Damn soldered speakers!!!!

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metalmaniac93

metalmaniac93

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I just got my Scumbacks the other day for my Bogner OS 2X12 and went to put them in and discovered that the speakers are soldered. WTF!!! :doh: :doh: :doh: Now I am going to have to take it in and pay to get it done. What happened to the good old speaker connectors? Some of us are technically challenged!!!! :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:
 
Go to Radio Shack and get a soldering iron for about 20 bucks. Soldering a speaker connection is simple.
 
If a connector came loose during transport you could seriously do some damage to a tube amplifier depending on the effective load change. With soldered connections you're guaranteed no problems, plus it is all of 3 seconds to unsolder a connection if you have the right tools. If anything look at it as an opportunity to learn if you're inclined to do it yourself. Soldered is by far the way to go on anything with high currents and load dependency.
 
Soldering is a much better connection, but that is just my theory.

If you dont want to solder the Scums, just cut the wires "just behind" the solder points that already exist, and remove the old speakers. Then strip those wires, crimp new connectors on, and mount the Scumbacks / connect them.

While the old speakers are laying there, heat up soldering iron, and touch the iron to the soldered areas, and use pliers to pull the old wire remnants off. I usually place an old towel under the area that I am de-soldering, but on top of the exposed cone area. That way if any solder "drips" while I am doing this, it will go onto the towel and not the speaker cone.

Just a thought.....
 
Thanks everyone. I guess I need to learn to solder.
 
Soldering knowledge saves you so much time and money with guitar repairs and drop-in's for speakers. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but when when come into my shop, I not only have to charge a bench fee for a rewire, touch up, output jack; you name it, I have to spend time doing what they could save fifty on average themselves. Granted I don't dictate the fees, but soldering is very important.

If you don't want to solder, go to Radioshack and get a spool of red and black 18GA wire and some female ends and set it up and it'll sound great as well.

I will go with the other guys above when they say that soldering is the best though :)
 
Funny, I just ran into the same thing last night. Just received my Weber Legacy speakers (65W) and went to put them in my Recto 212 and the stock V30s were soldered. It really is the best way to do it. Speaker clips can come loose during transport or from vibrations, but with that knowledge in mind, I still decided to install my Webers with crimp-on clips that slide over the speaker tabs.
If I ever tour again with that cab, I'll solder the connections but for now I want to experiment with mixing some speakers.
 
I would never trust a spade connector! I had just installed 4 brand new speakers in a new cabinet and delivered it to a customer. The next day at a large show the amp was sounding really good in sound check and after the 1ST song was half was played the amp stopped playing. It was blowing the HT fuse and suspected a tube. (Replaced the amp with a spare) After a couple days went by and I thought about it. I opened the cab and removed the spade connectors (Which seemed tight). Soldered every connection on every speaker connection and haven't looked back since. I would always solder those connections.
 
Yup if it's a closed back you have to solder, even more so if it's your touring or gigging rig. Open backs you could use a spade cause it would be an easier fix. But I had spades. Every guitar player should have a repair kit they bring alone with them. I always bring a small repair kite: soldering iron, electrical tape, fuses, needle nose and phillips/flathead screw drivers with me. It's a great habit and you can save the day for yourself or a band mate. Would you drive a couple of hours without a spare tire, jack and tire iron?
 
solder is the best connection between 2 wires or contacts. It is more than just something used to hold it in place, but the electrical solder has rosin in it that cleans the wire when it comes in contact with it to make sure it allows for the best connection possible.
 
Not only is soldering your wires to your speaker a more secure connection, it also provides a better signal flow. Think of it a surface area. If the wires are clipped to a connector, the the connector is only touching the outside strands of the wire. The signal from the inside wires had to flow to the outside wires to get into the clip. Then, the clip isn't touching the entire surface of the speaker terminal either. If it's a tight connection, it will only be touching the sides, and a little of the front and back.

Now, if you replace that with solder, you fill in all the space with a conductive substance and provide a place for all the signal to flow. The wires are all saturated with solder so that the solder is connecting every single strand, instead of just the outside strands. The solder also comes into contact with a larger surface area on the terminal too. So, solder allows a greater amount of signal to flow more freely to your speaker leads (which are soldered to the terminals for the same reason BTW), and gives you better results.

Add in the fact that solder isn't going to rattle free like a clip would, and you have a slam dunk argument. Speaker clips are cheap and easy, and don't require much work, but they are not the right way to make that connection. I would go out and buy an iron and some solder and do it up proper! Just remember the hotter the iron (more wattage) the easier and better the connection will be.
 
While you're out picking up a soldering iron/solder, you may want to consider getting some solder flux as well. Tin your wire, put a drop or so of flux on the terminal, and the solder will flow where it needs to go in an instant.

Watch this video below. It's great one, and although it's showing you how to make guitar cables it also will give you a clear picture on soldering connections.

 
Be sure to get some desoldering braid / solder wick to clean up the old solder.
 
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