Need Help With Rewiring

[zombones]

I recently did a custom paint job on my first guitar and now I'm putting everything back together. Here is an MSPAINT describing my plight:

I snipped the wire connecting the cable-port part to the rest of the wiring and I am trying to put them back together. First I tried peeling some of the insulation from both ends to twist both exposed ends together, but that didn't work. Then, as I was putting my thumb on the cable-end, I noticed that no BZZT sound came when I touched the exposed cable-port-wire-end, but only when I touched the nub of the port-end. So I snipped off the exposed wire so that it was back to just insulated nub. I thumb it, and the BZZT indicating some sort of current happens.

My question is: What is the proper way to connect these two wires?

[rubber314chicken]

solder them, then wrap it with electrical tape

[GregP]

If you have enough slack, you could also use one of those screw-cap thingies that electricians use. Just get a small enough one that it fits in your cavity.

[Acousticraft]

No only join by soldering so there is no resistance in the wire. Put some shrink wrap sleeve over the join and use a heat source like a cigarette lighter to shrink the insulation over the join. Makes a much more professional job than tape.

You should be able to get that from any auto supplies store.

[GregP]

A screw-cap thingy won't add resistance, either. The "cap" part is just a descriptor of the shape... it's not short for "capacitor" in this case.

[Southpa]

I doubt you would find a marette (screw cap thingy) small enough to hold the wires together. Soldering the ends together w/ shrink is ok, but a royal pain when working inside the guitar. If the remaining length isn't enough then just replace the whole wire.

[GregP]

Cool... new vocabulary-- now I have to remember it.

You can find plenty of marettes small enough. Once upon a day I bought a variety pack for my general home toolbox, and there are at least a few different sizes which work fine. Reason being, the threads come to a point. Larger marettes won't quite cut the mustard because they come to more or less a dome on the inside rather than a point. The really small ones do not use metal threads; however, they still twist the wires together quite nicely. In any event, I certainly wouldn't have recommended the marette if I hadn't myself used it for guitar electronics.

I'm losing the forest for the trees, though-- I think that the best solution is to just replace the entire length. 2 quick joints to desolder then resolder, and you're done. Very little fuss.

Greg

[rubber314chicken]

I always thought they were wire nuts.