Soldering Tips & Tricks for the Home Musician

(Courtesy Fralin Pickups, Richmond VA)

Soldering can be a tricky skill to learn, mainly because you don't spend all day honing your soldering skills. When something needs soldering, you have to take out the iron, wait until it heats up, solder to the best of your ability, and then you're done! At Fralin Pickups, we spend all day soldering, and we've gotten pretty good at it. Fortunately for you, we love passing our tips and tricks along! Here are some useful tips and tricks to get you started:

TIP # 1: CHOOSING THE CORRECT SOLDER
Using the right solder is key to making sure you get the job done right. Ideally, the best solder to use is a lead-based solder with a rosin core. Lead-based solder with a rosin core will secure a reliable electrical connection and flow nicely. We use the Kester® brand of solder, and you can usually find Kester® Solder at your local hardware store.
Don't have the Kester Solder? That's okay! Most solder will work well for installing pickups. One type of solder is a pain to work with, though - Lead-Free Solder. This solder does not flow and is prone to cold solder joints. Avoid this if you can.

TIP # 2: CHOOSE THE RIGHT SOLDERING IRON
Use a soldering pencil - not a gun! Soldering guns are unwieldy and produce a magnetic field around them. This magnetic field can demagnetize your pickups during installation - a huge bummer.

TIP # 3: MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTION
The best connection you can make when soldering is a "Mechanical Connection". A Mechanical Connection features a "kink" in the wire before the solder is applied. When connected properly, a Mechanical Connection is basically fail-proof!

TIP # 4: PRE-TIN
Pre-tinning your connections is one of the most game-changing tips we can offer. It's the difference between a clean, pretty, and effective solder joint and a messy "cold" one. To pre-tin your connections, simply apply solder to both elements you want to connect before soldering them together.
For example, if you were soldering a 5-Way switch, you would pre-tin the terminal of the switch and pre-tin the pickup's wire separately. Then, all you would have to do is join the two and apply heat from your soldering pencil, and voila! You have a beautiful, clean solder joint. Pre-tinning coats each surface with solder and burns away any impurities on each surface to provide a clean and effective solder joint.

TIP # 5: PROTECT YOURSELF
Soldering can be dangerous. Use proper eye protection and wash your hands after soldering if using lead-based solder - it's poisonous!

Tips for Recording a Band Live with One Microphone

 

1. Pick a nice large-diaphragm condenser stereo microphone. Look for clarity and an ability to absorb nearer sounds without distorting.

2. Pick a large room at least the size of a living room. The room needs to sound good and be devoid of loud outside noises. Avoid rooms with a lot of glass.

3. Keep the microphone centered and as away from instruments/speaker cabinets as possible (and keep your mic far away from large windows).

4. Critical that everyone plays quieter, there needs to be some headroom to get louder on certain passages.

5. Create balance in the room by arranging instruments/cabs so that the loudest are furthest away. Test and adjust placement of instruments/cabs until a good balance is achieved. A dB sound meter can also be used to set the instrument/cab/vocal levels at the mic.

6. A cardioid microphone is directional, so sound off-axis will be limited. A figure 8 around the cardioid area will work and putting a drummer or another louder instrument/cab in the "dead" spot directly behind a cardioid might help tame the sound if overly loud.