ShortScale.org

The jack on my Dano U1 was always a little loose - if I didn't thread the cable around the strap, it could just fall out. I went to the shop today and picked up a new Switchcraft stereo jack, the idea being that it would grip the plug really well. I had been playing the guitar for about 1/2 hour immediately before replacing the jack, so I think it was a pretty close comparison. I soldered it in: ground to sleeve and ring, signal to tip. Plugging it in, the tone seemed hugely improved - no little difference here, it was almost night and day.

The entire sound seems more detailed, and yet warmer. The bass is less boomy and more defined. Complex chords, especially Major 7ths, seem stronger and there's less beating dissonance. The treble is less peaky.

Initially, I thought maybe I had broken a wire off inside and disconnected the tone control or shorted the volume knob or something, but everything is intact and working perfectly. Could replacing the jack really make this big of a difference, or is it just placebo?

*sigh*

Stoners.

Mike wrote:*sigh*

Stoners.

That's not a very constructive response from someone who's one of 'the main people' at this place.


In reply to the question, sure why not - all those minor parts make some small difference, and not everyone has the ear to hear the difference. I thought about one day getting around to replacing the wiring in my Dano with high grade stuff.

*sigh*

n00bz.

seriously though for a minute......


think of all those people that pay like way too much money for leads with gold tips and special wire and all this bla bla bla shit in thier cords and then just plug them into a normal $0.25 cent switchcraft jack.

robroe wrote:seriously though for a minute......


think of all those people that pay like way too much money for leads with gold tips and special wire and all this bla bla bla shit in thier cords and then just plug them into a normal $0.25 cent switchcraft jack.

Switchcrafts are more like $2. Taiwanese jacks are the cheapos, with Neutrik in the middle.

Yaksox, I'm so desperately sorry that "as one of the main people" I disappointed you. The problem is an understanding of electronics is getting in the way.

It was something I thought about the other day, that exact same thing that Rob's talking about.

The thing I was thinking was that companies put gold plated tips on their leads, as if it's some big thing, but I've never seen of a manufacturer putting gold plated jacks on a guitar.

This led my to conclude that it's all balls.

That, and the fact that my jagmaster is wired so so horrendously badly, and still gives me awesometones. It has two pots in it that I found and don't know what they are, the jack is hanging outside the body, and has to be slid onto the lead tip when I'm playing (the lead is held in place by two duct-tape holsters, so that it's looped twice around to stop it from moving). There is a wire inside it that I had to make myself. I needed two wires, and had one, so I stripped it and took the outer sheath, and sed that as a wire, and then used the inner core as a wire. I'd forgotten how shoddy a job it was until I opened it the other day.

Still though, it sounds class.

I put switchcraft jacks on all cheapo guitars, unless they're really old. I hear the difference. The jacks Squier used for the longest time in their Chinese and Indonesian guitars are absolute trash, so are the caps and pots for that matter.

For less than $10-15 you can improve your guitar, in fact before I think about swapping out pickups in a guitar I change the electronics and usually it does the trick.

- Will it stop your guitar lead falling out?
Yes

- Will it do much more than bending the contact back would have?
Not really

- Will it give you super transparent bass boost and improve your 'tone'?
Absolutely not. It will either make the connection or not and sound exactly the same as before.

The reason people use 'higher' quality jacks is reliability not mojo points.

There is some possibility of sound improvement even if it were due to a build up of crap on the old jack point. Pots and caps certainly make a big impact on the sound, but i've always found jacks a switches a bit negligible. Still, you can pay $10 for a DiMarzio Jack and the quality difference is visible never mind audible. I'm sure 'reliability' is their aim but there must be some truth behind all these high quality products.
A particular lead may sound fine at home but get it under gig lighting and everything else and it will make you sound shit. If all this stuff is good enough for Hi-Fi enthusiasts then maybe guitarists as a breed should consider these things a little more and move forward from the 1950's a little.

Whatever the case, it doesn't fall out or crackle anymore.

It would be really nice if things transitioned to 4 or 5 pin XLR - you could have positive/negative plus ground so it would be quieter. Then you could use the extra pins to carry phantom power for pedals, preamps, a little fretboard light, etc. Ahhh, the future.

I don't expect any innovation whatsoever in nearly any part of the electric guitar for the duration of its lifespan as an instrument.

The guitar is edging closer to the violin or piano (or simply the acoustic), where conformity is praised over innovation, and there is only one "right" way to do things... Think about the fact that the most "progressive" guitarists themselves are the ones most hopelessly rooted in the 80s as well, and that gives you a prophecy of the future of the thing.

I think the biggest "innovation" will be that unique pickups/scales/bridge arrangements will be culled off

That said, a jack shouldn't make so much of a difference, but then again crappy cords clearly do (though expensive cords oddly don't).

if the other one was sounding bad before it broke-- you were just used to that diminished sound maybe?