Bass Broken

[JD01]

My fucking bass has broken and I can't solder well enough to fix fucking thing - so frustrating.
I'd just come up with a nice bassline for my Rec Challenge 3 song too. So pissed off.

The jack had some lose, spun around and pull the wire off but I can't get it to solder back on.

[vomitHatSteve]

That sucks!

I've resoldered my main bass probably half a dozen times ('cause I'm rubbish at it and didn't do it right any of them)

[WhiskeyJack]

but I can't get it to solder back on.

Whats not working? Why can't you get the connection to join?

[JD01]

but I can't get it to solder back on.

Whats not working? Why can't you get the connection to join?

I'm shite at soldering. my solder just turns into a ball and rolls away - won't stick to the bit on the jack and rarely sticks to the wire.

[WhiskeyJack]

Whats not working? Why can't you get the connection to join?

I'm shite at soldering. my solder just turns into a ball and rolls away - won't stick to the bit on the jack and rarely sticks to the wire.

get you some flux paste. That will work. ISomething that simple shouldn't be that difficult regardless of the confidence you have in your ability. I had the same issues when i started and someone else recommended flux to me and it really helped. I grabbed this.

https://www.rona.ca/en/no95-lead-free-t ... z-11205285

It has a little bits of solder or some shit in it that assists with the joints as well. I think it mainly a plumbing flux but who cares. Does the same job. I am not a professional and this practice may make some "pros" shudder but it fucking works so i do it whether i need it or not. I just dip the wire in the paste, get what looks to be a decent enough coating on it and away i go. Same for the peice i am joining too. A little bit of that stuff on there too. That little container will last you a life time.

Also if you have some desoldering wick to clean up the old bits of solder off the jack connection too it might not hurt.

[SweetDan]

...solder just turns into a ball and rolls away - won't stick to the bit on the jack and rarely sticks to the wire.

Did you try scuffing up the surface of the solder contact point on the jack? If it's still shiny, solder won't stick as well.

[JD01]

I just stripped a bit more of the wire, wrapped it around the connection and stuck a small cable tie around it. Works now. I'll take it to a tech at some point.

[Lt. Bob]

...solder just turns into a ball and rolls away - won't stick to the bit on the jack and rarely sticks to the wire.

Did you try scuffing up the surface of the solder contact point on the jack? If it's still shiny, solder won't stick as well.

^^^^^^this ^^^^^
take a file or even the end of a screwdriver and scratch up the metal ……. solder will stick to it then.
Like on 'Forged in Fire' the metal must be clean and those jacks are often plated so you need to scratch thru to the underlying metal
ALSO …. do you have the right solder? Gotta be rosin core (which is essentially flux ) … can't be solid core and can't be plumbing solder with an acid core.

Soldering's simple ….. get a few old jacks and some wire and practice just a tiny bit and you'll have it.
it'd be silly to pay 35 buck to a tech ( or more ) to do something that every guitarist should know how to do

[Greg_L]

I just stripped a bit more of the wire, wrapped it around the connection and stuck a small cable tie around it. Works now. I'll take it to a tech at some point.

Lol for real.

Solder that fucking thing. It's a wire. Don't take it to a goddamn tech for that.

[JD01]

I just stripped a bit more of the wire, wrapped it around the connection and stuck a small cable tie around it. Works now. I'll take it to a tech at some point.

Lol for real.

Solder that fucking thing. It's a wire. Don't take it to a goddamn tech for that.

Yeah. I fucking hate soldering. I just find it a frustrating pain in the arse. I just end up getting really pissed off.

[Minerman]

[mention]JD01[/mention]

Jdude, Jdude, Jdude...Go to YouTube & find a couple vids to watch man...Sit down & learn how to solder...There's nothing to it, you just need to practice until you get your head around it...

You'll save time & $$$ in the long run by learning to solder...The $35 you were gonna spend to get someone else to fix that jack can be spent on something else, like Jdude Jr., or Mrs. Jdude...

Trust me, if I can solder enough to get by, anyone can, especially you....

[JD01]

I watched loads of videos on how to do it. I seem to get gradually worse at it over time. Maybe my iron is getting shitter.

There's an old boy two doors down who's a TV repair man. I'll get him to do it.

I think what pisses me off so much about it is that there's no reason for me to be so shite at it.

[Minerman]

I watched loads of videos on how to do it. I seem to get gradually worse at it over time. Maybe my iron is getting shitter.

There's an old boy two doors down who's a TV repair man. I'll get him to do it.

Take the $35 you were gonna spend on repairs & buy a decent iron...

[Greg_L]

Yeah. I fucking hate soldering. I just find it a frustrating pain in the arse. I just end up getting really pissed off.

The solder does it all by itself. All you gotta do is heat the parts.

[Lt. Bob]

take a file or sandpaper to that iron tip and then 'tin' it by covering it with some melted solder .... then keep a wet cloth or sponge handy and wipe it clean after attempts

[rayc]

You just afraid of being called, (in US pronunciation), a sodder! You silly sod. Cable ties - now that's a) creative and b)sad.

[vomitHatSteve]

then keep a wet cloth or sponge handy and wipe it clean after attempts

Tangentially, can I get some clarification on that?

The one time I ever tried to clean solder of a hot iron with a wet sponge, the tip broke. A big ol' pit showed up in it. Has anyone else experienced anything like that? Are there known caveats for not ruining your iron with water that I don't know about?

[Tadpui]

Forget the bass, just make "bom bom bom" noises into a mic and pitch shift it down an octave. That's metal as hell. Pretty sure that's how Lemmy did it

[Greg_L]

Tangentially, can I get some clarification on that?

The one time I ever tried to clean solder of a hot iron with a wet sponge, the tip broke. A big ol' pit showed up in it. Has anyone else experienced anything like that? Are there known caveats for not ruining your iron with water that I don't know about?

That's a junk tip. A good tip can be tinned and cleaned repeatedly seemingly forever.

[Lt. Bob]

then keep a wet cloth or sponge handy and wipe it clean after attempts

Tangentially, can I get some clarification on that?

The one time I ever tried to clean solder of a hot iron with a wet sponge, the tip broke. A big ol' pit showed up in it. Has anyone else experienced anything like that? Are there known caveats for not ruining your iron with water that I don't know about?

never have seen that.

It's a quick wipe now .... you don't keep the tip in water for any length of time.
Also the water is actually so you don't burn the rag or sponge ..... it not wet for the soldering iron ... it's wet to keep the sponge from igniting and singeing your eyebrows off.