Hey dudes.
I've just finished wiring up my new build, with a single coil pickup, volume and tone pots and jack. I haven't strung it up yet but plugged it into my amp to check It's working. Everything seems fine except both pots crackle when you turn them. They are brand new. I didn't have this problem with any of my previous pots. I have however used lead free solder for the first time.
Any thoughts?
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
wnat is the likely outcome if the pickup is too close to the strings apart from the magnet 'pulling down on the strings, i have a really 'gritty' decay...?
Errr....is that tone pot wired right? I know there are several variants on wiring a tone pot, and I am certainly not an electronics expert, but that's not the wiring method I use!
Richey Kay > ChickenboneJohnFebruary 3, 2014 at 4:57am
This is what I've used John. I would welcome any other suggestions. I've ordered some fresh pots and soldering gear and will try again later this week. Any wood news? :)
To be honest John, I think you're right. I found it very difficult to use the lead free solder. I'll try again tonight using your tips. Cheers mate.
John Sawyer > Richey KayFebruary 2, 2014 at 3:20pm
I've found that lead free solder melts at a higher temperature. It's definitely more finicky. You should also tie the open leg of the tone pot to the center post, I think...
Richey Kay > John SawyerFebruary 2, 2014 at 4:42pm
Cheers John. I noticed I got a really loud buzzing when I turned the tone pot all the way up. could be helped by grounding to the back of the pot I guess!
John Sawyer > Richey KayFebruary 2, 2014 at 4:46pm
looks like you did ground to the pots. You can also twist the wires together, that helps... I use shielded wire in my builds, seems to work good.
I've had that on the odd pot, sometimes Servisol cleaner does the trick, but more often than not I ditch the pot and replace it.
Not wanting to be overly critical, but your soldering looks a bit suspect - if there's the slightest bit of a 'dry joint" you can get a crackle when the whole thing vibrates.. You should be aiming for a clean shiny blob of solder at each connection - looks like you're not getting enough heat into the solder joint. I used to hate soldering, and used to have serious problems getting a good connection to the back of pot. Now I always take a file to the back of the pot to clean and prep it for the solder, and make sure the iron is really hot and well tinned before attempting to solder. When it's all good, the solder should just flow under capilliary between the tag or back of the pot and the iron - get a good firm contact with the iron to the work in order to transfer the heat and don't move the iron at all, just feed in the solder and it should leave you with a neat shiny bead of solder. Then put the wire to it, apply the iron until the solder fuses and again, don't wiggle the iron, as soon as the bead is molten, draw the iron away.
Replies
wnat is the likely outcome if the pickup is too close to the strings apart from the magnet 'pulling down on the strings, i have a really 'gritty' decay...?
Errr....is that tone pot wired right? I know there are several variants on wiring a tone pot, and I am certainly not an electronics expert, but that's not the wiring method I use!
interesting ,isn't that the s/duncan method?
I've found that lead free solder melts at a higher temperature. It's definitely more finicky. You should also tie the open leg of the tone pot to the center post, I think...
looks like you did ground to the pots. You can also twist the wires together, that helps... I use shielded wire in my builds, seems to work good.
John
I've had that on the odd pot, sometimes Servisol cleaner does the trick, but more often than not I ditch the pot and replace it.
Not wanting to be overly critical, but your soldering looks a bit suspect - if there's the slightest bit of a 'dry joint" you can get a crackle when the whole thing vibrates.. You should be aiming for a clean shiny blob of solder at each connection - looks like you're not getting enough heat into the solder joint. I used to hate soldering, and used to have serious problems getting a good connection to the back of pot. Now I always take a file to the back of the pot to clean and prep it for the solder, and make sure the iron is really hot and well tinned before attempting to solder. When it's all good, the solder should just flow under capilliary between the tag or back of the pot and the iron - get a good firm contact with the iron to the work in order to transfer the heat and don't move the iron at all, just feed in the solder and it should leave you with a neat shiny bead of solder. Then put the wire to it, apply the iron until the solder fuses and again, don't wiggle the iron, as soon as the bead is molten, draw the iron away.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next