Wiring Masters, need some advice...

[peAk]

They have it in different gauges. For my taste, thinner is better. Gives you more room to work. There's no benefit to thicker wire unless you like the chunkier look. No wire is going to be as thin as the traces on your PCB or your component leads, or the windings in your pickups for that matter.

So do you prefer GPCBs wire?

[Leevibe]

I haven't tried it. I've always bought 50' spools of 24ga from SB. I don't have a good reason to change now. I always use blue just because I like how it looks. I've heard with the GPCB stuff that some of the colors may be better than others? Not sure about that.

[Stomptown]

I would just grab one of these at radio shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17241906

They have a cheaper version also that works just as good. Only difference is the body is plastic. I have really good results using one of these and for a pad on the edge of the PCB it should be a breeze.

If you haven't used one, I would recommend securing the board in a vice. Orient the PCB so you can heat from the bottom side and suck from the top side of the pcb. Here are the steps I go through:

1. Heat the pad and remove the wire.
2. Heat the pad from the bottom side while holding the desoldering pump against the pad on the front side.

If you align the pump correctly and make sure the seal between the pcb and pump is as good as possible you should get it on the first try. If not, let everything cool down and try again. I've never had a pad lift using this method and I don't think I'll ever need a fancy pump - and I do a lot of desoldering! 

Then again, it would be nice to have a fancy pump! 

Edit: I didn't realize this thread was 4 pages long and I'mm guessing my suggestion has already been mentioned! lol...

[Gledison]

Maybe u could just measure what u will need and add a little more wire! Than after you can cut the excess and solder for good!

[peAk]

I would just grab one of these at radio shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17241906

They have a cheaper version also that works just as good. Only difference is the body is plastic. I have really good results using one of these and for a pad on the edge of the PCB it should be a breeze.

If you haven't used one, I would recommend securing the board in a vice. Orient the PCB so you can heat from the bottom side and suck from the top side of the pcb. Here are the steps I go through:

1. Heat the pad and remove the wire.
2. Heat the pad from the bottom side while holding the desoldering pump against the pad on the front side.

If you align the pump correctly and make sure the seal between the pcb and pump is as good as possible you should get it on the first try. If not, let everything cool down and try again. I've never had a pad lift using this method and I don't think I'll ever need a fancy pump - and I do a lot of desoldering! 

Then again, it would be nice to have a fancy pump! 

Edit: I didn't realize this thread was 4 pages long and I'mm guessing my suggestion has already been mentioned! lol...

Belive it or not, this is the exact solder sucker that I have right now and I do exactly what you described. It works pretty well if you don't have a tight fit and you are pretty steady with your right and left hands. The problem is for the first time I had a pcb pad come off the other day with doing this method. Maybe it was just a isolated situation but luckily it was just a daughter board that was only populated with resistors.

Maybe u could just measure what u will need and add a little more wire! Than after you can cut the excess and solder for good!

This is where I am heading if my test rig and/or desoldering skills don't cut it. Wire is cheap and desoldering pot lugs isn't a big deal

[peAk]

Well Lee,

Let me just say that the toothpick trick works like a charm.

Whoever came up with this method, give that man a raise!

[Leevibe]

Haha! Can I have a raise for telling you about it?

[peAk]

Haha! Can I have a raise for telling you about it?

(raising my beer to you)

[wgc]

Lots of great ideas here but honestly, and no offense, it seems like a ton of work to avoid a little work that gets easier with practice. Toothpick works great. Think about bread boarding too before you build. You'll learn a ton also.

As for pot wiring, leave them long, test, and then adjust the length at the pot when you box.  Make sure to leave a little slack for strain relief.