Leaderboard

Don't solder to pots - Use solder lugs

In my years of experience, soldering to the back of volume pots often makes them noisy.  Ground lugs just makes sense, and I am interested in trying them.
 
Many of the internal parts, including the resistor strip, are plastic. They aren't designed to take any appreciable heat.
 
I assume this would be problematic on a strat with metal shielding on the underside of the pickguard?
 
I've always been under the impression that when wiring or grounding, there are certain rules for what can and can't be connected. Get buzzing here, or short something there. Or does that just apply to hot leads and not grounding?
 
It depends on what you're trying to accomplish, and the frequencies you're dealing with. With guitars, the frequencies are ridiculously low, electrically. They're in the audible range. So, try not to worry about it too much. When you get up into radio frequencies and higher, then the rules change. Several times. Also, when you get into high voltages and currents, the rules change. Several times. But, in guitars? Fuhgeddaboudit. The rules are stupid simple.
 
Hi.  I'm new here, and glad to see so much good information.  I've soldered electronics in a guitar once, and somehow I must have successfully soldered to the back of a pot without frying it, or realizing it was difficult.  We'll call that beginner's luck.

This time I'm working with some more expensive push-pull pots, and I don't want to goof them up.  My wife is at a conference this weekend, so I have all the time I need to wire up a pickguard.  She's even taking our cute, but noisy 3 month old baby with her.  It's a perfect opportunity to won't come again soon.  I wish I'd learned about solder lugs a little sooner, but it's too late to put an order in now.  Here's my question:

Looking at the picture I've attached, I'm wondering if the area circled in red might be a suitable place to solder to a push-pull pot.  It seems to be out of the way, and from what I've read, it doesn't seem to matter much where I solder to the pot, because everything's more or less connected.  Then again, I know little to nothing.  What do you think, and if you were in my position, what would you do?

David

SolderHere.jpg


P.S. Isn't this an issue with soldering capacitors too?


 
It looks like there's a bit of a flange or tab on the back of that switch that might make a better solder lug than that little spot you've pointed out. Plus, if you've got a small enough twist drill bit, you could put a hole through it so you could get a better grip with the wire, rather than just laying it on the metal and hoping the solder, good intentions and magic holds it. One of the secrets of a good solder joint is a good mechanical joint.

And yes, not only capacitors but most electronics components don't like to get overheated. That's why it's important to use the proper soldering iron/tip so you don't sit on the part for too long trying to get it hot enough to flow solder. With pointed/conical tips and/or too low a wattage iron, you end up just cooking things to death.
 
Thanks for the reply, Cagey.  Here's a picture of the actual pot I've ordered from StewMac.  It's similar, but not exactly the same.  Is this the flange you meant?

ActualPot.jpg
 
No, I'm talking about that big tab on the back of the switch, not on the pot. You see where there are 6 terminals in two rows of three on that boxy part? That boxy part is the switch. On the bottom of that, I can see a tab sticking up that's oriented perpendicular to the two rows of three electrical terminals. Drill a hole in that, and use it as a ground tie point.
 
My wife is at a conference this weekend, so I have all the time I need to wire up a pickguard.  She's even taking our cute, but noisy 3 month old baby with her.  It's a perfect opportunity to won't come again soon.
Click to expand...

ummm, do you... you can't, wha---.................. hmmm. Yorp!

:icon_scratch:

Does she even know you have guitars?  :dontknow: Whoa.

Are the penalties for infractions clearly posted, or do you just have to get real tiny and real fast and zoom outta the house, hoping that the Big Sniffer* is thrown off by your countermeasures and praying that Mz. the Fedette doesn't find any errant... brightly-colored WIRE Fragments!! :o !!

Developing a systematic & comprehensive repertoire of maneuvers to fuel your psy-ops strategy is imperative here, Junior. For example, pick up the beer cans, four to seven times a year; put the toilet seat down every once in a while (freaks 'em right out), c'mon, you know the drill. Not too much though - she could slam a 180-degree invert the opposite way if she's any good at smelling a rat. And they all are. :guitaristgif:
 
Pot housings do not to be grounded for the circuit to work.  However, it is often more work to still have a grounded system and not ground them.  In the process of still grounding all of the necessary parts, the pots, either the shaft or the housing is a good anchoring point for a central grounding location.
 
Cagey do you have two leftover solder lugs? That guitar parts resource wants almost $9 with shipping and I don't need to buy anything else. It's for the SRV dragonburst strat thing.

Don't think I'm shielding this one. It's light as hell and I have one of those nifty Decimator pedals that works pretty well.
 
Another thing I have found to be relatively easy is creating a grounding post, similar to wiring up a boat.  I just took some thicker guage wire (the ground wire out of 3-wire romex) and with needlenose pliers made a loop at both ends and screwed it into the side of the cavity.  I attach all my grounds to it (including the jack).  This way if I have to replace something I am not having to remove multiple grounds from a pot, I can just remove the individual ground form the post.  Also it limits the amount of heat hitting the pots, thus reducing the chance of burning up the inside of the pots (giving the endless search for buzzing that may occur).
 
Any suggestions on how to best solder braided shielding to lugs?  I am finding it challenging in the tight confines of the control cavity  :sad:
 
CrackedPepper said:
Any suggestions on how to best solder braided shielding to lugs?  I am finding it challenging in the tight confines of the control cavity  :sad:
Click to expand...

Why not just attach it to a short wire, and then attach the wire to the solder lugs?
 
That's how I do it. That braided shielding is a real pain in the shorts to unravel to the point where you can twist it into a wire. So, just strip a bit back to where you can clear the inner conductor and hook it up, then use a short piece of bus wire wrapped around the shield to create a lead you can use to tie the shield to ground.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Coil Split Push Pull Wiring Diagram Help
Replies
7
Views
184
stratamania
stratamania
joelavely
Why no active forums for used parts?
Replies
19
Views
536
electric__steve
electric__steve
R
7/8 T style, first build and a few general questions.
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
stratamania
stratamania
Don O
Purple Wuilt VIP build
Replies
10
Views
1K
ThePhilosopher
ThePhilosopher
jerotas
Should you start on acoustic or electric? Things to consider
Replies
17
Views
458
jerotas
jerotas
Back
Top