stevel

Yeah, they do have a maximum number of tickets each customer can buy, usually around 10% of the total. But sometimes there are 10-12 guitars drawn on the same day, and it's usually twice a week for most of these operators, so that's still a lot of tickets it's possible to buy. Got to say though, it's still far better odds than winning the lottery, in that a far higher percentage of the ticket cost goes into the prize.

Nope, when they draw an unsold ticket they show onscreen that the ticket was unsold, and then they keep drawing more numbers until they find a ticket that DID get sold. Have you even watched any of these draws, before you start casting aspersions?

Yup, the same suspects win time and time again.... because they buy so many tickets. They're addicted, it's fairly simple. I have also won a lot of good basses on various sites, mainly Guitar Gear Giveaway. The last one I won was last month, an EBMM Stingray (3EQ) in translucent orange. Prior to that I've had another Stingray (2EQ), a 3rd Stingray, a Rickenbacker 4003, Fender: American Jazz, Mexican Jazz, Aerodyne Jazz & a Telecaster, an Ibanez SR300, a couple of Squiers and an Epiphone SG. For a couple of the above list I have collected them rather than having them delivered, so I've personally met the guys that run both Guitar Gear Giveaway and BassBros competitions, they're all thoroughly decent folks. And yes, they do try to sell around twice the instrument's worth in tickets, but they don't always sell all of the tickets before they're drawn - but they're true to their word in that they don't extend the 'competition' (raffle!), even if they're making a loss. They also have overheads to meet as well as paying themselves a decent wage, so I don't think what they're doing is unreasonable. The draws are done live on YouTube/Facebook/whatever, using google's random number generator - they're as open and honest as could be about it. I wouldn't be entering these draws if even thought there was a possibility they weren't on the level.

350 to 400 should do well for general use, but it does depend a bit on what you’re soldering and how thick the solder wire is. If you’re working on pots then crank it up (I use 450 or so) and don’t keep it in contact with the pots any longer than needed to do the job.

What is it you're looking to get done? String change and a tune up, or complete neck replacement type thing?

One of the problems with repairing composites in general is that when the original resin cures, it forms long chain polymers, so there's nothing for a new resin to bond with (at the molecular level). So, all that's needed is to abrasively remove (grind/sandpaper etc) the existing material in the area of the repair - that'll expose something for the new resin to bond with. If you have to re-use the insert you've got then clean that up thoroughly as well, possibly with a fine wet/dry paper - should be as good as the original by the time you're done.

Yihua are one of the better cheapo Chinese manufacturers - I've got their WEP 937D, which comes in at £35 today (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldering-Station-Welder-Rework-Repairing/dp/B074Z84TDL). I've had mine for about 6 years, soldered loads of stuff, still going strong and never met anything it couldn't do - I'd not hesitate to buy the same one again if mine gave up today. Yihua's stuff are generally clones of the excellent Hakko soldering stations, but at a fraction of the price. There's plenty of other clones of Hakko products, they probably all come from the same Chinese factory.