LeftyBassist.com

Hey, guys. I have a footswich that needs to be replaced. The switch is soldered to a board, and I don't have a solder sucker or wick to get the solder off so I can remove the switch, and none of the nearby hardware stores have them in stock.

Does anyone have a trick for doing this?

What other stores besides Lowes and Home Depot do you think might carry one?

Thanks!

Any chance you can get all the terminals and pegs of the switch hot enough at the same time to pull the whole thing out?

Can you sacrifice the switch? If so you could try cutting it up so you can heat and remove one pin/peg at a time.

PS: in a pinch, copper foil will suck solder, and lemon juice is a decent flux.

Thanks, Tim.

Yeah, I'm not worried about the switch. It has never worked properly, so it is going in the garbage.

I actually have some copper shielding tape. I will give that a try!

Okay! Mission accomplished! I remembered I had a second pair of pliers, so I was able to break the old switch apart without excessive force. From there I was able to remove the lugs individually. The hardest part was wicking all of the remaining solder away from the holes to get the new swich in, but with a little patience and cleverness, I got it in.

Now, for the first time, I have a working wah pedal. I bought this thing like 12 years ago. From day one, the switch never worked properly, so I threw it in the basement and left it to collect dust. Well, a few months ago I had a hankerin' to play with a wah, so I got it out and goofed with it a bit and decided to fix it. I only just now got around to it, though.

Excellent