First Build - TL-1A

[McCreed]

That's a nice colour, and will look great clear coated and all put together!

Any thoughts or recommendations on soldering equipment?

A lot depends on your budget and if you think you will be doing more builds/repairs/mods.
A variable temperature station is at the top, but a soldering stick/pencil can do all you need as well. I would recommend at least a 30w unit as it will be better for soldering the back of pots (more heat).

There are lots of neat little accessories you can buy as well like a solder sucker, tip cleaner pad and so on, but there are cheaper alternatives like desoldering braid and a household sponge for tip cleaning.

Practice is a great idea if you've never done any soldering (I should listen to my own advice there). Buy some jump wire and a couple of cheap pots (Jaycar?) and practice on them.
One key thing to remember is "heat the work, not the solder". For example, soldering a wire to a pot lug: place the soldering tip to the lug > allow the lug to heat up (a few seconds max) then touch the solder wire to the lug (not the tip).

Another tip is to make a template (cardboard will do) to hold the pots in the positions they'll be when mounted in the guitar. Then place and secure the template to your workbench/desk etc so you're not chasing the pieces all across your bench.

I'm not an expert by any means, but it get less daunting and neater the more you do it. Still room for improvement here .

I'm sure there are some good YT tutorials if you do a search there.

[MrEddy]

A few months ago I would have said one guitar build is going to be enough, but now... I'm not so sure. I can see how this could start getting addictive. So many things to try. But never mind that. Have to finish the current one first!

But that's all very helpful. Thank you.

[jonwhitear]

Have to finish the current one first!

Why’s that? ;-)

[MrEddy]

Why’s that? ;-)

Domestic harmony.