Hi everybody!
I need some help with a Strat wiring project. I'm a first timer, so I'm feeling my way around. Since I am changing the present wiring configuration, it turns out that I need some additional wire to make the connections. What kind of wire should I use, and where can I get it? Is the wire used inside a Strat a special kind of wire, or is this a common kind of wire, easily obtainable at a hardware store/ home center? What gauge is the wire? As you can see, I'm a bit lost on this, and would appreciate any help that you all could lend.
My first inclination was to just take this to a guitar tech. to do, but I would actually like to learn how to do this stuff. Thanks!

I always use a 22 awg hook-up wire stranded alot guys like shielded wire too
but where I live I never could find anywhere so I just order it on line like stewmac,ebay or where ever

Additionally, you could fry a good many components if you aren't handy with soldering. I urgently recommend you practice your soldering skills on some scrap components first until you really get the hang of it before attacking your Strat.

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You dig?

A Radioshack store will have the 22 gauge wire needed.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Well, you're probably not going to fry a pot or a switch very easily, nor a pickup wire provided the lead is long enough. Capacitors, maybe, but transistors are the most heat sensitive and they are likely not involved. Although, maybe you are building a fuzz in here.

I agree it's a good idea to try soldering on some scraps of wire first, though, if you haven't done it before. Another good practice is tinning the tips of wires and making sure that you heat up the parts rather than the solder. Ideally you want to just heat the two pieces together and then touch solder to the metal parts and not the iron itself. Once the metal becomes just hot enough to melt the solder itself it will suck some in from the piece you're holding there and then once you have enough on there to make a small shiny joint (you don't need a ton of solder to do this) remove the heat and make sure the parts don't move apart until it's cooled off enough to harden.

Ha. The most common soldering problem you read about in forums is people frying pots. Why? Because they try to use too small a soldering iron and try to heat the pot up for 5 minutes (slight exageration) to get it hot enough to solder to. I use a 25 watt Weller with a pencil tip for all terminal to terminal wiring and a 40 watt Weller iron with a flat blade tip for soldering to the back of pots or the trem claw. Pots heat up and are soldered in seconds instead of holding the iron on them and burning the guts.

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Bill

get you the book titled:
beginner intermediate and advanced hot rod techniques for guitar.
its a wiring guide for your strat.

this book cover dozens of wiring ideas with plenty of pics of each suggestion.
this book is so easy a fifth grader can follow it w/o question.
its cheap on amazon too. i highly suggest it.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

The trick to soldering isn't hard but it is necessary.
1) Always use a heat sink! I like locking hemostats, very small, but there are soldering clip-on sinks available. You can ever use alligator clips.
2) Make sure your iron is hot enough to work quickly.
3) And, of course, heat the work, not the solder (there is a technique to heat the solder itself but you have to have been doing this for decades to do it correctly and get a clean joint..).

The first 10,000 joints you solder are the hardest. After that it's easy.

I've been soldering for over 35 years. Never used a heat sink and never ruined a component. The trick is to have the proper wattage iron and tip for the work being performed. If it takes you more than a couple of seconds to solder a component to a PCB or a wire to a pot lug, you are doing it wrong.

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Bill

little extra security never hurt did it?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

You've been lucky. I've been soldering longer than you, built and repaired everything from 50 year-old tube amps to digital oscilloscopes, and wouldn't ever risk soldering solid-state devices without sinking them. Tubes, large condensers, large resistors, transformers, and other large devices aren't going to be damaged. But small caps, resistors, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits don't take much heat to ruin, even if you are fast.

Hemostats and other heat sinks are cheap. Even a small needle-nose pliers with a rubber band around the handle will protect delicate components.

Advocating soldering without heat sinks is like telling people you never use a seat belt because you've never been in an accident.

yanktar

thats a good way of putting it. when i first read this thread i was thinking,
im a licensed scuba diver and a semi pro fisherman. been swimming since i was 6.
even still, everytime i hit the water in a boat, kayak, or wade fishing, i STILL wear my PFD. a little added security costs nothing really. i have friends and collegue's every yr die
in water related accidents. had they been wearing their PFD's they might still be alive today. they point im making is exactly what you stated above but real life examples.
a little extra security doesnt hurt.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Consider: If one truly knows how to solder, should one also be obliged to wear ammunition tendering gloves in order to 'safely' drink a hot cup of coffee?

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

Sorry guys. I don't buy your analogies. While a heat sink might be useful in soldering very small components (if you can find some place to attach it), if you can't solder a wire to a switch or pot without damage, you've got no business holding a soldering iron. I have been involved in the electronics industry since the early 70's, either building things myself or working with others that did. I/we received proper training and certification in soldering techniques before being allowed in teh assembly area. The only time we used heat sinks was when building very large cable assemblies requiring the use of large, high-watt soldering irons where it did take a considerable amount of time to heat up the components being soldered. If using a heat sink all the time makes you feel more comfortable, so be it. I certainly won't tell you not to. If manufacturers used heat sinks on every component, labor costs would be out of this world.

Soldering is a skill. It is not about luck. Try telling your golfing buddy that golf is nothing but a game of luck and see what kind of reaction you get.

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Bill

Only if drinking coffee from McDonalds in which case an insulated lap guard is also required.

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Bill