agree. It just seems to be a skill that is a lost art. Would more pickups sell if they were easier to install? Probably. I can't count how many people I met who refuse to learn to solder and stopped playing certain guitars because 'the jack went bad and they don't know how to fix it'. :/

I'd like to see itsy bitsy twist on caps like the ones used in your house wiring. If they're easy enough for your electrician to use, anyone can work with 'em.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Don't solder like this.

^^^^ Yes and no. It is an art. But I'd trade my soldering skills in a flash for some musical skill. The "trick" is . . . we techs and musicians need to hook up.
I'll teach you to solder. You teach me how to play.

Ha! I solder really well, and worked as a guitar tech for about 5 years in the past, and built several pedals. But my day gig is teaching, and I run across so many adult students that think messing with any wiring on a guitar will cause a fire. I am more thinking out loud about what would get more people into modding their guitars.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Don't solder like this.

On a serious note, crimp connectors allow the wires to flex more before the connection breaks. Now inside a guitar how much does this matter?

I think it doesn’t matter till it does; we need to ask what contingency situations exist inside an electric guitar. Weather? A loose pot causing you to twist connections directly?

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Don't solder like this.

I think it doesn’t matter till it does; we need to ask what contingency situations exist inside an electric guitar. Weather? A loose pot causing you to twist connections directly?

Extra strain caused by jamming your stash in there quickly?