Soldering the back of a pesky volume pot!

Have you ever had to wire up a guitar and struggled to solder those black wires onto the back of the volume pot?  Nation member, Jon Lesley posed the same question here and got some great responses.  Here's a few:

Scratch My Back Hack:  Use some 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper to sand the back of the pot. This will remove any oils that might keep the solder from sticking.  Then use tape to temporarily hold the wires in the spot that you want them. Solder the wires and remove the tape. Voila!  -Skeesix

Flux Hack:  My technique is to sand the back of the pot, as already suggested. Then, smear some flux on the spot you just sanded. (Just use a little teeny dab, you don't need much.)  Make sure you have a beefy enough iron and melt enough solder onto the tip of the iron until you have a blob of solder that is just about ready to drip off.  Very slowly touch just the bottom of the blob to the back of the pot, and just hold it there. As soon as the back of the pot is hot enough, the blob of solder will just flow off the tip of the iron and you should have a nice shiny solder joint.  -Dan Sleep

You never know what cool tips you'll find on The Nation.

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That's a relief, I thought you used lemon juice to write and I needed to apply heat in order to reveal any hidden messages. Whew!

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I have a question for solder gurus. I definitely think thinner solder helps. I actually prefer .032". However, over the years I have noticed some are easier to work with than others. My favorite is labeled 60/40, and says it contains lead. The other is labeled 95/Tin, 5/Antimon, and says lead free. I live in the US and have searched for 60/40 with no luck. Is lead containing solder a thing of the past, or do any of you have a recommended source? Or have I been inhaling too much lead over the last 20 years, and it's everywhere and I am just too blind to see it? Ha-ha

and also....if you haven't soldered before .....practice before you even start baking those pots..

I know the purpose of this soldering to back of a pot is a ground thing, but though I use a conductive glue instead of solder I don't glue anything to the back of the pot.I haven't encountere any issues not doing so. I run a ground wire from output hack ground to some point of contact with strings. On the pot itself I first add a short wire piece from the earth pin to a lug that is part of the pot back. I then attach ground from pickup to that lug and another from the output ground. I just dont get this soldering to pot back thing when it seems fine if you dont. What am I missing? Other than soldering he he

grounding the metal shell of the pot helps reduce unwanted noise from the environment. 

@ Way here ya go


Not pretty but it works. The lug that the ground from pickup/trannie and ground to output is part of the vol pot metal case so i dont see any point trying to attach ground wires to back of pot. Which in my case usin glue wouldnt stick anywsy. I hace never had a hum issue or anything doin it this way.
Heavens above. I have been unable to get on CBN for awhile. Second time this month. Yeh I figured the ground thing was workin as I dont find my pickup noisy

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