Photo 1 — The essentials: a low-watt soldering iron, a stand, a small damp sponge, and a roll of “electronic silver solder” like this .020" 60/40 tin/lead rosin flux solder from Kester.
Given the DIY nature of this issue, we thought it would be appropriate to address good soldering technique. If you’re willing to invest a few bucks in some modest tools and spend a little time practicing the basics, you can learn to wire up guitars, stomp kits, speaker cabinets, and even do some simple amp mods. Once you understand the fundamentals, you can save money and derive a lot of satisfaction from working on your own gear.
The tools.
You’ll want a decent soldering pencil (a small type of soldering iron) rated at least 25 watts, but no more than 60 watts. (Many guitar techs like a 30-watt soldering iron for working on guitars and amps, and a 15-watt iron for working inside stompboxes and on delicate printed circuit boards.) You’ll also want a stand to hold the hot iron when not in use, a damp sponge, and some rosin core solder made for electronic work (Photo 1).
Photo 2 — If your soldering stand doesn’t house a sponge, just put a damp household sponge in a glass or ceramic dish. Other helpful tools: a hemostat and small clamps to hold parts still as you solder them, and a “solder sucker” bulb for removing solder.
You should also have some basic hand tools, such as wire strippers, needle-nose pliers, wire cutters, and something to hold the wire in place while a solder joint cools (Photos 2 and 3).
Photo 3 — In addition to hook-up wire, you’ll want wire strippers. Alternatively, luthier suppliers offer old-school “push-back” wire with a waxed cotton jacket (center) that eliminates the need for stripping off the plastic insulation from the end of the wire. Electrical tape and heat shrink tubing come in handy when you need to protect or insulate your work.
There are tools sold specifically for holding wires and parts, available through an electronics supply house.
Step 1: Prepare the Joint
Photo 4 — Before you attempt to solder a connection, the wire and component must be secured to assure they remain absolutely motionless. Here, a spring-loaded heat-sink clamp holds the wire in place while a vice grip gently clamps the pot shaft.
For every joint, you need to find a way to hold the wire in position without using your hands (Photo 4). Wrap the wire through the solder lug once to make it hold tightly on its own, use tape to hold it in place, lay a pair of pliers on the wire to hold it firmly where you want it, or use a mechanical soldering aid to hold it. Use whatever works, except holding the wire manually. When you make a solder connection and rely on your hands to hold the soldered wire steady while the joint cools, you will fail—no human hands are steady enough to hold anything perfectly still, and you want the wire to remain absolutely motionless while it cools. If there is movement, the result will be internal fractures in the solder.
Step 2: Clean the Tip
Photo 5 — Wipe the hot tip with a damp sponge to keep it clean.
The tip must be cleaned before each and every joint—you can use the damp sponge for this (Photos 5 and 6).
Photo 6 — A clean, dross-free tip looks smooth and shiny.
Solder produces a by-product called dross very, very quickly, and the dross fouls the tip, preventing good heat conduction and introducing waste material into your solder joints.
Step 3: Tin the Tip
Photo 7 — Add a small amount of solder to a freshly cleaned tip just before you solder a connection. When you see this telltale puff of smoke, pull the strand of solder off the tip, shake off any excess, and then move quickly to the joint.
Immediately before you get on the joint with the heat, add fresh solder to the tip of the iron to “tin” it. Simply feed solder directly onto the tip so it’s completely coated (Photo 7). A tinned tip will provide much better heat conduction than a tip that’s clean but not tinned.
Step 4: Remove the Excess Solder
Shake off the excess solder after tinning—you want the tip coated, but not dripping. I have a fire-resistant container beside my soldering bench, and after tinning I tap the barrel of my iron on the edge of the container to knock excess molten solder into it. You can use any fire-resistant container for this, such as a tin can or ceramic bowl, but use care not to start a fire. Because solder melts at such a low temperature the risk of a fire is very low—molten solder is unlikely to ignite even highly flammable materials like paper—but use care anyway!
Step 5: Get on the Joint Right Away
As soon as you’ve removed the excess solder from the tip, get right on the joint. By “joint,” I mean the wire and the solder lug, or the wire and the back of the pot, or whatever it is you’re soldering. Dross will start to form on the tip very quickly, so as soon as the tip is prepared, get to work.
Step 6: Heat the Joint
Photo 8 — Gently press the iron’s hot tip against the joint to heat it before you bring the solder into the equation. The goal is to make the joint itself hot enough to melt the solder.
Heat the joint, not the solder (Photo 8). You want the joint to be hot enough to melt the solder. It’s a given that the iron is hot enough to melt it—just feed a little onto the tip and you’ll see—but you also want the joint itself to be hot enough to do the same.
Photo 9 — While holding the tip against the joint, feed the solder onto the heated joint, not the soldering iron tip. Here the emerging puff of smoke indicates the solder is melting.
If you feed solder onto the joint without it touching the iron (Photo 9), the solder will melt and be attracted right to the joint. You can watch the solder actually wick out onto the surface you’re soldering to—this is what you want.
Step 7: Get off the Joint
As soon as the solder has flowed onto the joint properly, remove the heat from the joint. Most components can stand a fair amount of heat, but some are more susceptible to damage than others, so there’s no need to push your luck. Pots are fairly durable (unless it’s a cheap pot), so it’s highly unlikely you’ll damage one by trying to solder a wire to its back. But again, there’s no need to push your luck, so as soon as you’ve completed the joint, pull the iron away and let the joint cool with the components remaining motionless.
Photo 10 — When the molten solder has flowed into the joint, pull away both the solder and iron. Keep the joint motionless as it cools and don’t blow on it—the moisture in your breath will enter the cooling connection and potentially cause it to fail.
If you’re soldering to a ring-shaped solder lug, then you’ll want to fill it completely with solder (Photo 10). This will maximize the mechanical strength of the joint.
Like most skills, soldering proficiency is acquired through practice. Employing good technique will allow you to become competent all the more quickly, so follow these steps, and you’ll be soldering like a pro in no time. You should probably practice on projects that aren’t expensive or mission critical—you might want to think twice about rewiring your only guitar before that gig with Clapton tonight. But if you keep at it, you’ll be one step closer to being a consummate DIY’er.
Two Ways to Improve Your Soldering Projects
After you master the basics, there are two more skills to add to your bag of tricks: removing old solder and installing heat shrink tubing. There are plenty of occasions where you’ll wish you could remove old solder and re-use a part. For example, you might have rescued a volume or tone pot from a previous mod or project. If it’s a high-quality pot, like those from CTS, why toss it and buy a new replacement when you can put the old one back into service? It’s easy to reverse the soldering process and remove old solder and bits of wire. You simply need a solder removal tool. There are several types, including disposable braided wire that’s designed to wick molten solder away from a joint, and various vacuum pump tools and “solder suckers.” I prefer a simple rubber bulb with a heat-resistant Teflon tip.
Photo 11
Here’s how it works: Stabilize your component, in this case, a pot (Photo 11). See how one lug is filled with solder? Let’s make that go bye-bye. Apply heat to the lug with a freshly cleaned soldering-iron tip.
Photo 12
When you see the solder turn shiny and molten, hold the bulb away from the lug, squeeze and hold the bulb, and then bring its tip to the lug and release the bulb. Fffffft! The molten solder goes up the tip and into the bulb (Photo 12).
Photo 13
Look at that—a nice clean lug ready for its next mission (Photo 13).
Tip:It’s good to recycle pots and parts, but never try to reuse old solder. Clean it off and start fresh.
In case you’re wondering what happens to the old solder, every few months you simply work the tip out of the bulb, shake the collected cold solder beads into the trash, and reinsert the tip into the bulb. Good to go.
When you’re working with wire and electronics, you’ll often encounter instances where you need to insulate a connection from other wires or components. For example, you want to install a favorite old pickup into another guitar. However, the pickup leads have been cut back over the years and now they won’t reach the intended switch or pot, which means it’s time to splice short extensions to the pickup leads. No problem, except if the exposed wires touch each other or other components, they’ll create a short and you’ll hear only silence (or an annoying hum).
Electrical tape will do the job to insulate the splices, but heat shrink tubing—aka heat shrink—offers a more elegant solution. To make this work, you’ll need a heat source. Some folks use a lighter, but I prefer a heat gun because I like to avoid open flame in my workshop. Heat guns aren’t expensive and they get the job done efficiently and safely.
Photo 14
The details: Designed to slide over wire of different gauges, heat shrink comes in various diameters. After you select the right diameter to comfortably slip over your wire, cut off a piece that will straddle the solder splice or joint you plan to cover. The pros suggest a length that’s about three times as long as the exposed section. Use hemostats or a clamp to temporarily hold the ends together while you gauge the length you’ll need to cut (Photo 14).
Photo 15
Next, remove the clamp, slide the heat shrink over one end of the wire (keep it far away from your hot iron) and solder the wires. When the solder has cooled, slip the heat shrink over the new joint, center it, and fire up the heat gun. The tubing will start to immediately contract around the joint (Photo 15). Don’t worry, air from the heat gun doesn’t get hot enough to compromise the solder joint. Once the tubing has completely closed up around the wire, you’re done. The joint now has a tough, new skin to protect it. —Andy Ellis
[Updated 1/13/22]
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Billy Doyle of Man/Woman/Chainsaw
A: I think the most rewarding aspect of music is the rush and chaos of playing live shows with my friends. I really love the tension—not knowing what’ll go wrong each night and what’ll come together nicely.
Billy’s recent fascination has been with The Last Waltz, both film and accompanying album.
Obsession: This summer I discovered the Band’s The Last Waltz concert film and album and fell into a mini obsession with it. Seeing some of the most stellar songwriters of their era share a stage is really special, not to mention how comfortable as a unit the Band is and how high the standard of musicianship is—Levon Helm singing his heart out while playing the drums is particularly wicked. Joni Mitchell’s performance of “Coyote” and Van Morrison’s rendition of “Caravan” are both particularly special, as I grew up listening to those artists. It’s a great insight to be able to learn these songs exactly how they played them.
Eddie Carter - Reader of the Month
A: The most rewarding aspect of playing for me is when I connect with the audience. The main purpose of playing music live, in my opinion, has always been to take the audience away from everyday life for a while. Life smacks a person down a lot, whether it’s a bad day at work or school, bills you can’t keep up with, bad news, etc. When a person goes to hear live music, they want to forget that and have some fun and unwind. When I see the audience smile, sing along, or dance, I know I’ve managed to help with that. That’s why I enjoy doing cover songs and just mix in an original here or there. It’s also why I try to do a variety of music from several decades.
A recent go-to for Eddie has been Duane Betts’ Wild & Precious Life.
Obsession: I guess my current obsession is looping. I don’t plan to get into looping as deep as Phil Keaggy, or use drums and keyboards. I do enjoy stacking parts on guitar and even playing mandolin over a guitar loop, though. It helps with making a song sound more like the recorded version. I also use a looper, a Boss RC-500, to store and make backing tracks for a few songs.
Jon Levy - Publisher
For Jon, Pretenders’ self-titled never gets old.
A: Playing music has enriched my life in so many ways, it’s hard to pick the most important one. Is it the headrush from writing and recording? The thrill of live gigs? The champagne-soaked limousine rides with supermodels and celebrity fans? (Just kidding about that last one.) To be honest, it’s the deep friendship and goofy camaraderie with my bandmates. My entire social life is based on music, and it makes the backaches, hangovers, and tinnitus totally worth it.
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Stephen Wilson Jr. is in Jon’s current rotation.
Obsession: Not looking at my hands when I’m playing. It forces me to concentrate on what I’m hearing and feeling—stuff that’s actually musical, rather than visual. I still ogle the fretboard a bunch, but I’m consciously trying to rely on my other senses as much as possible.
Brett Petrusek - Director of Advertising
Brett’s a big fan of Iron Maiden’s Killers, but also loves Miles Davis’ timeless Kind of Blue.
A: All of it. There are so many seasons and the change of the seasons is what makes it so great. Hitting the perfect riff to inspire a new song. Recording: layering guitars and vocals, hearing the tracks build up and turn into a mix (I really love this part). Creating a body of work. Being on stage with your band and feeling the roar of your guitar through the PA. Connecting with an audience, or better yet, knowing a single person connected with your music in a meaningful way. Watching my team develop and get better at the game. I feel fortunate just to be able to do it and to be able to share the experience with my group, Fuzzrd. The single most important thing? It’s unconditionally always there for me—and it alway starts with a guitar.
Irish hard-rocker Gary Moore’s Victims of the Future is a favorite of Brett’s.
Obsession: Taking a page from the legendary Gary Moore’s playbook: “So try and leave some big moments of silence in your solos—at least twice as long as what comes to you instinctively. After a while, you get in the habit of hearing those spaces, and the waiting comes naturally. And if you’ve got a good tone, you’ll create this anticipation where the audience can’t wait for the next note.”
Gallagher’s road worn Strat in play in the cover of his 1972 concert album.
Unless you are living in a cave, you should know who Rory Gallagher was and will recognize his beaten-up Fender Stratocaster, which is a symbol of pure rock ’n’ roll. The story goes that Rory bought this used 1961 sunburst Stratocaster in 1963 for £100 in Cork, Ireland, in a shop named Crowley’s Music Store. Allegedly, this was the first Stratocaster ever to reach Ireland. The guitar’s previous owner ordered a red Stratocaster from the U.S., but a sunburst came instead. After using the guitar for around half a year, the red one arrived. The sunburst was exchanged and put on sale, and Gallagher soon found it. True or not, the story is simply priceless.
When Rory bought this Strat, it was absolutely factory stock, which was typical for this time. It stayed that way for a long time and became a piece of musical history in the hands of Rory. Nearly all of the sunburst lacquer was naturally removed over the years by Gallagher’s acidic sweat, so today the guitar is almost completely stripped down to the bare wood, giving it its iconic look.
The first mods done to this guitar happened around the mid-70s, when two of the pickups were damaged and had to be replaced. Later on, some other parts like the pickguard and pickup covers had to be replaced, and in his later career he did start to use different pickups. The standard 3-way pickup-selector switch was replaced with a more modern 5-way switch, and the controls were rewired for master volume and master tone with the middle tone pot disconnected.
What was the secret behind Rory’s unmistakable Stratocaster tone, which he had from the start? First and foremost, and without any doubts, you all know the saying: Tone comes from the fingers! When such outstanding playing chops meet a great instrument, the result is marvelous.
Having said that … Rory’s pickups did play a large role in his sound. The standard Stratocaster pickups Fender used at the time had staggered magnets with beveled edges. There is complex physics behind it, but in basic terms, these pickups sound fatter, sweeter, and with more overtones. The beveled edges greatly influence the magnetic field, which causes them to sound so different. This has to do with the pickup’s unique aperture or “magnetic window.” These were hand-beveled edges, and it was generally assumed that this was done to disguise the rough and uneven surface left by the sand casting. But this can’t be the reason because doing such handiwork takes a lot of time and care to get right, and Leo Fender wasn’t known for spending time on such unnecessary things in his building processes. (Later, Fender stopped beveling and the sound of the pickups changed because of this.)
In 2016, Seymour Duncan explained the tone of beveled pickups to Guitar.com: “The bevel causes the magnetic field to shoot out a little around the bevel area, but it results in a tapering of the field above that point. So, if you could, imagine the magnetic field shaped like the flame of a candle or a teardrop.” That’s an excellent metaphor that hits the nail on the head.
“Depending on the employee working the sanding machine, the edges are more or less beveled from pickup to pickup—one of the reasons why vintage Strats sound so different from guitar to guitar.”
But why did Fender originally do hand beveling and why did they stop later on? Were his choices based on tone? I don’t think so. I think the answer must be seen in the historical context of the time.
The alnico 5 material used for the magnets was brand-new and very expensive at that time. It was also very porous, and many magnets crumbled while using a hammer to drive them into the pickup, which was the usual procedure in the Fender factory. So, Fender started hand beveling the magnets on one side, which minimized the risk of destroying the magnet during the hammering process. It was an accident that this created such great tone. Depending on the employee working the sanding machine, the edges are more or less beveled from pickup to pickup—one of the reasons why vintage Strats sound so different from guitar to guitar.
Here you can see the normal, non-beveled magnets of a Stratocaster pickup:
Photo courtesy of Leosounds (https://leosounds.de)
And here is a faithful recreation of the beveled magnets in Gallagher’s Stratocaster:
Photo courtesy of Leosounds (https://leosounds.de)
Gallagher’s pickup set has a very pronounced bevel. The Fender worker who produced these certainly also created some more sets like this.
The influence of the bevel on a pickup’s tone is huge. To give a better idea, here are some magnetic visualizations that my dear friend Bernd C. Meiser from the German BSM company made for me. Bernd sadly died on July 30, 2024, after fighting against cancer for two years. It won’t get loud anymore without him.
Here you can see the common magnetic spread-out of a non-beveled Strat pickup:
Drawing courtesy Singlecoil (https://singlecoil.com) in memory of Bernd C. Meiser
And here is the same with a beveled Strat pickup:
Drawing courtesy Singlecoil (https://singlecoil.com) in memory of Bernd C. Meiser
You can clearly see the difference of the magnetic spread-out and the much wider aperture these beveled magnets provide, causing the different tone.
So where is the mod for this column? I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not possible to change the magnets on a standard Stratocaster pickup without destroying the pickup. And there is no way to retroactively put a bevel on the magnets of your pickup with the magnets installed. The only way to convert your Strat to beveled pickups is to install a new pickup set with beveled magnets. Fender ’57/’62 pickups feature beveled edges, as do many offerings from other pickup companies.
Next time, we will have a look at the mid-boost and scoop mod from Dan Torres, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!
To fully digest these changes, it makes sense to examine the progression in small chunks and see how it relates to the traditional blues form. First, let’s look at the “Bird” changes below. (Remember, in jazz circles a triangle means a major 7 chord and a dash means minor 7 chord.)
When looking at a traditional 12-bar blues in F, the first four measures are usually an F7 (I) moving to a Bb7 (IV) in measure 5. In this version, Parker works backwards from the IV chord with a series of IIm-V7 moves that descend in whole-steps. Measures 4 and 3 are “major” IIm–V7s, but the second measure uses a “minor” version with a half-diminished chord for the IIm. Finally, Parker changed the chord in the first measure from a dominant 7 to a major 7 to place us squarely in the key of F. (It also helps with voice-leading across the first four measures.)
YouTube It
Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker was the figurehead of the bebop era. Listen to his relaxed, swinging take on “Blues for Alice,” which is one of his most popular compositions.
Ex. 1 demonstrates one way to navigate the first four measures. Let’s break that down a bit. I stick entirely within the F major scale (F–G–A–Bb–C–D–E) for the first measure. Easy enough. In the second measure, for the sake of simplicity, I am just implying A7 through both chords. The first two beats outline A7 (A–C#–E–G) and the remaining notes are plucked from the A Super Locrian scale (A–Bb–C–Db–Eb–F–G).
Click here for Ex. 1
I’m using a similar concept in Ex. 2, working with the F major scale in the first measure and thinking A7 in the second. I’m using the D melodic minor scale (D–E–F–G–A–B–C#) over the third measure while targeting the 3 of Cm7 (Eb) on the downbeat of the fourth measure. To create an altered sound over the F7b9, I use a Gbdim7 arpeggio (Gb–A–C–Eb) to nail the b9 (Gb).
Click here for Ex. 2
This next example (Ex. 3) takes cues from great piano players so it requires some quick position shifting. The first shift happens in the first measure, where we move from 5th position up to 8th on the “and” of beat 2. In the second measure, we imply an A7b9 sound using a Bbdim7 (Bb–C–E–G) arpeggio that touches on the #9 (C) and b9 (Bb).
In the second and third measures of this example, we’re basically using the same concept. Because D Dorian (D–E–F–G–A–B–C) and G Mixolydian (G–A–B–C–D–E–F) contain the same notes, we’re simply adding some chromatic passing tones that help the chord tones line up on strong beats. Move the whole concept down a whole-step (to C Dorian/F Mixolydian) for the next measure.
Click here for Ex. 3
The next section of a blues in F might look something like: Bb7–Bb7–F7–F7. Or, if you think of a traditional jazz-blues progression, it might be Bb7–Bdim7–F7–D7. Looking ahead, Parker wanted to target the Gm7 in measure 9. What’s the best way to lead into that chord? Simply add a IIm–V before it. Parker used backcycling to create a series of descending IIm-V7 progressions that connect the Bb7 in measure 5 to the Gm7 in measure 9. Rather ingenious, huh?
While these chords are easy enough to play with basic chord forms, it’s much trickier to solo through them in an authentic way.
Ex. 4 uses the Bb Mixolydian scale (Bb–C–D–Eb–F–G–Ab) over the Bb7 before moving to Eb Mixolydian (Eb–F–G–Ab–Bb–C–Db) for Bm7–Eb7. In the third measure, we move to A minor pentatonic (A–C–D–E–G) before coasting through an Abm7 arpeggio (Ab–Cb–Eb–Gb) for the last measure.
Click here for Ex. 4
The next lick (Ex. 5) demonstrates how you can use simple melodies to navigate this chord progression. The first measure is a simple lick based on the Bb7 chord, then we create a melody just using the F major scale—it’s all about landing on the Gm7 chord at the right time.
Click here for Ex. 5
Our final example over this section (Ex. 6) is just as loose with the chords, but makes sure to hit them as they land. The first measure uses the Bb major pentatonic scale (Bb–C–D–F–G) before using some outside notes that resolve to the root of the Am7 chord. At this point you should be seeing that a big part of the bebop genre is based on rhythm. The mixture of triplets and heavy syncopation is an essential part of the sound.
Click here for Ex. 6
The final section of a blues in F usually goes: C7–Bb7–F7–C7, but that’s too basic for beboppers. In Bird blues, we use a two-measure IIm-V7 progression before increasing the harmonic rhythm with F7–D7–Gm7–C7. In Roman numerals, this translates to I7–VI7–IIm7–V7.
I find the best way to play over this section is to remember you’re playing a blues, so some blues scale ideas might not be a bad idea, as shown in Ex. 7. We’ve even included some slight bends!
Click here for Ex. 7
This final example (Ex. 8) feels like another melody rather than something clever. Remember, we’re playing music, and often the best music is the type that your audience can sing along to. So don’t be afraid to hold off and play something melodic.
Click here for Ex. 8
Lastly, here’s a short backing track to help you practice these ideas, and then come up with some of your own. Keep listening and copying and before long you’ll be soaring like Bird!