Upcoming NGD and Beginning of Project thread - Blacktop HH Strat

[sunvalleylaw]

Ok, so soldering day. will hopefully get to the neck clean up as well if I have time. But solder first. I have never really soldered before, other than replacing a battery connector in my old Bad Monkey pedal years ago. I have a serviceable little iron, but not a fancy one, and do not have a nice holder, or a "third hand" alligator clip thingy. So will be doing it by hand, ghetto style. Found some good info here:
http://www.premierguitar.com/article...nt-to-solder-1

And even better here:
Good demo vids on technique lie therein.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/th.../how-to-solder

And good info on the overall project here, even if the projects are slightly different.

If I have time, during the project, I will take a couple pics. For those of you that know how to do this, I am sure it seems super basic. but I am hoping it will be helpful to some others who have been reluctant to try any modding, etc.

[sunvalleylaw]

Well, I tried one more time and it worked. I guess I just did not let it heat up enough. It says in what I have read you don't need an expensive iron for this stuff. and I guess you don't. But one better than my cheapo 15/30 from Radioshack might be nice. I may get a better one for my next project.

[duhvoodooman***]

It is CRITICAL for fine soldering work that your soldering iron tip be (1) clean, and (2) "tinned" before each soldering operation. It's all about rapid/efficient heat transfer between the tip and the substrate. An oxidized or dirty tip won't transfer heat well, but even a clean tip won't work well without a coating of fresh solder to transmit the heat between the two surfaces. The tip should be a shiny silver before each use. As soon as the tip surface dulls or discolors, it's time to clean & re-tin.