In this lesson of our Guitar Soldering Course, Besty shows you how to master soldering to guitar pots. See our handwound guitar pickups: www.radioshoppickups.com/
Just a little headsup for the people who aren't working with CTS pots but cheaper alternatives. They're often a bit more tricky to work with and need cleaning before you use them. Otherwise you run into situations where the tin won't stick to the back of the pot. You can read about people sanding the backs with sandpaper, but I find just cleaning them with an alcohol or naptha works great and makes them just as easy to work with as CTS pots!
Im gonna be working with a smaller version of a Volume pot i picked up from a local guitar shop... potentiometer is smaller but states that it will work we will see
Back in 1992 to 1997 I had a roommate that played bass and repaired guitars, mostly re-frett'ed the necks, he started complaining about the shitty pots/switches/jacks that even expensive guitars use. At this point I have had decade plus repairing computers to component level, and everything else I owned. I easily knew how to solve his shitty component problem (like the rubbish pot your soldering too). Bourns or spectrol pots are some of the best out there, the cermet have 1 to 5 million rotation life, yes, I said million. Cutler/Hammer are some of the top toggle switches. He ended up replacing all his and liked them so much, he sold kits of these parts, about 230 kits per year until I moved out and bought a house. The cable jack was special, ball bearings and was a work of art. He started making high end bass guitars for a while, not sure what he does now.
Interesting approach to the terminal soldering! I was always taught to do the 'curl"' method for the wire through the lug, to ensure the two entities have adequate contact prior to closing the joint. Thoughts on that?
A fantastic video! I like the look of that wee vice for holding the components. Stops you from chasing it around the table!! Where would I get one of those?
Great video, love the method, explanation, etc. The only constructive criticism... Leaving your solder joints too shiny could mean a possible cold solder joint. You should have a matte finished look to solder. That means you've reached the proper temperature for maximum hold. Cold solder joints can break easily. This is of course if you're using a 60/40 solder with a rosin coar.
Another trick my roomate did to the guitar necks, instead of varnish, he used thin CA, many coats with light sanding/cleaning in-between, this made the finish bulletproof from sweat/etc.
My 1st time soldering and using cts pots I can’t get the solder on the pot. It either sticks to the iron or the solder itself. Any suggestions? Please?
Help me wrap my head around why the 3rd lug is bent in to ground and if there is a circumstance where you wouldn't go to ground with it but use it for a different objective...thanks
The 3rd lug is the end of the resistance in a pot, if you put it to ground you're looping the circuit and making it go silent, that's why it's main use is in the volume pot
You make this look so ridiculously easy. Me and soldering do not get along at all. I'm the type of person who can't get that solder to stick to anything no matter what I do. It's maddening!
I highly recommend solder that still got lead in it! also it needs a flux core! Flux is extremely important, makes the solder flow and not stick. You can also get flux in a tube, put some where you want to solder and it'll flow easily. I started off with lead free solder and no flux core, and it was horrible. Getting some good lead solder with a flux core allowed me to create shiny and perfect solder joints. The solder just flows like no tomorrow
I actually stopped bending the ground lug to the pot and instead just use a wire. I do this because of breaking the pot by accident...that pcb that the lug is attached to can break easily! Trust me..after this happening to me a gazillion times...a wire is easier! Also, the tinning the lug at the top is great information. That Solder can go down that entire lug to the bottom and can and will cause breakage or shorts eventually!
Is there a reason you didn't just solder the black wire to the pool you already created when you soldered the lug to the housing? I'm a soldering noob lol, just started.
What temp is best to set the solder gun at for jobs like this. 800-900 lol just kidding but this knucklehead has no idea. Appreciate any answer or help
Wih My solder would melt that fast. I have to hold it to it like8 seconds till it begins to melt it then it melts it fast, then start again & wait & wait & wait, till finally it will start t o melt. i have a 35w but its Old now
Strip wires 3/4 inch(19mm) tin them Tin the lugs on the pot. Wrap wire thru the lug while heating it Twist tight then solder a bit more.for a fairly durable physical connection as well as electrical. Use heat shrink tubing to weatherize the connection
That’s a ridiculously unnecessarily long joint, the insulation should only be cut back circa 1/4” 5mm at max for this joint. Re twisting of the wire should never be redone as you end up deforming the wire. A correctly made hook joint will have more than enough mechanical strength for anything this joint would be likely to have to face.
I used to wrap and secure mine too, but this method holds beter. It's is easier to make any repairs, mistakes or mods later. I also learned when I did that Loop and wrap method it created too much stress in the loops would end up snapping. That's why you're using shrink tube because it gets weak at that tight wrapped part. My only critique is that solder should be a matte finish not shiny once done.
Tinning the lug is not necessary. Just tin the wire then insert it through the lug hole and solder using small amount of solder as you heat and make contact with both wire and lug. Hmmm your soldering will not pass Mil Specs mate. 🤣🤣🤣
The tinned wire looks to have too much solder on it as it looks stiff beyond the insulation, this is bad as it doesn’t allow and easy bend to create a joint, the wire should have no solder inside the insulation and should stop circa the dia’ of the wire before the insulation starts. Also the tag has too much solder on it as the hole should never be filled in.
