ShortScale.org

hey all, need some advice

i dont mistreat my guitars, i've looked after them and made sure there in fine fettle.

thought recently i've been having issues with the jack sockets on both my strat and tele. they make crackles and cut out sometimes when the cable is moved. a couple of times my tele has cut out at a gig and thought it was the cable.

i can usual rectify this by bending the prongs(?) inside the socket to improve the contact but it usually comes back after a while. not the ideal situation.

i am shit at soldering, so wondered if it the kinda of thing i could get a local guitar shop to fix cheaply? maybe upgrade the sockets to something better quality?

TBH, Rob, anyone with soldering skills should be able to wire you in some new sockets. Make sure they use a socket on the nut, not pliers.

I highly recommend you watch a 2 minute Youtube video, become handy with the soldering iron and be able to fix stuff yourself. Positive attitude, bud; don't pay someone 25 quid to do something you can 100% do yourself.

I'm not an AMAZING solderer, but made a few mic cables whilst on tour, thus saving the show. I also haven't bought a guitar cable in 6 years.

Also: life is too short for the three dimensional chess involved in fitting a traditional tele socket: electrosocket that shit.

(And Rob, even I can solder to an acceptable standard - YOU CAN DO IT).

what kinda soldering iron should i get? the one i have has a massive flat tip (ooo er!)

shortscale, give me a soldering bootcamp!

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... dering-kit
I have a temperature-controlled solder station but I also have one of the above. The gun is handy for soldering wires to the cases of pots and brass plates, the iron should do most other stuff. Basic soldering skills - there must be dozens of videos on YouTube. It's down to keeping your iron tip clean (wipe on the damp sponge) and tinned, and making sure the surfaces to be joined are clean and tinned and up to temperature so that the solder wets the surfaces rather than sitting on them.

The soldering iron you have is probably fine for what you're going to use it for, you can use a sponge for washing dishes for the tip, just pour a bit of water on it to dampen it before you clean the tip. Tin the tip first by applying a bit of solder.

You'll need a solder sucking tool for desoldering.