Trying to not solder to my pots.

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Well, I found myslef a nice piece of thin, malleable steel and made a strip out of it and drilled some holes in it then bent up a bit at the side to solder to, although at first it didn't want to take the solder, but I found that it had a coating on it, so I filed it off and all was well.

There is still a bit of hum and buzz, but half of it is the pedals/crap powerpoint that my amp is running into and whatever hum is actually coming from the guitar, I think I know how to fix if I can be bothered (I'll probably leave it, I got a MXR smart gate)

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

The only main concern is that when switching between the up and down pos. on the pot, there is hardly any difference in the tone, which annoys me.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Well, I found myslef a nice piece of thin, malleable steel and made a strip out of it and drilled some holes in it then bent up a bit at the side to solder to, although at first it didn't want to take the solder, but I found that it had a coating on it, so I filed it off and all was well.

There is still a bit of hum and buzz, but half of it is the pedals/crap powerpoint that my amp is running into and whatever hum is actually coming from the guitar, I think I know how to fix if I can be bothered (I'll probably leave it, I got a MXR smart gate)

I don't solder them to the plate per se.  I drill holes the solder holes the wire in the holes like the lugs on a pot.  If I could get it to stick to the plate, I would just solder it to the pot.  And the push pull should make a drastic difference at least in the output.  Something isn't right.  Good luck.

 

[Orpheo]

soldering is really not that hard... just sand the coating of the back of the pot, and flow the solder. have the wires tinned aswel, put the wire on the back of the pot, press the soldering iron to both pieces of metal, wait 4 seconds, and boom! its  connected. I never use pliers, always my fingers to hold the wire. the moment I burn my fingers, i know that both the wire and the pot are too hot. thats my tell tail.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

It's not hard for those that know how to do it.  Beleive me, years and years later, I still can't solder to pots worth a darn.  Riding a unicycle isn't hard.

 

[Cagey]

It's not hard for those that know how to do it.  Beleive me, years and years later, I still can't solder to pots worth a darn.  Riding a unicycle isn't hard.

Being able to solder to pot housings isn't really something you even want to be good at. They don't make pots like they did 50 years ago. The internal parts of modern pots are almost all plastic. They're simply not designed to take that kind of heat, and even though the casings may be metal, they're not intended to be soldered to. Just because people have been doing it for years doesn't mean it's right. People have been cheating on their spouses, beating their kids, smoking or abusing alcohol since the dawn of civilization. Is that right? I know that's apples and oranges; I'm just saying common behaviors aren't necessarily correct. You may get away with them, but that's beside the point.

 

[Firebird211]

soldering is really not that hard... just sand the coating of the back of the pot, and flow the solder. have the wires tinned aswel, put the wire on the back of the pot, press the soldering iron to both pieces of metal, wait 4 seconds, and boom! its  connected. I never use pliers, always my fingers to hold the wire. the moment I burn my fingers, i know that both the wire and the pot are too hot. thats my tell tail.

Orpheo uses a similar touch system as I do.  If it is too hot to touch, then give it a min to cool off before the heat builds up and destroys parts.  I usually do: on, off, touch, etc. I don't leave my finger on it, if only I had a free one. :laughing7:

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Holy crap i'm a frickin dumb ass dilly weed. I was using the wiring diagram that I had lying around my room for series/parallel switching instead of split switching.  :doh:

 

[Breakyourguitar]

Been lurking here for awhile and the thread motivated me to sign up. I really like the solder lug idea but need a little more area for connections so I came up with this. It's my first attempt and could use some work but I'm gonna try it on a vol. pot and see how it works.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

That looks great.

 

[Cagey]

That's a great idea. I'm sure it's easier to find fender washers than it is ground lugs.

 

[CrackedPepper]

Been lurking here for awhile and the thread motivated me to sign up. I really like the solder lug idea but need a little more area for connections so I came up with this. It's my first attempt and could use some work but I'm gonna try it on a vol. pot and see how it works.

I was wondering, how did these work out?