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Single conductor isn't going to sound any better, that's for sure. Teflon takes some getting used to and can be hard on the strippers, but I generally haven't had many problems. I can see how a borderline set of strippers might work on PVC and not on teflon, though.
The sound difference will come in with shielded wire. A good example is the braided stuff that EMG uses as compared to say, the stranded stuff as seen on many cheaper imports. On said imports it is nearly impossible to not melt the insulation at least a little when you're soldering the shield. There just isn't a great happy medium between having enough heat to solder to the back of a pot and keeping it quick enough to not melt that very dainty PVC. This can often result in a short, but when it doesn't short you can visually find problems much of the time and I can't imagine that this doesn't affect the performance at least a little.. With the EMG stuff, you can do it Gibson style with the solder going right down over the braid and around the insulation and you'll be fine.
The mojo/dimarzio/duncan style has the foil and drain design and dodges this problem though, so that helps. The foil and drain doesn't look as cool, but it sure works well.
The sound difference will come in with shielded wire. A good example is the braided stuff that EMG uses as compared to say, the stranded stuff as seen on many cheaper imports. On said imports it is nearly impossible to not melt the insulation at least a little when you're soldering the shield. There just isn't a great happy medium between having enough heat to solder to the back of a pot and keeping it quick enough to not melt that very dainty PVC. This can often result in a short, but when it doesn't short you can visually find problems much of the time and I can't imagine that this doesn't affect the performance at least a little.. With the EMG stuff, you can do it Gibson style with the solder going right down over the braid and around the insulation and you'll be fine.
The mojo/dimarzio/duncan style has the foil and drain design and dodges this problem though, so that helps. The foil and drain doesn't look as cool, but it sure works well.
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