A little courage and a borrowed soldering iron makes me a happy boy

Well folks, I did it. I rewired my beloved Strat. I moved the tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge pickup, and it's all I thought it would be, and so much more.

It all started Friday afternoon while I was at work. I needed a screwdriver so I grabbed one out of a toolkit that belongs to one of my coworkers. While borrowing said screwdriver, I couldn't help but notice the soldering iron staring at me from inside the case. I shouldn't have been too surprised, as I had the exact same kit at a previous job, but since the idea of rewiring my Strat had been bouncing around my brain for a few weeks, it took on extra significance. After mulling it over for the next few hours, I decided to bring it home. I got the OK from the boss to borrow it for the weekend and waited for the right time and the right amount of courage to start the job.

I didn't have to wait long. Right after work, I figured that I probably wouldn't have as much courage or motivation as I did right then, so I bit the bullet and dove in, head first. I know I've said this before, but I have the type of personality where I don't like to mess with things for fear of completely hosing them up. This is especially true with my Strat, as it's my #1 guitar. I'd hate to be without it if I screwed it up too much and needed to send it off to an expert to get fixed. But I really wanted to do this, so motivation trumped fear and that evening I began the process of moving the tone control.

Getting the pickguard assembly off the guitar without taking off the strings was a little trying, but I eventually maneuvered it out. Once out, I got a look at the switch and made a quick audit of the process. This modification only requires moving one wire from one connector on the switch to another, so it should be quick and painless. My initial plan was to melt the solder on the original connector, pull out the wire, then re-solder it to the new connector. Simple. I plugged in the iron and waited for it to heat up.

First, I (tried) to tin the new connector. The guys on the soldering how-to videos I watched on YouTube make it look so easy, but I had a hell of a time getting the solder to stick to the connector and not the iron. Part of the problem could be the inherent crappiness of the cheap soldering iron I was using, but most of the blame was squarely on my inexperienced shoulders. After much frustration, I got it done and moved over to the old connector and the attached wire. I was able to melt the solder just fine, but when I pulled the wire to get it out, it didn't budge. I guess the guy/gal at Fender Mexico who soldered the switch really made sure the physical connection was strong. I tried to use a solder wick but that failed, too. So I was left with a choice: abandon the project or bring out the wire cutters. Since I already accidentally removed some of the rubber shielding on the wire while attempting to pull it out of the connector, I said to myself, "What the hell" and clipped off the wire as close to the connector as I could.

I now had just enough slack in the wire to reach the new connector. I had one chance to get this right. I stripped off the rest of the shielding that I previously damaged and fortunately ended up with the perfect amount of exposed wire. I twisted the wires to mitigate fraying, bent the twisted bunch of wires into a small hook, and attached it to the connector. With the physical connection made, I put the iron to the metal and started soldering.

Again, I couldn't get the solder to flow. Eventually, though, the solder melted and the connection was made. It wasn't pretty, but it was strong, and hopefully it would work. I got the assembly back under the strings and screwed it down. All that was left was a retune and the ultimate test: plugging it into my amp and seeing if it works. I plugged in the tuner and got a signal, so that was a good sign. After a quick tune I plugged it into the Line 6 and crossed my proverbial fingers (I didn't really cross my fingers, it would be kinda hard to play like that).

I didn't have to worry. Not only did it make sound, it made good sound. I was finally able to roll off some of the brightness on the bridge pickup. The guitar came alive. The only complaint I had left about my Strat went away. I'm going to write another post in a few days to explain some of the mechanics behind it (and how it sounds now) but let's just say it's absolutely perfect. My other guitars are going to get really jealous really quick. That is, if they aren't already.