Abstract: Tails (20) projecting from an electrical component (12) that lies on a circuit board surface, are terminated to traces on a multi-layer circuit board (14) in a manner that minimizes the disadvantages of long through hole soldering and of surface mount techniques. A blind hole is drilled and plated to form a shallow well (70). The well is filled with a soldering composition (130). A tail (20) is projected downward into the soldering composition with the extreme tip of the tail lying above the bottom of the hole, and the soldering composition is heated to solder the tail to the hole plating.