I see people suggesting that you get a better microphone to eliminate “room boom” and noise, but I like the sound exactly the way it is. It makes you feel like you’re standing there in the shop, watching in person. Eliminating the noise and room sounds, to me, would make the video more sterile and “slick”. Keep it real!

Excellent video! Thanks for being so clear and concise. And thank you for not using background music!

Great video! As a 40 year veteran of electronics instrument repair, I agree with all of your ideas. However, I believe best practices requires cleaning (wet sponge is ok) and tinning the solder tip before using the iron. Tinning the tip improves heat transfer to the joint. Plus, cleaning and tinning the tip after using the iron can extend the life of the tip.

When I learned to solder on aircraft components back in the day, we were taught to clean the solder and the component right before soldering with denatured alcohol. I hate that stuff, so I use Everclear. Also, the flux in the wire is mildly corrosive, so me being nit-picky, I'll suggest that it's always a good idea to clean that off with a a few drops of alcohol on q-tip when you're finished.

Great soldering video. It is great to see your videos. You are an insperation for girls and young women everwhere. Thanks!

You need to replace your iron once a year? These soldering irons should last a lifetime... things like Weller’s and Hakko’s shouldn’t ever need replacing. As for tips, if you are needing to replace yours every few months, you aren’t doing something right. From watching this video, I think I may have spotted it @ 2:43 where you say to clean off the tip when you’re done, but you don’t mention that you absolutely must tin your tip too when you leave it to sit there. A non-tinned tip sitting there at 750 degrees (F) will be ruined real quick. Anyhow, I really enjoy your channel. Keep up the good work.

As an absolute beginner, this was a godsend! Thank you!

I am a soldering noob and really appreciate this video. Many thanks to The Electric Lady!

This was so good. Couldn’t ask for better video to get me started.

tip for your tip: keeping solder on your iron tip before you turn it off will stop the tip from oxidizing prematurely. Also, applying solder to your tip right before you heat the connection (especially on larger components) will allow the solder to flow more readily across the connection and towards the tip.

Love what you're doing. Great to see a female in the technical side of music. I hope you can inspire more diversity in the business with your expertise.

Liked and subbed. In high school, I was so fascinated with electronics, because I wanted to know how stomp boxes could create such a variety of sounds. I ended up getting an associates degree in Electronics and Communication Servicing in 1994. I built my own distortion stomp box from a schematic diagram, from a particular website, shortly there after. Every time I see a video like yours, be it on the basics, I can't help but watch anyways. I will go back to watch your other past videos. Cheers.

I like the way you say " now we take OUR needle nose pliers" or "now we take OUR iron" it makes me feel that I not only own something, but we own it together! Thanks for the video, I did learn a few things

Excellent tutorial, one of the best!! Missing is proper tinning of the tip! Tinning promotes better heat transfer, faster soldering, better solder flow. Tinning also reduces de-solder time, and less potential damage to eyelets and boards. Always clean the tip before each solder operation, and tin. I always add new solder when de-soldering. Old solder requires more heat, and does not "suck out" cleanly. (always add new solder) Finally, the preheat recommendations are overstated, and not as much a requirement. Cleaner soldering is obtained by instantaneous three point contact of the tip and the work and solder. Pre-heat isn't necessary on a PCB, and less than half a second second on most solder connections... if even that much. The three point contact of all three, the tip, the work, and solder causes the melting solder to ASSIST in FASTER heat transfer and efficient solder flow. The solder should appear like factory. if it doesn't then you're method isn't correct! If you find you need to pre-heat your work, and end up with melted insulation, definitely wrong. Tip: watch a vintage factory assembly line video. The operation takes less than half a second for the typical connection. It should be that fast.. and a smooth shiny good looking solder fillet. I have been employed by several electronics manufacturers, including IBM, and have professionally restored many hifi amps, turntables, reel to reel decks, etc. The points covered in this video are indeed well explained.. good stuff here!

Colleen, you are a joy to watch and listen too. The Sodder Goddess 😍

This is a great introduction to soldering. Paceworldwide has a fantastic, in-depth series of tutorials on soldering.

Excellent advice on hard wiring can caps. I don’t know why I never worried about overheating them with my heavy duty iron before. I’m sold. It’s refreshing to have a pro from a real working shop making videos like this.

You know how to do it! I have learned that in the seventies but you are doing it the correct way! Glad to see people of the next generation who love electronics!

All great information. I was fortunate enough to have the U.S. Air Force teach me how to solder back in 1980. Thankfully the art of soldering has remained pretty much unchanged since the early 1950s.

Most helpful soldering video I've ever seen. The closeups of the basic tasks are incredibly useful. Thanks!

Great tutorial for beginners and old hats alike.

There are still some amp repair people out there who are somewhat sloppy when it comes to soldering never mind the masses of those that post various builds on youtube. As you state the number one thing to do is tin (pre solder) the components to be joined first and don't play around with the components / join i.e. dab the parts with the iron as this will dry out the flux. This first step is crucial to making good solder joints. Follow your steps and you won't go wrong. Its a pleasure to watch someone who has been trained in the art of soldering and who performs this so well which on youtube is somewhat of a rarity, well done.

Great job explaining the basics in a clear way!

This was an excellent tutorial with loads of tips for the trade. One thing we used to say was solder “extraction tool” for rather obvious reasons. Bodge wires and all!!

Best video on soldering in an amp that Ive seen

I already knew how to solder. But I'm glad I watched this video anyway. Very informative. On another note, this woman's voice is very smooth and relaxing to listen to. I would love for her to do some ASMR videos.

Just wanted to say, thanks to some help from your channel, I was able to successfully replace some old filter caps and eliminate 120 cycle hum. First time soldering or working on electronics at this level. Thanks!

Super helpful refresher for someone that hasn't done any electronics work in many years. Have an amp that needs new filter caps and this was just the ticket. Thanks!

Not being sarcastic but THANK YOU for leaving out how to tin your tip. I get tired of hearing it. I’ve been soldering for a LONG time and I still watch videos to catch little tricks. Great video!

Excellent video, and I say that as one who did his first amp repair in 1966. I'd add a couple of additional points: First, a joint can only be reflowed once; additional reheating will cause the tin in the solder to crystallize. If you can't get a good joint after reheating the joint once, suck out the solder and redo the connection. Second, I prefer to use a Soldapullt, which has a much larger barrel and is much more efficient than the solder sucker you use. It's particularly good for point-to-point wired amps. The smaller solder sucker may be preferable for PC boards. Third, I clean component leads with a braid-type cleaner before I install them. It's amazing how much gunk there can be on a resistor lead. If you can't find that tool, just strip some braid from a piece of coax; it'll work fine.

So cool to have a woman doing a video about electronics! Times have changed and it is for the best. I discovered that some leads have trace of oxidation or oily residue which prevent a good joint. Now I scrape them with iron wool or a fine grit sand paper to clean them to ensure a good contact. Good video !

Soldering is one of my favorite thing to do!!!!

We ran old fashioned unregulated irons on all day long 5 days a week. There should be no degradation from not actually using it. Its applying resin and using that can scratch the steel outer casing into the copper core. Great works. That drill bit case kind of spooked me out, reminded me of work place. I started soldering with a gun around 1960. I used to hold solder in my mouth LOL.

My dad taught me to solder as a kid, he was a ham radio guy. It's an extremely useful skill that isn't that hard to master. Buy a few of those kits that give you the board and components and just build them to get practice. I taught both my kids the skill and they took to it quickly.

This is the best solder video I've seen. Thank you so much!

Great video very informative. That solder sucker is the same one I use and I've had mine since the 70's. It just refuses to die. I just give it a good cleaning and a bit of lube on the O-ring and it's good for another decade.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Amazing i got this video coming, today utube has everything. Back in the days there wasn’t internet. I learnt everything on my own ans used to solder everything, never had those tools u have now. Just cleaning the head on a piece of wood and a knife no sponge or weird pen… the old days didn’t have those and it was done! U look nice ;)

Your vids are some of the best tutorials on KZfaq! I wish you lived in my area, good techs are hard to find!

Not just an excellent tech, an excellent teacher as well.

I'm not very much into ASMR (and a noob at soldering) but your videos have made me a total sucker... for the solder sucker. Never heard of it before (which probably explains why I'm so bad at soldering) but I just love the sound of it and I'm definitely getting myself one and try to get a little more into this, starting with a cheap Danelectro spring reverb that stopped working and I'm going to get back to life or die trying! Please keep up with these lovely videos!

Every one of your videos are informative and educational. Well done.

I learned a great deal from this video, thank you.

First iron/gun when I was about 10 you never stop learning and everyone has their own style preference and way it's for everyone and anyone who wants to learn great video and channel nice job

I am now getting interested in this type of work..She makes it interesting.

A good tutorial with nice close-ups and love your style.

im so glad to see u work on electric things and i love to see ur tools

This is fantastic, thanks! The part on using jumper wires to fix a blown trace on a PCB helped me fix an SD-1 to Tube Screamer mod I was working on for my son.

Thanks so much for this video! I have a ground that came lose from the chassis and I could not get the chassis hot enough to re-solder. Will be getting a lug and screw to attach it!

Thank you for this. Ive been wrenching on euro cars for 30 years, never really knew how to solder. Got an original Deluxe Reverb that needs some DIY work.

Great video! +1 for the tip on adding more solder if the sucker won't work. If you don't have a solder sucker or have a stubborn through-hole you are trying to clear of solder like in 5:48, you can also use a toothpick or other sharpened wooden stick to clear out molten solder. There's a good example video of doing this for replacing nixie tubes on the GRA&AFCH channel. Solder wick or in a pinch, flux-laden stranded copper wire can also work.

Excellent presentation, very concise ! Myself, when soldering to the backs of pots, I use a small piece of sandpaper to clean and rough up the surface. Also, I use a big old Weller 240 watt gun to solder to chassis. Works quite well.

This video as inspiring me to get back into soldering and audio building projects!

William Baerga I tuned in to your channel by accident and I have to say you have Blown me away with your knowledge of Electrical repair Wow I'm really impress I would like to see a video on how you started getting into this field.

Ive been looking for a decent video on the basics of soldering for a long time...nice job.

Awesome vids thanks for sharing. You and Uncle Doug both have excellent speaking voices.

Just recently found you and your vids. Oddly, these are quite different than most other tech tip vids. I can’t put a finger on it yet, but you’re video are better for me to relate to.

Finally I can fix my amp!!! Thank you!!🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Don’t blow on the solder joint... learned that the hard way.

Really helpful. About to start a 5e3 build. So glad I found your videos.

Yesss!!! Now I finally have a fellow lady to look up to!

Great info, didn't know about the scraping trick on the pots, will try it out next time. I sometimes use a desoldering braid when there's still some remnants after using the pump. Came here through the Vintage Amps podcast, keep up the good work!

You hypnotize me. Love your videos

Great instructions. Many sites omit these basic steps.

Maybe the best soldering tutorial I’ve seen yet. Well done and subbed 👍🏻

Excellent demonstration and explanations! I'm about to start a 5e3 build, and these tips will be very helpful. Thanks!

You are simply the best:)

thank you! great explanations for a total beginner like myself What a great channel

Perfect... I was looking for advice on how to solder on an eyelet board, and that was your first example! Thanks. Great video, concise and informative.

Thank you so much , love your episodes , wish I would of found your Chanel sooner , you explain things very good and your easy to listen too

Extremely helpful one of the best tutorial on soldering thanks so much!

Brilliant, brilliant video. Excellent close ups and great explanations. Thanks for sharing. More of the same please. 🤠

I’ve only soldered about 5 or 6 times and learned the hard way that the soldering iron can get too hot. I have a cheap one with no temperature control. So with those cheapo’s the sponge is a must for temperature control as much as it is cleaning. I finally realized my iron was too hot when the solder wouldn’t stay put and harden. Tinning the tip of the iron wouldn’t work either, it would just run or drip off. Instead of a sponge, I took an old wash rag and folded it up into an Altoids tin. It works pretty well.

Really good video. Your a good teacher . Thanks for this

I have a little bit of advice for you about using a wet sponge. You mentioned in the video that you have to replace the tip every few months. For me, the tips live for 2 years, and I solder every day. First of all, your sponge is dripping with water, which is why the tip gets a thermal shock, which shortens its life. The sponge should be squeezed out - damp, not dripping with water. Personally, I use something like the Weller WLACCBSH-02 to clean the tips.

Damn It! I didn't know you had to scrape the pot so it can fuse better. No wonder! I always had such a hard time soldering pots. THANK YOU!

Very informative and good examples used. Many people who occasionally try doing this usually do not invest in proper equipment so before they even start they are at a disadvantage. I would suggest people avoid those soldering irons that cost a few dollars. They don't work properly and the heating element usually burns out quickly anyway. Not everyone want to invest in a soldering station but they should look for a decent product from a reputable brand. The type of solder makes a big difference as well. Lead free solder has a higher melting point and components can be damaged by the increased temperature needed to melt it. Avoid the solder from Dollar stores, I have tried it and it is a nightmare. The leaded solder is still the easiest to work with but not all brands are created equally and you have to weigh the benefits versus the cost of using it where your health is concerned. Many products are now using lead free solder to meet ROHS compliance. Finally I would suggest the tip of the soldering iron is tinned when using it for the first time and keep cleaning it on a damp ( not wet) sponge between use since the tip can build up an oxide layer on the surface when not in use on the stand while it is hot. Naturally components will take longer to remove than to install and they are faulty or damaged anyway, but the process of soldering a new component should be fairly swift to avoid prolonged exposure to heat .

2 tips that will improve your soldering.... 1. Use a chisle tip & you will get better results as you have more contact with the board & will be able to cut your temps down & be kinder to components. 2.use a FLAT FLUSH ELECTRONIC NIPPER instead of the electrical ones in the video. They are far superior!!! I was amazed at how much difference these 2 things made. I would never go BACK! ; )>

Thanks! Now to go back through my kit amp and touch stuff up.

You're so easy on the ears, ...You could read me bedtime stories!

Great video as it helps beginners showing how things look when they go sideways, and how to fix them! I'll try to fix my Peavey Bandit silver stripe hiss. Thanks!

Great video - my tip is for the odd time when you find the solder will not melt (high temp lead free stuff) - I've found if you add some leaded solder on top using the iron to heat both it will then melt and a solder sucker can clear it out. I don't know why this works but it does.

This has been a big help! A lot of times electronic instructional materials are abstract.

Every guitarist should be able to solder. It's a great tool to have. That being said, I need to learn!! lol

Very good video. Thanks again!

A basic intro to soldering video should also cover: a) the use of flux, b) how to clean components and pcbs to prepare for soldering or desoldering, and c) different soldering iron tips and their uses.

I had one of those Eico signal generators! Converted it into a tube amp! Some cool tubes in there, but the 6K6 in push pull has I think a 10K impedance which was hard to find a good output transformer for

Covered everything I was thinking about at the beginning of the video. Great work, very thorough treatment. One more topic, how to glue down a PCB eyelet still connected but lifted from the board by over soldering.

Keep doing what youre doing Ms Fazio,,,You Are The Bomb

Thumbs up for using a tone generator and multimeter from when your granparants were teenagers! I have a similar tone generator, and not PPL synthesised and not dead stable, it serves its purpose as signal injector flawlessly! My favorite lab PSU is from the 80' with transformer and variac, Does both voltage and current limit on both DC and AC! I should buy a modern oscilloscope though, analog and uncalibrated from the university dumpster, an early 80' oscilloscope, is not that useful when I can't do exact measurements!

I've been wanting to learn how to solder for ever....this was the perfect video to come up in my feed! Thanks! Love your videos!

Desoldering wicks and soldering heat sinks are always useful.

Excellent video! Thank you!

Great video and great tips! Only things I would mention as well are: don't blow on the solder joint to make it cool down faster, you can cause a cold joint that way because of the air penetrating and apart from scraping the back of the pot I found high temperature of the iron and short time applying the tip to the back of the pot produces good results. Keep the videos coming! Liked and subbed :)

When soldering larger wires I like to apply the heat from below and the solder from above..as heat rises..but you will need a bit of solder on the iron to conduct the heat. Also if you solder temperature sensitive components to cool things down a bit you can touch a pair of pliers or other tool to act as heatsink. Desoldering with Solder braid works well too but takes some practice.

I love the piece of 4x2 you use as a pointer....LOL

I use a Weller WLC100 (40W). For effect pedal I use a small tip and set it between 3 and 4. For guitar or cable wiring I use a larger tip (the factory one) and go up to 5 if I need to. So my tip to beginners is to use the right tip and set the heat according to what you're working with.

These videos are so helpful. Thank you!

You give good instructions. Can you please make a video on different components and examples of application? Like what makes a fuzz… fuzz??

The other tech channels don't show us how to solder, or use a multi-meter, or about fuses etc... This is a channel us non-tech tube amp playing musicians can learn from, to help us maintain our instruments - amp's are musical instruments too.