Kicked in the teeth by a horse... twice.......

Glide-bpm

We were small but we were slow...
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Feb 10, 2016
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Coastal SC
Okay, so just a simple pickup change, adding locking tuners, and John Mann brass tremolo blocks to three SE guitars....

1. SE 594 -
- tuners, CHECK!
- no brass trem block
- Solder in new 58/15 LT pickups - FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZERO SOUND!!!

2. SE Custom 24 Violet Quilt
- tuners, check!
- brass tremolo block, check!
- Solder in new Dragon II pickups - FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some sound, melted a push/pull and the blade switch!!

3. SE Swamp Ash Special
- tuners, check!
- brass tremolo block, check!
- NOT DOING CHIT WITH THE NEW 57/08 PICKUPS!!! All THREE are gong to my buddy Ricky Kellems.

My soldering station and shaking hands can kiss my freaking wee Elven arse!!!
When you're 0-2, it's time to make Ricky 3-0!!! Butchered the 58/15's so bad I had to order
pickup lead extension cables ole Rick will get to solder and heat shrink!.

I'm fracking embarrassed!!! NEVER have I had a set of pickups and guitars whoomp me arse like
these mud puppies! I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!!
 
Soldering is like woodworking. Proper tools and measure twice, cut once approach is a must. Don't save on solder and keep the tip clean. Clean it with damp sponge almost religusly. Touch the contacts with a small amount of solder and apply solder to the leads before you attemp to joining them together. Did I mentioned to keep things clean?
 
I used to be good at soldering, but now like you my hands shake a bit too much. I didn't even want to try doing my last pup swaps.

I hear yaz! Damn psych meds give me hand tremors that are all over the place and make it miserable at times!

Soldering is like woodworking. Proper tools and measure twice, cut once approach is a must. Don't save on solder and keep the tip clean. Clean it with damp sponge almost religusly. Touch the contacts with a small amount of solder and apply solder to the leads before you attemp to joining them together. Did I mentioned to keep things clean?

3 sponges (old school with tip grooves), very nice digital soldering station, plenty of extra tips, high quality solder, clean the tip
regularly and tin and re-tin the tip, sponge wipes, sometimes use the metal sponge thingies to clean the tip. I was raised on a Weller
soldering station. I think I just forked up the crazy small amount of PRS pickup diagrams. Soldering was perfect on the 594 SE.

I just got me Wee Elven Arse burnt crispy crunchy this time. I've been soldering for years, but I know when it's time to put the iron
away and the The Master take over for me! He can probably use the cash anyway!
 
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Reading this makes me glad that I never tried to solder split coil pickups onto push pull pots. Even with the old style 2 conductors & pots I was surprised how aggravating even a small amount of shaking can be.

Regardless, congrats on the upgraded pickup selection. Those SEs should sound great!
 
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Okay, so just a simple pickup change, adding locking tuners, and John Mann brass tremolo blocks to three SE guitars....

1. SE 594 -
- tuners, CHECK!
- no brass trem block
- Solder in new 58/15 LT pickups - FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZERO SOUND!!!

2. SE Custom 24 Violet Quilt
- tuners, check!
- brass tremolo block, check!
- Solder in new Dragon II pickups - FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some sound, melted a push/pull and the blade switch!!

3. SE Swamp Ash Special
- tuners, check!
- brass tremolo block, check!
- NOT DOING CHIT WITH THE NEW 57/08 PICKUPS!!! All THREE are gong to my buddy Ricky Kellems.

My soldering station and shaking hands can kiss my freaking wee Elven arse!!!
When you're 0-2, it's time to make Ricky 3-0!!! Butchered the 58/15's so bad I had to order
pickup lead extension cables ole Rick will get to solder and heat shrink!.

I'm fracking embarrassed!!! NEVER have I had a set of pickups and guitars whoomp me arse like
these mud puppies! I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!!
I'm so you.

The same thing has happened to me, just one at a time.
 
To each their own. I think the only 2 PRS’ that I have owned that I didn’t swap pickups on were my Starla and Siggy. Other than that. Break out the iron!!!
 
Don’t feel lonely. My days of soldering are long gone. Had a lot of nerve damage done on my right arm. Now I have a wobbly hand. Doesn’t really bother me at all til I attempt something that tedious, however it has helped with my picking hand? But again my soldering days are history.

Falls in a well eyes go crossed, gets kicked by a mule they go back to normal? I dunno???🤷🏻‍♂️ iykyk
 
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