Guitar DIY: How to Remove Solder

We at Seymour Duncan want everyone to feel comfortable with a solder and empower our community to make some modifications, as well as DIY repairs to your own guitar. So join us on our journey and the first of many videos we release on the art of soldering.
Seymour Duncan's Pickup Installation 101: www.seymourduncan.com/resourc...
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[@tomkostka3380]

I'm trying to remove some pickups, but I can't get the (existing) solder to melt on the back of the pots, to release the ground wire. I'm using a brand new 80w iron. I tried sand paper on the (wide) tip, as well as tinning it. The existing solder won't budge. I don't want to damage the pot. My iron is at 480* C . Any ideas? I really don't want to pay someone to melt solder. I can do the rest of the pickup swap myself.

[@jeeeeev]

I had this problem and how I solved this is by purchasing a reliable soldering station because the one that I used before was claimed it generates 350 - 500*C but the solder doesn't budge.

[@jarrodsilver6854]

Add some new solder to the old solder joint. That should 'reactivate' the old solder joint

[@alanwoodwind5265]

Put some flux on the joint. It will help the old solder to start to flow.

[@johnstample3624]

@@alanwoodwind5265Flux is something I almost never see mentioned in any guitar-specific soldering videos but it prevents a lot of frustration. It’s like the secret weapon of soldering

[@blablybla]

Wouldn't be easier/safer to just open the pot and sand the solder excess from pot housing, reducing the risk of overheating a potentiometer?

[@JeffKatra]

If you have your soldering iron set to the correct temp it shouldn't be an issue. That paired with proper soldering techniques make it very difficult to damage a quality pot. Now cheaper pots could be more prone to heat damage but even then it would require a decent amount of effort to damage it.

[@kitmoore9969]

Open the pot, then desolder?