Soldering iron

[Allensmusic]

I have done electronics work and soldering for over thirty years. I have used extremely expensive irons at jobs, including the military. for home use, I prefer the cheap radio shack one that comes as a kit with some crappy tools and solder for around $15. when it wears out I get another one. I never try replacing the tip on the cheap ones.

[mostapha]

Weller. Only thing better than radio shack worth paying for

[Xonetacular]

Weller. Only thing better than radio shack worth paying for

The bigger more expensive wellers are good but the cheap weller soldering stations (like the red one linked above) are no better than radioshacks. I've seen just as many of those die as the radioshack stations and they are just as inconsistent. All it is is the same exact iron that they sell separately that plugs into an outlet on a bass station that is a voltage control- no heat sensors or anything.

[Zhao]

Been on the monome forums quite a bit lately, and it seems that tehn (monome creator) along with several other on the forum use and recommend the hakko 936, or at least hakko brand. You figure he solders together hundreds of monomes at a time, so he's probably got a pretty good iron.
Couldn't find it anywhere but ebay, but it's listed as new:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hakko-936-So...ht_1365wt_1139

Also hear great things about the higher quality wellers.

[Xonetacular]

Hakkos are pretty damn good if you can find a nice model at a decent price, I would take one any day over a Weller.

[herlsy]

The radioshack ones are hardcore, i had mine about 10 years before it broke.

Now i just buy cheap ones at harbor freight and use them as disposable one-job irons. They get hot fast and have a good size and shape.

[guiltyblade]

I'm gonna look at a few today and just pic up whatever looks decent. Maybe I'll have to order one.

[Destrukto]

These jobbies are ace:

http://www.antex.co.uk/prodtype.asp?...cordPosition=1

[Liambo]

My advice is just use Weller. If you don't have much of a budget, splash out a little bit. Always good in the long run.

[vanaema78]

Weller or Hakko for brands,
but if you want to solder anything on the latest DJ gear, you have to look for atleast 350C or 700F degrees because of that stupid lead free solder. Plus fast heat is always a plus because you need to heat things up less to get the solder melted.
Or you can use a gas one, which is uncomfortable to use in small rooms because of the heat, but gets hot faster.