TT Zop
Basic guitar toolkit
Tools used to perform this retrofit:
The Gibson Les Paul Handbook by Paul Balmer ($16.50 from Amazon)
Dremel™ rotary tool (grinding, fret polishing)
Screwdriver with hex head socket, multiple tips stored inside
Hex bit for the above, to use sockets
Deep 1/4" socket, for jack and pot nuts
Narrow walled 5/16" socket, for truss rod adjustment
Small Phillips and Standard tip jeweler's screwdrivers
Wire snips and needle-nosed pliers
Multimeter, digital auto range ($13 on eBay)
Pair of alligator clip leads
Micrometer, with digital readout ($12 on eBay)
X-Acto™ knife
Small pistol-grip battery-powered drill with hex head socket
Turbo Tune string winder, pulls apart for drill use ($8 from Stew-Mac)
Helping Hands clips w/ lighted magnifier and soldering station
25 Watt soldering iron (pen type), chisel tip
Desoldering bulb, solder wick for cleanup
Solder, 60/40 resin core
Wire strippers
Bright halogen desk lamp
Acrylic ruler with metal straightedge to check fret level (not shown)
Also essential: Besides a few cleaning/polishing products, three large thick bath towels to lay flat or roll up, to both support and protect the guitar.
Don't let a fear of soldering prevent you from doing your own guitar work. If you can play guitar, you already have more than enough dexterity to do it. Basic instructions and how-to videos are all over the Web; spend five minutes to learn and five minutes to practice, and you'll have it down well enough. Just remember:
1. Heat the part, not the solder; apply solder to the part, not the tip.
2. Don't get the parts too hot. That can melt insulation or fry a capacitor (I've 'cooked' a few pots and ruined them from excessive heating after lots of pickup swapping). Using hemostats or aluminum heat sink clips (even larger alligator clips) can keep things from overheating.
...
Basic guitar toolkit
Tools used to perform this retrofit:
The Gibson Les Paul Handbook by Paul Balmer ($16.50 from Amazon)
Dremel™ rotary tool (grinding, fret polishing)
Screwdriver with hex head socket, multiple tips stored inside
Hex bit for the above, to use sockets
Deep 1/4" socket, for jack and pot nuts
Narrow walled 5/16" socket, for truss rod adjustment
Small Phillips and Standard tip jeweler's screwdrivers
Wire snips and needle-nosed pliers
Multimeter, digital auto range ($13 on eBay)
Pair of alligator clip leads
Micrometer, with digital readout ($12 on eBay)
X-Acto™ knife
Small pistol-grip battery-powered drill with hex head socket
Turbo Tune string winder, pulls apart for drill use ($8 from Stew-Mac)
Helping Hands clips w/ lighted magnifier and soldering station
25 Watt soldering iron (pen type), chisel tip
Desoldering bulb, solder wick for cleanup
Solder, 60/40 resin core
Wire strippers
Bright halogen desk lamp
Acrylic ruler with metal straightedge to check fret level (not shown)
Also essential: Besides a few cleaning/polishing products, three large thick bath towels to lay flat or roll up, to both support and protect the guitar.
Don't let a fear of soldering prevent you from doing your own guitar work. If you can play guitar, you already have more than enough dexterity to do it. Basic instructions and how-to videos are all over the Web; spend five minutes to learn and five minutes to practice, and you'll have it down well enough. Just remember:
1. Heat the part, not the solder; apply solder to the part, not the tip.
2. Don't get the parts too hot. That can melt insulation or fry a capacitor (I've 'cooked' a few pots and ruined them from excessive heating after lots of pickup swapping). Using hemostats or aluminum heat sink clips (even larger alligator clips) can keep things from overheating.
...