5. Mark your pilot holes as done previously, remove the pickups from the cavity, and
drill the pilot holes.
3. Connecting the electronics
Soldering
If you haven’t soldered before you’re going to need a soldering iron, solder, and a damp
sponge to clean the tip of your iron. I’d also recommend practicing before committing solder
to your guitar
Most entry level soldering irons will do the job, and your kit will come with more than enough
solder. Be careful when soldering. Solder won’t melt until it reaches 185°C (365°F) and
soldering irons get very hot, up to 392°-896° F in some cases.
When soldering there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Tinning
Tin your soldering iron and the components you are connecting to. Tinning refers to
maintaining a light coating of solder over the tip of your soldering iron and prevents the iron
tip from oxidizing.
2. Preheating
Soldering is really about transferring heat. The lug or component you are connecting to
should be preheated so the solder is drawn to it rather than staying on the already hot iron.
Wiring
Most of the electronics for kit guitars come pre-soldered, with the exception of the wiring
that needs to pass through the cavities within the body of the guitar.
In the case of the EXP this means none of our connections are pre-soldered, mostly due to
the location of the pickup selector.
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