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Soldering - HELP!


Peejay
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Hi all

I've just bought a Nordstrand pickup for my SBMM Stingray and the connecting wires are tiny! Does anyone have any hints and tips on how to go about unsoldering the existing wires and then soldering the new ones on?

Any help gratefully received. I suppose a decent soldering iron would be a good start.

Cheers

Paul

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Youtube is filled with videos. Learning takes some time.

Main points:

- it's hot, do not burn the table or thigh or your house

- a small iron is good for small work, and a big one good for pot cases and so on, something like 20 - 30 watts could be a universal unit

- plain iron is already functional, but soldering stations are not that expensive (check Hakko, Weller, and compare them to a Metcal)

- lead-free tins are a chore compared to the older tin, so take your time, train with plain wires

- the smoke is mostly resin, if you don't have a fan, go beside a window

- clean the tip regularly (wet paper is always at hand)

- the tin has to have flux which cleans the surface

- twist the wire so it is easier to keep in shape, and pre-tin it first before tinning it to a pre-tinned lug

- last but not least, it is hot, do not ever leave the iron unattended!

 

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35 minutes ago, itu said:

Youtube is filled with videos. Learning takes some time.

Main points:

- it's hot, do not burn the table or thigh or your house

- a small iron is good for small work, and a big one good for pot cases and so on, something like 20 - 30 watts could be a universal unit

- plain iron is already functional, but soldering stations are not that expensive (check Hakko, Weller, and compare them to a Metcal)

- lead-free tins are a chore compared to the older tin, so take your time, train with plain wires

- the smoke is mostly resin, if you don't have a fan, go beside a window

- clean the tip regularly (wet paper is always at hand)

- the tin has to have flux which cleans the surface

- twist the wire so it is easier to keep in shape, and pre-tin it first before tinning it to a pre-tinned lug

- last but not least, it is hot, do not ever leave the iron unattended!

 

All great advice. I wish I had known about the pre-tin the first time I soldered anything. I would have made far less mess!

 I would also add that unless you are very confident if you need to solder in the cavity cover the exposed area of your bass in some cardboard/thick fabric. If you do mess up then the bass body won’t get burned.

Edited by tegs07
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Even if it's hot, never blow on a ... hot solder as it's the best way to get what is called a "dry solder" meaning intermittent contact and big issues : a nightmare to find the origin afterwards when you don't know it...

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Patience, and something to hold the wires with are recommended too - either pliers or a ‘helping hand’ tool will be good. The wires get hot, and even with bass-player’s callouses it can be painful if you’re holding hot wire!

Also, make a note (written diagram and/or photographs) of the original wiring - just in case...

 

Wherever possible (and I speak from experience) do each wire at a time - you don’t want a situation where you’ve got a fistful of different wires, a board full of empty solder pads, and no idea where each wire is supposed to go!

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Wise words and thank you. I was going to take a few photos on my phone to use as reference, but one at a time and patience seem to be the way to go along with pre-tinning.

I have the finesse of a buffalo so hopefully it will work out OK. 😁

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6 hours ago, Peejay said:

Wise words and thank you. I was going to take a few photos on my phone to use as reference, but one at a time and patience seem to be the way to go along with pre-tinning.

I have the finesse of a buffalo so hopefully it will work out OK. 😁

My best tip is to cut the wires from the old pickup, that are on the board already, and solder the new pickup wires onto that.

Worked for me recently on a Stingray 😀

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3 minutes ago, Chiliwailer said:

My best tip is to cut the wires from the old pickup, that are on the board already, and solder the new pickup wires onto that.

Worked for me recently on a Stingray 😀

This. Bit of heat shrink over the soldered join and nice and neat. Oh and if it’s active take the battery off first!

Edited by tegs07
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Thanks guys. I was planning on joining old and new wires rather than solder terminals on the delicate circuit board/pre-amp, but the heat shrink is a good idea. Where would you get that from?

Battery will be out.

There's nobody local that I'm aware of who I can pass the job onto, so I'll need to have a go myself I guess.

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On 28/05/2021 at 04:28, tegs07 said:

This. Bit of heat shrink over the soldered join and nice and neat. Oh and if it’s active take the battery off first!

The trick is to put the heat shrink on the wire before soldering together ( DOH!!!) and not get it all so hot that the heat shrink goes off before you slide it onto the joint!

Tinning the wire ends goes a long way to making it quick to get a joint.

Remember that solder flows towards the heat.

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A word of caution re. soldering preamps and similar micro-circuitry. Don't use a high wattage soldering iron and keep contact between iron and what you are soldering to a minimum. It's very easy to cook miniature electronics. Quite a useful guide here - Soldering Irons - A Complete Guide | RS Components (rs-online.com). I use a 15 or 25w iron with a fine bit for jobs like that.

I note you want longer wires on the preamp. It may not look as neat as replacing them, but would it be safer to add wire to lengthen them (you can insulate the joins with shrink sleeving)? They will be out of sight once the pre' is installed in the bass, after all.

Edited by Dan Dare
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Thanks for all the help and guidance.

Decided to err on the side of caution given all the advice  about possible pitfalls and took the bass to the guy who did a part refret on my Gibson RD Artist recently. For £25 plus a couple of gallons of fuel it's not worth risking making a hash of things. He's also fitting a Delano and a new nut to my SUB 4 so I have two MM types to choose from.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update.

Took the basses to the luthier guy who sorted my RD and really pleased with the results. The Nordy in the Sterling really does sound like an authentic pre-EB Stingray and the Delano in the SUB brings it alive. Both different but like them both and add a wide range of tonal variation to the collection. Cost me £100 including a new nut on the SUB so well pleased.

Just need to update the tuners on the Sterling now! Like Gotohs best but not sure they do a version which fits, so may go Schaller rather than Hipshot. 

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12 minutes ago, Big Rich said:

I worked out that to solder well, you need 3 hands.

That's probably why those flexibly mounted croc clips used to hold wires while you solder them are usually known as third hands!

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