If you want to learn about wiring guitar electronics or how to use a soldering iron, you came to the right place. And since you can’t start any project without tools, this first installment of our free Pickup Installation 101 course will ensure you have all the right ones for the job.

From safety equipment to soldering stations, we cover it all. But don’t worry about the thousands of options on the market. We provide links for the tools we recommend. Follow this handy guide, and you’ll have everything you need to get started wiring guitar electronics.

So let’s get you signed up for the free course and start wiring!

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Prefer a video version? Check out our Guitar DIY: How to Solder Pickups Video

Pickup Installation Tools List

• Eye Protection
• Soldering Station
• Solder
• Helping Hands
• Wire Cutters/Strippers
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Electronics Tweezers
• Solder Sucker
• Solder Braid

Eye Protection

As with any project, safety always comes first. And when soldering, the hot solder can fling up into your face if you’re not careful. That’s why we highly recommend a good set of safety glasses or other eye protection.

The last thing you want is a chunk of solder to land in your eye. It’s very painful and definitely can ruin your day. So always be safe and get yourself some safety glasses. They’re affordable, and a worthwhile investment.

Soldering Station

There are a ton of different soldering station options. But when it comes to wiring guitar electronics, there are only a couple of requirements to ensure a successful soldering experience.

First, you want a soldering iron with a relatively fine tip or small chisel tip. In many cases, you’ll be working in cramped electronics cavities that require precision. Larger soldering iron tips can make it much more challenging to be accurate with your connections.

The other requirement is power. “The main thing is, you want to get a soldering station capable of 40 watts or greater. The bare minimum is 40 watts. The reason is because you want to heat the iron enough to bond the solder to the back of a pot. It’s is a big heat sink source, and you need something hot to be able to do that type of work.

Solder

Like soldering stations, there are different kinds of solder for different kinds of jobs. We recommend 60/40 rosin-core solder. Make sure you get the rosin core because the rosin works like a flux. Since metal tends to oxidize, the flux helps the solder bond to the components.

Helping Hands

If you’ve ever soldered two wires together, you know it always seems to take one more hand than you have. That’s why a set of Helping Hands electronics clips is so valuable. Not only will they hold your components in the perfect position, they also keep your guitar safe from any damage.

Let’s say I want to tin a wire; I can clip the wire to the Helping Hands and can now work on that particular wire without placing it on the guitar or even on your mat (Music Nomad makes an awesome instrument work mat here). You can find them relatively inexpensively online. So it’s a nice investment.

Wire Cutters/Strippers

While any wire cutters will cut wire, you’ll want to get a set specifically for cutting and stripping the wire inside your electric guitar. You’ll also want a sturdier set for heavier work.

Make sure you have a robust set of cutters for your guitar strings and something specific for cutting wire. These are nice because they’re small and get into tight corners when you need to clip lead wire.

Needle Nose Pliers

Again, it’s all about space. Having a good set of narrow needle nose pliers will help you position and move the tiny components inside of your guitar cavity. The larger the pliers, the more difficult it is to be accurate. The narrow ones are a little bit easier to get into tight spots, whether on the pot or in the cavity.

Electronics Tweezers

Need something for even finer work? A set of electronics tweezers are the ticket. Their specially designed, pointed tip makes it much easier to do fine work like running wire through pot lugs, soldering wire to switch lugs, and more.

These are really handy because they can get into the small areas of the guitar cavity, or if you need to work with some of these small components here, especially on terminals.

Solder Sucker

A lot of times, people who are new to soldering will put too much solder on the component, so they may need to remove it and start again. That’s where a solder sucker comes in.

Extremely easy to use, solder suckers literally suck up excess solder into a tube to be discarded later. You simply melt the unwanted solder, place the end of the sucker at the joint, and push a button: no more solder, no mess.

Solder Braid

Many people who work on guitar electronics prefer a solder braid to a solder sucker. In essence, these perform the same task; removing excess solder.

Instead of sucking the solder out (like a solder sucker), you lay the braid on top of the solder and heat it. The solder will be drawn to this copper braid. This works better on small terminals and finer work.

Solder braids can take a minute to get used to. So don’t be afraid to experiment.

Let’s Talk Tone

If you have any other questions about how to use a soldering iron or the tools it requires, please get in touch. Also, remember to sign up for Seymour Duncan’s free Pickup Installation 101 online course for more in-depth information, tips, and tricks.

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Any other product questions, comments or feedback? Let us know!