I have a p-bass which I built myself that I have just ordered some semour duncan quarter pounders for. Ive also got some 1970s pbass pikups really cheap off ebay that I am going to practice with before I put my real ones on.

I am a complete beginner at soldering, if I soldered wires to the wrong place or just did it really badly is there any way that I could break either the pickups themselves, my amplifier or my tone circuit?

They're passive pickups, so nothing would happen, as far as I can tell. They simply wouldn't produce any sound.

Soldering is not hard but it takes a little practice to get good connections. practice with some old pieces of wire first then after a bit you can try the install. once you get it you will be set for life.Like riding a bike. :)

this is where I learned about soldering. read carefully and you will be fine.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195951

If you are inexperienced at soldering then one thing you need to know is not to leave the soldering iron on the wire too long the heat could travel up the wire and burn through the wire windings of the coil.

i'd propose to go to repair man to have the job done properly. Once you get more familiar to the soldering procces you may do it on your own

As long as you can solder some and have the soldering gun and a few other tools, it's a simple job. It'd be pretty hard to damage anything except possibly the volume and tone pots from too much heat for too long. The pickup leads are long and there's very little danger enough heat would travel far enough to damage the windings in the pickup. If I was soldering within an inch or so of the windings then I might worry.

If you solder the wires to the wrong place there would be no damage done in a passive circuit like yours. It just wouldn't work. There are plenty of wiring diagrams on line to look up for the standard P bass wiring. Don't let it scare you. It's pretty easy.

I think you'll really like the Quarter Pounder. I sure do.

how long are we talking?

to burn the pickup windings or the vol/tone pots


and when a pickups wiring has been burned what happens?

how long are we talking?

to burn the pickup windings or the vol/tone pots


and when a pickups wiring has been burned what happens?

I don't know. I haven't stood there with a stop watch and deliberately soldered a pot to failure. I'm sure somebody somewhere has though and has timed it. When soldering to the back of a pot, which many find most difficult, it's important to have a clean spot to solder to. I rough it up with a bit of sandpaper to clean off any oxidation and grease.

As far as heating a wire from a oickup, usually you have at least 6 inches to work with, so get yourself a piece of wire of the same guage and length, heat one end while holding the other and time how long it takes to burn your finger.

The damage that can occur in overheating a pickup wire is inside the pickup which has very fine wire insulated with enamel. The enamel can burn off. The pickup leads themselves are heavier guage with different insulation and can take a fair bit of heat. You won't be soldering close enough to the pickup to worry about.

Trust me, if you can solder a bit you'll have time.

It shouldn't take over 1-2 seconds to solder a joint. Key is to have a good, clean, hot iron to start with. Use a wet sponge to clean the tip. Then make sure the tip is tinned well. Apply the heat to both parts to be soldered (lug and wire) and apply solder to the joint. It should be shinny, not dull. Dull joints are cold solder joints and will present problems in the future.