Wires for my first loom?

citesquestion

So I'm mulling over making a loom for my tele partscaster. I'm not great at soldering so any little helps. Do I get the cloth covered wire because the cover seems easy to pull off or just get some regular 22 AWG cabling for pennies? Not particularly fussed about the vintage looks.

P.S. Any advice on a soldering iron for £30 or so that won't be awful? Just get one of those 30 in 1 kits off Amazon?

Twixery

I use 22 awg with heat resistant shielding - I have used wire from electrical cables in an emergency... downside is that the wire is thick (creating excessive bulk in cavity) and shielding melts very easily (easy to accidentally touch shaft of iron against in situ cables).  Use stranded wire as it is more bendy.

Solder stations are nice...I have a cheap MIC no brand 8586 - whatever model that is.  if you are going to do ongoing modifications a solder station may be worth it.  I have used 40W Maplin soldering iron for years and it served me well for guitar and non-guitar related projects.

Wire cutters are necessary - I used to use to strip shielding... then I bought a proper set of wire strippers and it changed my world... the stripped ends of the wire have exactly the same length of wire showing and looks neater. 

As for the 30 in one extras... get a stand, copper wool or sponge for cleaning tips, different shaped tips are handy to find one you like, tweezers to hold down wire while cooling.  Solder suckers are handy for removing excessive or old solder.

Wet/dry paper for backs of pots.  sometimes it tins well first time without any issues.  Flux is messy as it leaves a yellow residue - I think it is acidic - I try to avoid using. 

Solder is important - it needs to flow when heated.  If it forms blobs or round balls when heated avoid and buy another brand.  I use the solder that is closest to hand...  1mm 60/40 with a rosin core is probably a good start. 

Watch some YouTube video on how to solder ie general technique.  There are also good videos on how to wire a loom.

I don't have a helping hand machine... I don't solder enough to justify... but i have a solder station?!?  I use alligator clips attached to poles or tweezers.

For strats I attach the pots to the scratchplate.  For LP/SG, I make a template with cardboard (ie with the pot layout - marking tone, volume, bridge, neck).  Attach the pots to the template or scratchplate in the correct holes.  Then i cut the wire to length, tin the ends of the wire, tin the pots and then solder it all together.  If in a template, remove from template and install in guitar.  Last step is to solder the pickup wires to switch and pots as appropriate. 

I always use black for ground and another colour for active.

Jonathangus

Nicking one of ICBM's many excellent ideas - get an old cheapy Scart cable and pull it apart.  You'll end up with several metres of wire that's perfect for guitar wiring.

Roland

… and they come in a whole range of colours.