Members notjonahbutnoah Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I had been planning on buying a second LP identical to mine, just for a backup and my realization that it's the perfect guitar for me. Finances didn't fall into place as such so I decided to revamp the innards of mine. I got a whole new wiring harness (pots, caps, switch, jack), and new pickups. I've soldered before, I'm so-so at it. I've done a bunch of mods to my own guitars and they all work, but I have f*cked this up royally. I have meticulously gone over it all and it just buzzes. No string sound through the amp. Just buzz. If i touch anything metal, except for frets and strap pins...(obviously because they're not connected to the circuit at all) the buzzing decreases in volume. Yep. I'm just so pissed off. I feel like a big angry ape kid who beats up kids with glasses and books. I wish to smash many objects. I hate {censored}ing soldering. Yes, I mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 You have a ground problem. Check for a ground loop maybe. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Hmmm... inspecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Smilin' Bob Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Uh, soldering can be fun! First, make sure you have a decent soldering iron. The cheapest iron at Radio Shack will not make reliable joins. Tin your soldering iron! Use steel wool to wipe off the tip as soon as it quits being shiny! Be patient! It takes time to heat all the components so the solder will flow and stick. Be observant - what is happening there at the tip? Test continuity of all joins with a multimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Becker Guitars Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 +1 Smilin Bob......Noah, what is your soldering technique? Put a little solder on the wire and on the destination contact before trying to connect the two and they will melt and stick more easily. If you are having a hard time getting solder to cool quickly enough, touching it with a room temperature piece of metal (ie screwdriver will make it solidify instantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 You have a ground problem. Check for a ground loop maybe.EG Nailed it in a minute. Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Just thank god you aren't working on a semi-hollow or hollow. I just finished replacing everything but the pups on my Casino and it was a major PITA getting everything back in. I think I would have smashed something if it had a problem after all that. But holy crap it's amazing what good pots, caps and a decent wiring job did for that baby. Just opened the whole thing right up. I'm seriously astonished how much better it sounds. It was amazing in a not so good way how horrible the factory wiring job was. I'm surprised it sounded as good as it did before the upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 The best way to go from dreading soldering to tolerating it is to get a multimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 The best way to go from dreading soldering to tolerating it is to get a multimeter. However a multimeter is useless if you have a bad joint that breaks after your measurement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yeah but it's hard to break a soldering joint if you're working on a solidbody Plus, the last step should be checking that the bridge is grounded properly, which is easiest with a multimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yeah but it's hard to break a soldering joint if you're working on a solidbody Plus, the last step should be checking that the bridge is grounded properly, which is easiest with a multimeter. True. I usually just follow the diagram and make sure everythings connected good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jarick Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I've always been a decent solderer (dad was an EE major) but I've always had kind of ugly soldering jobs, nothing like those pretty gut pics of places like RS or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Sounds like the jack wired backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Well I my iron is from radio shack, but it's a nicer one with a 20/40 watt setting, and a station. The kind where one cord runs from the station to the wall and the other runs from the station to the iron itself. I put solder on the surface and also the wire. I make sure the tip of the iron is clean, there's a sponge and I keeps it shiny form every joint. I have some fine sandpaper, no steel wool around. I don't have a multimeter. I just went back over it all, moved the ground and whatnot. Nothing looks out of order. It's kinda messy, because I suck, but everything seems to be in the right spot. I need a tech that will take 1 day. I just want the {censored} done. Anyone wanna come over and take a look? Punch and pie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Sounds like the jack wired backwards. That was actually the first thing I checked. It's correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I don't have a multimeter.I could think of worse ways of spending $15, like having a professional take a look at your work. You probably have a bad joint somewhere and don't even know it. Or maybe you burned a cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Yeah, it's going to a tech. I want it done right. I pretty much give, I keep going over everything and it just doesn't make sense. Spent me whole damned afternoon on this. FAIL!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I used to hate myself too when I didn't have a multimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I always manage to get my stuff working, but yeah... it can be tedious and frustrating. To Jarick, I think one of the 'tricks' to the super nice looking solder blobs from places like RS is to have a higher wattage iron and the exact right solder to match the iron. I usually use an older 25W Weller, but I have a 40 watter I've used a couple times. The same solder just plops down in a nice big fat blob. One thing definitely to remember is you are supposed to hold the iron against the solder/pot/wire long enough to burn out the extras in the solder and turn it nice and shiny. A hotter iron allows this to happen more easily as it heats the component/wire whatever a bit hotter so first additional 2 seconds or so after you take the iron away, the solder is still slightly liquid. The other other thing that almost every DIYer I've ever watched does wrong is they get the tip tinner, tin the tip of the wire, but when they go to actually join the wire to the pot, they'll apply solder to the tip and want it to run down the tip rather than heating the wire AND the pot and applying solder to the joint of the wire and the pot. That's my only advice... Well, pulling your hair out helps a little bit bit last time I saw you, I don't think you had enough hair to pull out, Noah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members webwarmiller Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 When working on a rewire on a guitar with a pickguard I always mock up the cavity layout on piece of cardboard and attach all the pots and switches to it. I then make all the connections that don't involve the pickups. This way the iron and solder are only near the actual guitar at the very end and I don't have to work inside the control cavity. I then will install the pickup and jack and solder them up to the pots/switches (still attached to the cardboard). I then test everything out to prove that it works before removing the pots/switches from the cardboard and placing them inside the control cavity. As for ground loops, they are IMPOSSIBLE within a guitar's wiring. An electric guitar has a SINGLE ground path.....the output jack. No matter how you wire your grounds they must all converge at the jack for the guitar to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 You have a ground problem. Check for a ground loop maybe.EG This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I love the smell of solder in the morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor49 Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 dont sand or wire wool a soldering iron tip. these days they are coated and you will strip the coat off. A sponge with water while the iron is hot is all you need. and get a multimeter - you will find the problem in 30 seconds. and in future you can check each joint as you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dogtownmax Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 When working on a rewire on a guitar with a pickguard I always mock up the cavity layout on piece of cardboard and attach all the pots and switches to it. I then make all the connections that don't involve the pickups. This way the iron and solder are only near the actual guitar at the very end and I don't have to work inside the control cavity. I then will install the pickup and jack and solder them up to the pots/switches (still attached to the cardboard). I then test everything out to prove that it works before removing the pots/switches from the cardboard and placing them inside the control cavity.As for ground loops, they are IMPOSSIBLE within a guitar's wiring. An electric guitar has a SINGLE ground path.....the output jack. No matter how you wire your grounds they must all converge at the jack for the guitar to work. this is the way. it is a lot easier to wire up the pots and switches on a piece of cardboard not connected to the guitar until you have to. so much easier. cleaner. safer for the guitar. easier to check with a multimeter, which you have to have to check your soldering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willyguitar Posted March 9, 2011 Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 +1 Smilin Bob......Noah, what is your soldering technique? Put a little solder on the wire and on the destination contact before trying to connect the two and they will melt and stick more easily. If you are having a hard time getting solder to cool quickly enough, touching it with a room temperature piece of metal (ie screwdriver will make it solidify instantly.:lol:The trouble I have with soldering is that the human race only has two arms, and I haven't yet learned to use my toes to hold objects. It's getting the end of the wire just in the right place on the back of a pot say and the iron on top or in the vicinity, plus a bit of solder in the right place, quickly and accurately enough, in a very small space, without touching other bits of insulation etc... and then dealing with the issue of heating up and cooling down. My other problem is that I can never get the components hot enough in the right place - I heat up a region of the back of the pot for example, to the extent that I can hardly hold a wire that is attached to it, but the solder still doesn't flow.... and if it does, it doesn't always adhere, no matter how I do it, hwo I prepare the surface, or how I put bits of solder there in advance. On the videos it looks so easy, but it never works like that for me.So yeah, I don't find soldering easy either, but somehow it just about works in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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