>I've had success with these plugs by first filling the "cups"
>with solder, then tinning the wire leads, then heating the
>solder filled "cups" and inserting the tinned leads. Hold the
>lead in place till the solder solidifies, and you should be good
>to go.
Before soldering anything go find yourself a scrap of 1"x1"x8"
wood and drill yourself four or more 5/16" holes in it. Clamp
the wood in the vice and insert 1/4" plugs into holes. THEN,
fill the cups with some solder. If you practice a bit and have
good wire, you may be able to avoid pre-tinning the wire itself.
I did over 160 Neutrik TRS connectors this way. By insulating
the connector from the metal vise (or your fingers) you prevent
the heat on the sleeve/ground from dissipating quickly and making
a cold solder joint. Now, only 200 or so Neutrik connectors to
go. (I won't even tell you how much a bag of 350 TRS connectors
weigh, or worse, how much it costs)
-Cary