Tim Plains Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Soldering experts... I'm new to soldering and my education consists of one youtube video. Replacing caps seemed easy enough and I've replaced the caps in four LPs now. The way I did it was heat up the existing solder, remove the old cap, then heat up the existing solder again and stick in the new cap. Is this considered a cold joint? I can't really see any harm of doing it this way, it was quick and simple...but is there any harm? If so, I'll remove everything and resolder the joint. As far as guitars go...would a cold joint have a negative impact on anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Not a problem Tim... As long as there is enough solder to hold youre fine... A cold solder joint is when the solder joint is old, cracked and brittle. Often times you can spot a cold solder joint when instead of a shiny silvery looking solder joint the solder looks dull, no shine at all... If you spot one look close and chances are you will see carcks in the solder which results in intermittent contact or no contact at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 +1 on shiny silver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemoon Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Sounds like you have got the hang of it. I re-soldered a bunch of caps and resistors on my amp circuit board. The first one is tough and took a long time to get it right. Now I can remove and replace a cap within a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elessar820 Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 I like to remove old solder if I can, you can get a desoldering bulb from Radio Shack, it looks like an ear syringe, but is teflon lined so you won't burn through it. Just heat the solder and suck it up. I've said it in the LP forum when I had my problems with my BFG and I'll say it again, I've rewired and modded almost every guitar I've owned and never had a problem until I worked on my Les Paul. I guess that was a sign not to mess with what works, anyway modding is fun when it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom99SS Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 One test for colder solder joints is to allow the solder to cool, then give the wire a tug. If it is a colder solder joint the wire will come free. Did this when I soldered the braided wire to the back of the pots. All where good expect for one. Tugged on it and it came off even though it looked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRom Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 +1 on removing the old solder. I have a solder sucker and use it everytime. Makes everything easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 what kind of caps did you put in? solder suckers rock> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 turtle, reproduction BumbleBee caps from RS Guitar in both the R8 and R9. The fake Bees that come in the historics are now in my LP Standard and Custom. Noticeable improvement in the R8, not so much the R9. (Perfect to begin with...what can I say? ) I am starting to dislike the BB Pros, but the fake Bees make the guitar sound nicer to my ears. I'm probably going to put something else in the Custom. I bought a bunch of caps to try out. So, I also have Tropical Fish, Sprague Orange Drops, Vit. Qs & vintage 50s Bees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 I'm probably going to put something else in the Custom. I bought a bunch of caps to try out. So' date=' I also have Tropical Fish, Sprague Orange Drops, Vit. Qs & vintage 50s Bees.[/quote'] Hey Tim... Would be nice to get the results of you cap experiments... Maybe a list of al the caps you have tried and how each one affected the sound of the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted September 27, 2008 Author Share Posted September 27, 2008 Sure Dave, the only problem is I'm going from memory. When the tone knob is at 10, there's not that much of a difference. It's when you roll the tone back that you notice the difference caps make. So, playing around with my Standard... The .047 Bees were too dark. I've heard that elsewhere that they're too dark for a LP. The Tropical Fish didn't give me much of a taper. The Orange Drops and Vit. Qs were decent, but with the tone at 10, the guitar sounded harsh...too trebley for me. If you've played a LP reissue, you know that the tone pots have no taper. The R9, no noticable difference. The R8 sounds a bit clearer with the tone at 10, I find...unless it's all in my head. That's always a possibility, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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