Jamo Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Gonna swap over my pickups tomorrow. Feel comfortable enough with the practical side of things but need to buy an iron and some solder. Wondered whether anyone had any advice for me in terms of what type of solder gives the 'truest' connection and whether getting a 15 or 30 watt iron would make any real difference. I'm thinking either will be fine but some reassurance before I get going would be nice! Thanks basschaters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Either will be fine for simple wiring jobs but I'd go for a 30 watt iron on the basis that you might want to solder pots at some stage and the extra heat capacity will help a lot. Alternatively, if you're likely to start soldering small electronic components then I'd probably opt for the 15 watt one. Solder-wise, I'm a bit out of touch with the availablility of the 'old' lead solder as I've still got a large reel of the stuff. If it is still available then I'd go for it, otherwise you'll have little choice but to go with the lead-free stuff . . . which actually might be another reason to go for the 30 watt iron because of the higher melting point of lead-free solder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I got a roll of this, its working fine for me, I get through solder, this stuff is quite fine: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360434145079&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:1123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I haven't looked back since buying a pot of flux, a little smear on every surface to be soldered and the solder runs like water onto the joints. Cleans up the joints too for less dry joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soopercrip Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 [i]'Tinning' each part first (putting a blob of solder) makes life easier, you then just heat both together and jobs done[/i] [i]Andy[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 best investment I made was a little gas solder gun like these [url="http://pro-iroda.com/pro50.htm"]http://pro-iroda.com/pro50.htm[/url] they seem to work better and easier than plug in models for me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamo Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Cheers gents, appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 [quote name='soopercrip' timestamp='1333824998' post='1607109'] [i]'Tinning' each part first (putting a blob of solder) makes life easier, you then just heat both together and jobs done[/i] [i]Andy[/i] [/quote]Plus to the one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 always go for the higher wattage iron - the contact time needed is less and thus theres less chance to overheat and damage stuff. It will also do the back of pots a lot better. Never managed to buy any solder that didn't give a decent joint, it's good to tin everything first though (within reason, if you have any cats or fish around they don't like it, and fruit is bad, just stick to electrical comps). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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