Soldering - grounding Jag pick ups

[jbruin]

So the microphonic feedback I've been getting from my Jaguar has been getting on my nerves. I've done some searching and read that in order to cancel out the feedback you'd have to pot the pick-ups with the claws and covers attached (if I recall correctly this is what Curtis Novak advises for his pup's).

When I had my stock CIJ pick-ups replaced the shop did not install the claws on the new ones (SD SJAG - 1's) by soldering - grounding them together, so the short end of wire coming from the pup and which is usually attached to the claw has been bent towards the base of the pick-up. I'd like to do the whole thing properly: attach said connection to the claw and wax pot the whole thing.

However, I've never soldered. I guess it'll still be manageable - snip and reattach the cloth wiring and make a connection between the pup and the claw.

But would it be just as easy as heating the ground wire coming from the pick-up until it is bendable and then make a connection by tinning the claw with solder and then holding the ground wire to the claw while heating the intended connection? Would it be safe to heat up this wire to make it bendable in the first place, seeing as how it is attached to the pick-ups windings (at least I think)?

My other question is: what is the correct procedure for snipping and then reattaching cloth wires? I've found bits and bobs of info on youtube and such, but still I'd be gratefull for any pointers-tips-do's and don'ts since I'm a complete beginner at this (and a shit DIY'er).

Thanks in advance, and if my post is a bit woolly or ill-written I'd be happy to get some pictures up of the pup's, wiring and grounding. Also I hope this is the correct forum, I wasn't sure if I should post in this or the projects forum, so mods feel free to move this if it's out of place here

[Justin J]

you can certainly ground the claw by soldering the black wire to it. this was done on vintage jaguars. however, you probably won't be able to do it with a low wattage iron. you have to get those claws pretty hot for the solder to flow.
as for the cloth wire, assuming it's the good kind without the pvc under the cloth, all you have to do is pull back on the cloth and unsolder the wire.

[jbruin]

you can certainly ground the claw by soldering the black wire to it. this was done on vintage jaguars. however, you probably won't be able to do it with a low wattage iron. you have to get those claws pretty hot for the solder to flow.
as for the cloth wire, assuming it's the good kind without the pvc under the cloth, all you have to do is pull back on the cloth and unsolder the wire.

Thanks for the reply! I'm not sure which black wire you were referring to, the one I had in mind was the connection that you see in the third shot (or second if you count bottom up) in this picture : http://www.jimshine.com/jaguar/67%20JAG ... PICKUP.jpg

Maybe I should also mention that I've yet to by an iron, what would be a good buy in terms of wattage - brand - price class?

Would this also make the guitar less prone to humming? If not which other wire should I connect? Thanks!

[Justin J]

you want whichever wire connects to ground on each pickup. that is, either soldered to the bottom of the volume pot or to a nearby shielding plate (in the picture, it's the short wire as that was soldered to the plate directly underneath the pickup), depending on the make of your jaguar. traditionally black wires are chosen for ground connections.
the nature of single coil pickups, is that there will always be some audible hum. a well-grounded jaguar will have very little, though.
as for soldering irons, it really depends on how much you're gonna be using it. to solder to the claw, you will at least need an iron with an adjustable temperature, but really you should have a soldering gun. see if you can borrow one as you really won't need it for basic guitar/pedal repairs. a basic 25watt weller should get you by for just about everything else.

[riskybizz]

I had this same problem when I was installing my new Antiquity I's in my jag. The only way i could get the solder to stick to the claw was to take a blow torch to the claw and melt the solder to it.
The ground still doesn't sounds perfect (still a bit of hum), but that could just be my imagination.

[hotrodperlmutter]

you can certainly ground the claw by soldering the black wire to it. this was done on vintage jaguars. however, you probably won't be able to do it with a low wattage iron. you have to get those claws pretty hot for the solder to flow.
as for the cloth wire, assuming it's the good kind without the pvc under the cloth, all you have to do is pull back on the cloth and unsolder the wire.

Thanks for the reply! I'm not sure which black wire you were referring to, the one I had in mind was the connection that you see in the third shot (or second if you count bottom up) in this picture :

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that pic sucks. i was confused for a bit. should look like this:

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that's how i'd do it. i have no clue how the ones in my jag are done, but i hope it's like that.

[jbruin]

So soldering the claw is going to be a bitch, too bad but thanks for the info so far. So I would need to:

get the claw hella hot - melt solder onto it - put the claw around the pup after cooling down - make a connection between the pup and the claw by heating the solder that's now on the claw and getting the little silver ding a ling coming of of the actual pup to stick to the hot solder

?

On another note: could anyone with waxpotting experience give me some insight into whether the process will alter the sound of the pick ups (and if so, how)?
Sorry for being such a noob!

[dots]

was potting won't color the sound at all afaik, other than reducing microphonic feedback.