Setnecks and soldering irons

[GuitslingerTim]

I read a statement on a site for guitar repair that advises against using a soldering iron to heat frets on set neck guitars, as doing so can damage the pickups, presumably due to the electrical field created by the iron, which was news to me; any thoughts on the matter?

[David Collins]

Are you sure they didn't say soldering guns? The coils in a soldering gun can certainly demagnetize magnets, but even here you really have to get right on top of the magnets for them to have any effect. I've tried to demagnetize pickups with solder guns, and they don't have any effect that I've been able to see unless you stick the pickup right up against the coils of the gun.

Solder irons are going to have even less of an effect, so I'd say that advising against using them to remove frets in proximity to pickups amounts being more than a bit overcautious.

[Ronsonic]

Someone is being paranoid. It would be impossible to install pickups and electronics or even build some pickup designs if soldering irons caused problems.

[GuitslingerTim]

Originally Posted by David Collins

Are you sure they didn't say soldering guns? .

Indeed, the author did specify gun instead of iron, but evidently uses gun loosely to also mean iron due to the recommendation of pulling frets from set neck guitars without heating them first. I have never used a soldering gun, only irons, so I learned something. Thanks for your usual keen insight.

[GuitslingerTim]

Originally Posted by Ronsonic

Someone is being paranoid. It would be impossible to install pickups and electronics or even build some pickup designs if soldering irons caused problems.

Those were my thoughts as well, having read much on the subject over the years, as well as having put many an iron to frets on set neck guitars without incident. Thanks for the reply.

[Tone_Terrific]

Originally Posted by GuitslingerTim

I read a statement on a site for guitar repair that advises against using a soldering iron to heat frets on set neck guitars, as doing so can damage the pickups, presumably due to the electrical field created by the iron, which was news to me; any thoughts on the matter?

IF the guy actually believed that himself why would he not simply remove the pups and then be free to heat the frets...HOLD ON...because he'd have to unsolder the connections.....and that would ruin the pups that were soldered in
Some of the stuff that come out must be totally out of context.

[GuitslingerTim]

Originally Posted by Tone_Terrific

IF the guy actually believed that himself why would he not simply remove the pups and then be free to heat the frets...HOLD ON...because he'd have to unsolder the connections.....and that would ruin the pups that were soldered in
Some of the stuff that come out must be totally out of context.

LOL! I never really thought about it in that context, but I suppose I thought initially there might a difference between placing an iron within an inch of a pickup while heating the last fret, and having an iron seven or eight inches away from a pickup while soldering in the control cavity.

I would post a link to the site, but see no point in raking someone over the coals, after all, the internet is a wonderful place full of all kinds of free knowledge, though some of it needs to be taken with a large grain of salt.

[David Collins]

To be fair, I suppose how I can see someone being concerned with this. Soldering guns are after all, a very common and useful tool for demagnetizing tools such as screwdrivers and things.

The flaw comes simply in that although the soldering gun has the ability to demagnetize things when they are held in just the right location (inside or right against the tip) or proximity (touching right up against the housing around the coils), once you move even an inch away from the tip or an inch or two from the coils, there simply isn't anywhere near the field strength to have any notable effect on pickup magnets.

So it's understandable how one might arrive at this conclusion, and perhaps it could be filed in the "understandably over-cautious" category. It's just not a practical concern with AlNiCo or ceramic magnets though. I'm sure there are some highly sensitive semiconductors that could be affected by a field so weak as one 2" from a soldering gun (if you didn't smoke them with excess heat first), but it's far too weak to pose any real risk to pickups.

[bunny]

LOL, don't believe this!:-)))

[Ronsonic]

To be fair, I suppose how I can see someone being concerned with this. Soldering guns are after all, a very common and useful tool for demagnetizing tools such as screwdrivers and things.

When I started with this stuff decades ago had to reassure myself about using them around pickups. A pickup is a coil with a whole lot of turns, a soldering gun has very few turns .... Ya know how a transformer works? Anyway, it doesn't happen in practice but I did wonder if you could generate high voltages with the combination.

[David Collins]

Originally Posted by Ronsonic

When I started with this stuff decades ago had to reassure myself about using them around pickups. A pickup is a coil with a whole lot of turns, a soldering gun has very few turns .... Ya know how a transformer works? Anyway, it doesn't happen in practice but I did wonder if you could generate high voltages with the combination.

Hah - I hadn't even thought about the coils! I'm going to have to tape an old pickup to the side of my soldering iron, hook the leads to the meter, and see what kind of AC voltage it could generate.

[Tone_Terrific]

Originally Posted by Ronsonic

.... Ya know how a transformer works?

The windings have a common core.

There are all kinds of elctro-mag fields in our environment interacting with pups... and more seriuos stuff, that I am only somewhat aware of.
But that's why we have foil hats!

[outtahear]

Mennonite guitar repairman?

(Iron heated by coal/bellows)

[Ronsonic]

Originally Posted by Tone_Terrific

The windings have a common core.

There are all kinds of elctro-mag fields in our environment interacting with pups... and more seriuos stuff, that I am only somewhat aware of.
But that's why we have foil hats!

And that's why I always wear that foil hat when I solder.

[David Collins]

Y'all can keep your foil hats - I'll stick with my Energy Dome, thank you very much.