Ok, I'm going to learn how to DIY some stuff...

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Get some veroboards and do some soldering there first so you can practise a bit before working on actual PCBs

Yeah, for sure. You want to avoid heating up the traces on a PCB, too. Nothing much worse than one you've "lifted" because it took too much heat.

If you haven't secured a lamp with a magnifying lens, get one. Those can help tremendously in checking for proper solder connections ...or lack thereof (especially on small PCB'S).

Good luck! There'll be some frustrations, but it's all worth it. Plus, you'll learn a ton.

Firstly, I'm not picking on you.  Secondly, heating the pad is what you want to do.  Solder always flows towards the heat.  If you only heat the part's leg, then solder rarely flows to the pad because it usually has more heatsinking.

9/10 times, people tend to *push* the iron tip into the pads thinking they are getting more heat, but this is rarely true, it's just mechanically damaging the pad.  Besides, quality FR type PCBs are quite heat resistant (FR meaning Fire Resistant) being just fiberglass and epoxy.  The older phenolic PCBs were pretty terrible at everything, including soldering though.

The best way to solder (being a master solderer for 20+ years now) is to use the hottest iron you can use and add a little solder to the tip before you touch the junction.  Then feed solder into the junction quickly.  Contrary to what folks think, the hotter iron allows you to work more quickly and while the peak temps might be higher, the faster speed reduces the overall heatsoaking (which is what causes more issues).  

So never use force.  If the solder isn't liquifying immediately and wicking into the junctions easily then you need more heat or more flux.  Flux is your friend, use it copiously.  Also, pick the right sized tip to use.  Most folks I've helped seem to either pick something way too fine or way too thick for their usage. 

Always sage electrical advice from svart.

One of the cool things about the job I started recently is that I work next to some master rework techs and can pick their brains on tips/tricks. One thing that’s new to me is soldering under a microscope. Weird at first but now I love it. I don’t do any of the heavy lifting at work, just soldering leads onto test points for thermal chamber measurements. But the whole reason I ever became an EE was because I started messing with my audio gear and modding/building things. So, look out. One day you might be building a compressor and the next you’ll find you’ve gone and signed up for a bunch of math classes!
To the OP, it’s a good move. You’ll have fun and learn stuff and have some real pride and ownership in your gear. And, personally, I find soldering to be therapeutic. Put on some great tunes, get the solder flowing and zen out.

On vero board, you solder a resistor or bare jumper across 2 different rows just to get the feel down. It takes about the same time for the copper trace to be heated up as a PCB pad. A couple of practice joints immediately prior to working helps me get in the flow of soldering. I could see myself making some questionable joints on a 25 pin connector if I got distracted/bored.

You can cut the copper traces on vero board by grinding it down with a screwdriver or drilling it out if you want to build something useful.

The Neutrik website has good instructions on how much insulation to strip for their connectors if you end up rebuilding dead cables.

I think soldering cables is riskier than soldering PCBs. The thermoplastics they use as insulators tend to melt very quickly and shrink back quite a bit. I tend to only strip a tiny end of the conductor and let the heat shrink the plastic back a little.

But if you get good at soldering cables, you will have no problems with PCBs.

Just look up "solder practice kit" online and you'll find all kinds of low-cost projects that you won't feel bad about messing up before you get into your audio stuff.

One thing brought up in those videos.. I can't stress enough to not use a wet sponge. The water will cause your tips to corrode much more quickly. Use a "dry sponge" which is just a brass/copper mesh, similar to what's stuffed in that Hakko soldering station in the first video.

That's what I use personally and professionally.  It works very well.  Lasts for years too.

Yep, I read through the directions on the SB2 and was like... "yeah, I can do this."

I'd say I'm about a 5/10 on the handiness scale (I can make an acoustic trap but it's very ugly) but I'm a 10/10 on the meticulous process/detail obsessed scale. This could be right up my alley. 

So when I do this, I take a very small flat head screw driver, like a really tiny one. Then you can use it with your thumb pressure to bend the very short leads over to hold the resistor. 

The process is insert the resistor, hold it flat against the board while holding the board with my left hand, then the right hand folds the leads over. I like to fold outwards from the resistor center. . Very simple process, bit cumbersome sometime but once you figure out how to do it with the PCB you have it goes fast. Plus they hold themselves in nicely and then you solder from the back as per normal. 

I still always just do one leg then flip back over to make sure very thing is flush/straight before soldering the second leg. 


Hopefully that makes sense. 

... and don't forget to never solder ICs without a socket, just in case.