Broken wire connecting pots

dano89 · Sep 28, 2018

Hi, so my tone pot connecting wire somehow broke! Help! How do I fix this? What kinda equipment do I need?

Thanks!

Dan

https://imgur.com/a/4Ne2WHo

dano89 · Sep 28, 2018

note, check out the top left pot in the picture!

Thanks again!

PaulD · Sep 29, 2018

It looks like the top right hand pot in the picture has come loose and rotated causing the capacitor wire to break off on the other pot. First you will need to reposition the pot, it needs to be rotated clockwise when looking at it from the rear, and re-tighten the retaining nut (the nut under the control knob that holds the pot in place). Then the broken off wire should be able to reach the terminal so that it can be re-soldered (it needs to connect to the middle lug on the top left hand pot in the picture).

dano89 · Sep 30, 2018

What kind of soldering iron should i buy for this? Is this a good time to replace my caps or are those orange ones any good?

Dont know a lot about the actual parts, I just know how to play guitar lol

I should mention I am pretty mechanically inclined and will do some soldering before I work on this girl.

Thanks

PaulD · Sep 30, 2018

Any 30 - 40 watt soldering iron should be fine. If you are planning on doing a lot of soldering work it is worth considering investing in a temperature controlled iron but for the odd job a cheap non temperature controlled iron will be fine.

The capacitors are perfectly fit for purpose and changing them for a different type with the same value will have no discernible effect on the sound (despite what many people will try to tell you!). The tone control circuit on a guitar is a passive circuit and turning the tone control down allows more of the high frequency part of the signal to pass through the capacitor to ground. The signal that you hear never passes through the capacitor, only the part of the signal that is being "dumped" to ground passes through it so the type of capacitor is irrelevant. The value of the capacitor sets the roll off frequency so changing the capacitance value is the only thing that will change the tone.

renderit · Sep 30, 2018

The biggest thing to do after throwing out the complete heresy from the gentleman above (I joke. He may be right but I still spend oodles on PIO caps) is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE on using a soldering iron down a hole. YOU WILL burn edges (your guitar) with the barrel of the iron. You WILL get spatter landing on the finish. It WILL melt into it. COVER everything you can (use that expensive blue tape if nothing else) until you get used to doing it. I like the adjustable irons because you can dial up the heat around 800 to do the large plate welds to the tops of the pots (get on it and off it quick) and put it down around 650-720 for the small stuff. I use a Hakko FX-888D at home for this. Around $100 on Animalzon. I use a much more expensive Weller at work. Just remember, an adjustable iron only makes a difference if you adjust it. Otherwise just buy a $25 regular one.

toxpert · Sep 30, 2018

Or this is a 1 minute repair job for pay.

Don · Sep 30, 2018

toxpert said:
Or this is a 1 minute repair job for pay.

This might be your best bet, unless you learn how to do things well really quickly. It's a simple DIY repair, but wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend a beginner to use a soldering iron.

renderit · Oct 1, 2018

I would never recommend paying for a job if you want to learn the skills. Agreed, it ain't the first place I'd send a newby to a soldering lesson, but lets face it; if you play guitar a lot it's a good skill to have and it's not likely you need to use a soldering wand elsewhere if you don't have one already...

Don · Oct 1, 2018

renderit said:
I would never recommend paying for a job if you want to learn the skills. Agreed, it ain't the first place I'd send a newby to a soldering lesson, but lets face it; if you play guitar a lot it's a good skill to have and it's not likely you need to use a soldering wand elsewhere if you don't have one already...

I agree, though I'd recommend that the OP wire a Strat or Tele or build an overdrive pedal first.

GeraintGuitar · Oct 3, 2018

renderit said:
I would never recommend paying for a job if you want to learn the skills. Agreed, it ain't the first place I'd send a newby to a soldering lesson, but lets face it; if you play guitar a lot it's a good skill to have and it's not likely you need to use a soldering wand elsewhere if you don't have one already...

agree with this 100% just a couple of old broken jack cable first , the worst that can happen is you'll have to buy a new pot and cap and then your learning some more so its all good

GeraintGuitar · Oct 3, 2018

renderit said:
I would never recommend paying for a job if you want to learn the skills. Agreed, it ain't the first place I'd send a newby to a soldering lesson, but lets face it; if you play guitar a lot it's a good skill to have and it's not likely you need to use a soldering wand elsewhere if you don't have one already...

agree with this 100% just fixa couple of old broken jack cable first , the worst that can happen is you'll have to buy a new pot and cap and then your learning some more so its all good

toxpert · Oct 3, 2018

If talking soldering pots...a couple of things:
-always turn the pot to 0/off position when soldering
-you will need a higher wattage iron and a larger tip for soldering ground wires to the pot backs
-you want to be on and off with the heat as quick as can

Using a small wattage iron, you may end up cooking the pot before you get it soldered on the back/case

Also, make a good mechanical connection for the work to be joined...then solder.

GeraintGuitar · Oct 3, 2018

dano89 said:
note, check out the top left pot in the picture!

Thanks again!

by the way that pot came loose and you or someone else tightened it with out opening the control cavity and gripping the pot .
thats why it broke

its time to get learning mate , if your gonna play guitar ,your jack sockets will get loose spin and break . your toggle switch will fail etc.......(if you've been playing long enough to claim you "just play guitar " its suprising these things haven't happened already )

unless your definitely set to get a record deal and make it big , in which case you wont have to worry because you'll have a tech who can fix all your " broken shit "

peace man

ps sorry about the gramma i cant spell i just play guitar

dano89 · Oct 4, 2018

GeraintGuitar said:
(if you've been playing long enough to claim you "just play guitar " its suprising these things haven't happened already )

I played Teles until I bought this paul. I also have a performance degree in classical guitar, and an ARCT diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. Both classical guitars and Teles are pretty low maintenance.

Thanks for the advice though

GeraintGuitar · Oct 4, 2018

dano89 said:
I played Teles until I bought this paul. I also have a performance degree in classical guitar, and an ARCT diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. Both classical guitars and Teles are pretty low maintenance.

Thanks for the advice though

sorry to be passive agressive dano , sometimes my observational mind leads me to jump to conclusions that are maybe not as close to the truth as i'd like to think , but saying that i think im not far from the truth about how that cap broke away from the the pot.
but i digress , in answer to ORIGINAL question , you will need a 30-40 soldering iron and 60/40 rosin core solder
just pop the knob of the pot shaft on the front of the guitar and it will expose a nut and washer , loosen the nut , rotate the pot so that capacitor wire lines up with the second lug then tighten the nut on the front while holding the pot in place from the back .
then heat that second lug on pot (the lug with the blob of solder on ) up a tiny bit ( like 2 seconds) and push a toothpick through the existing solder which should expose a hole in the lug , now feed the cap leg or wire as you call it through the hole and heat the lug again while feeding in a small bit of solder in, (again keep the heat there for a few seconds at most) remove the iron and solder and you should have a good connection

like i said get learning mate , like ren said you NEED these skills

renderit · Oct 5, 2018

Jumping to conclusions IS exercise though. So it's not ALL bad. But I've never done it...

Broken wire connecting pots

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