Im possibly the worst at soldering onto pcb pads and i was wondering if anyone thinks the contacts are fine and seperated enough between the button and the ground so that they dont interrupt eachother?
i dunno if thats gonna make sense. 
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/carnagemetal/08062009035.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/carnagemetal/08062009030.jpg
it looks separate but you will want to put a meter between the 2 contacts to check. if youâre resistance comes back infinite, then its electrically isolated.
on another note, the soldering itself doesnt look good. looks like a cold solder joint, i.e. not conductive.
test it out and see if it works. plug it into your PC.
i cant plug it in coz i am waiting to get my quick disconnects through to re-wire my grounds. 
i really did a botch job and dont have a desolder pump
plus i think if i do anymore to it im gonna rip the pads off the pcb
it might be my shitty soldering iron but whenever i heat the wire or pad first and tin the itron it never does what i want it to do.
if it doesnt work im gona have to buy a new pad and start all over again
Get yourself some desolder braid to take some of that off, you may not need a desolder pump. That really is overkill, far too much solder on there. Definitely run a continuity test between the two pads. I say check out some tutorials on youtube, you can find alot of stuff on how to solder, and pick some scrap electronics from a thrift store to practice on before you wind up sacrificing a $30 to $50 controller, there usually are some old PS1 pads at most junk stores for a buck or two.
Judging from the first picture it pretty much looks like they are touching so yea I agree with mike frost, way less solder next time lol ummmm clean off the contact when ur done soldering with some alcohol and a brush u have laying around also the tip doesnt have to stay on for a long time a few seconds will do. Good luck.
Judging from the pics those are cold solder joints which is bad. Get some flux to help with that. You should also be tinning the wires especially since itâs braided.
i do tin the wires but for some reason it doesnt ork, plus i bought some desoldering braid and it just wouldnt suck up any solder at allâŚi used like 8 inches of the stuff and it wouldnt take any of it.
im really pissed off
i dont wanna have to
a) buy a new pad
b) re solder everything
Surely sticking the iron back into the solder would make it reusable, then just wait until it becomes a perfect sphere, although it does look like too much solder.
Get a desoldering tool off of Amazon for like 4, works wonders.
How were you using the braid? It can take a few seconds before it sucks up anything, you lay the braid down on top of the solder, then put your iron onto the braid. You should see the braid start to turn silver as the solder is pulled to the braid, I donât know how much youâve used the stuff before, it can be hit or miss. Otherwise a pump shouldnât be much more than $10, you might be able to find one used for cheaper too!
I find that the best bet is to heat up the solder pad with the iron, and touch a bit of solder to the pad while still holding the iron to the pad, just getting enough to be able to place a tip of wire into it, no more than 2 mm or so depending upon the size of the pad. Then, you tin the wire a bit, and heat the solder on the pad back up, and place the wire onto the pad, pulling the iron away first, then giving a little tug on the wire to make sure it is solid. Wash, rinse, repeat and you should have it all wired up. Does this controller have a common ground, or will you have to solder two wires per button?
You need to buy a multimeter or any sort of continuity tester. Nobody can tell you if your solder joints work over the Internet. They donât look so hot in the pic. But do they work? You tell me. 
Too much solder, cold joints, too much exposed wire. It looks like you also have solder splashes around the point which is no good either.
Go find something you donât care about, like a dead motherboard/alarm clock/whatever and practice on it. Your soldered point should be nice and shiny rather than dull (cold). You also donât want the tips of the wire coming out like that. They could touch something they shouldnât be and short out.
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Seriously people over complicate soldering. Those joints look cold in the pic, but If the joints are strong and (give a tug on the wire to find out). Then you shouldnât have a problem tbh. As for the solder bridging the contacts, I would just use the soldering iron to clean up the joints. Hold the wire down and heat up the solder and flick it over onto the contact⌠easy.
tip. Tin the solder wire. It makes life a lot easier. All you have to do is twist the wire, put the iron to the wire for a bit. Then touch the solder to the tip of the soldering iron before applying it to the actual wire it self. If itâs not working then your iron is not hot enough or you donât have flux in your solder.
thanks for al your awesome advice.
i really appreciate it when people take the time to help people with âlegitimateâ problems 
thanks again.
but yeahâŚi re-wired all my grounds today and with the joint i was talking about, its fine and works a treatâŚi have ordered a solder sucker so i can redo it properly and im gonna pick up a glue gun too just for extra support.
i do tin the wire first and i do place a nice even layer on the contact but for some reason the whenever i heat the wire first and touch the solder to the wire the solder never melts i have to tin the iron then touch the wire with the tip and then put solder angled between the iron and wire (its really hard to explain sorry).
one question as well, does the wire being soldered to the contact have to be fully submerged in the solder or can it just kind of rest on the top of it but with a decent shiny joint?
carnagemetal, are you using flux? Put a small amount of flux on the wire and it will soak up the solder like crazy and youâll be nicely tinned.
i dont use flux, where can i get some and what does it look like?
If youâre having that much trouble (with cold joints, braid not working, unable to tin wires) it could be that your soldering iron is stuffed. My old one used to get hot, but nowhere near not enough to melt solder properly.
Just a thought.
Soldering is definitely a skill and an art that takes time to master. I have been soldering on my custom sticks for a while and even took an electronics class in college, and I still make some gnarly looking solder joints from time to time.
You basically want just enough solder to get a good connection with the wire and the contact. Having too much solder or having a messy solder joint can cause issues with short circuits or cracking of the joint. Ideally you want the solder point to look like a little round blobâŚno big spikes or splatters sticking off of it.
You can generally get flux at the electronics store. You can also get solder that has flux core already in it. In addition to using a wick to get rid of excess solder, you can also get a âsolder suckerâ which is basically a little pneumatic pump that will draw up hot solder via suction. (edit: Guess you already got one of thoseâŚshould work fine.)
how do i use flux when i get some and what does it come in?
Like others have said, get a multimeter, they are like two bucks on sale at harbor freight. Get one with a continuity beep function and you wonât even have to look at the lcd to see if you got a short.