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I have a decent Sealey Iron. Not overly expensive either (Cost me around £20, but I work for a dealer)
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
http://www.toolbox.co.uk/draper-71419-100w-230v-3442-68315
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/csk100-universal-soldering-kit
I have one of these and it is ok for guitar work and making the odd pedal. The tip of mine does come loose occasionally and has oxidized very quickly. I would recommend a tub of tip leaner or whatever it is called.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-511927
For Maplin its a good price and I've used it for building both pedals and a point-to-point valve-amp...so plenty of heat is on tap if you need to solder the backs of pots etc.
60w needle tip for pickup eyelets (on the flatwork). 100w 'instant heat' soldering gun for 'pigtails' on humbucker bobbins. 100w and 150w angle tip irons for putting on pickup covers. A few spares ... and my latest addition, a butane powered hot air gun for shrink tube and melting the odd bit of potting. You can never have too many irons (in the fire or not).
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I doubt it'll have the punch for a cover, but maybe they do an even more powerful one?
For any Maplin -type stuff, I have used CPC for 20 years
http://cpc.farnell.com/
they are so cheap for anything, usually half the Maplin price. Free postage over about £45, usually next day
in particular, their ready-made cables are really cheap (with neutriks, etc), also HDMI, USB, etc,
anyway:
http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-929b-89-2926/soldering-station-esd-bs-plug/dp/SD01113
http://cpc.farnell.com/tenma/21-10115-uk/soldering-station-digital-esd-uk/dp/SD01738?in_merch=Featured
I have this one:
http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-929c-89-2932/soldering-station-digital-bs-plug/dp/SD01116
I think I recall that you need a beefy one to solder onto pots. To solder a pickup cover would need even more watts, Somebody here will know more than me about that
here's my 100w in action with a good old 50s table knife ... removing covers. In the background you will see a small pot of flux ... I never just trust the flux in cored solder for important jobs. Also my iron iron 'tip cleaner' ... very important to keep yer end clean (oooer).
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The aim is to use the minimum of solder with the most localised heating.
A good 60w iron will do most things
Pickup covers are an exception ... as are soldering earth leads to heavy steel Tele base plates that act as efficient heat-sinks in their own right. 100w minimum for that.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message