Best Soldering Iron for guitars and guitar shielding

[sambostar]

Can anyone recommend a decent, cheap soldering iron for guitar pots and switch contacts etc.?

I have some experience and was thinking along the lines of a 60W el cheapo, so long as it takes standard or I can get replacable tips, possibly with a rubber grip on it and thin as possible.

My thinking was that with 60W I could move on quickly as it wouldn't keep loosing temp and it wouldn't take an age to heat the pots up so they'd be less prone to damage from overheating and also heat transfer from smaller tips would be greater. Is this logical, or should I get another 40W one?

Also need some sponges and a holder, but I might get them separate if not cheap enough as a kit.

I'm budgeting for around £12 lol.

Also, what is the deal with ceramic tips?

Regarding shielding, all my guitars are hummy, especially as I noodle with the TV on silent or the TV aerial hi gain amp booster on, so would a thin copper plate in the control cavity suffice, or would I have to shield the whole thing, behind pickups and all. All my guitar are 2H hot rod strat types with no stratchplates.

Thanks!

[jpfamps]

Can anyone recommend a decent, cheap soldering iron for guitar pots and switch contacts etc.?

I have some experience and was thinking along the lines of a 60W el cheapo, so long as it takes standard or I can get replacable tips, possibly with a rubber grip on it and thin as possible.

My thinking was that with 60W I could move on quickly as it wouldn't keep loosing temp and it wouldn't take an age to heat the pots up so they'd be less prone to damage from overheating and also heat transfer from smaller tips would be greater. Is this logical, or should I get another 40W one?

Also need some sponges and a holder, but I might get them separate if not cheap enough as a kit.

I'm budgeting for around £12 lol.

Also, what is the deal with ceramic tips?

Regarding shielding, all my guitars are hummy, especially as I noodle with the TV on silent or the TV aerial hi gain amp booster on, so would a thin copper plate in the control cavity suffice, or would I have to shield the whole thing, behind pickups and all. All my guitar are 2H hot rod strat types with no stratchplates.

Thanks!

You are correct that a higher powered iron will be better for soldering as it doesn't cool down as much when soldering.

The best advice I can give when soldering is to get some leaded solder, rather than trying to use the lead-free (especially the cheap lead-free from Maplins). You will need to get some from an online seller, but there are plenty selling it on eBay.

£12 isn't a generous budget for a decent soldering iron, and you certainly won't be getting a professional unit for that. However, as I suspect you won't be using the iron everyday, I would simply look on line for something that meets your budget.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

Not sure how you can expect the "best" to be cheap. Weller WS81 is an excellent choice.

[ianpdq]

You can use this for shielding http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SLUG-TAPE-...item5ae5950f55

[danomess]

I was recommended this, pretty much on budget.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Analog-Sol...item46033d80b3