Thought I would post some pics/process from today’s jacktastic jack replacement.
I’m going to post this as a thread as I go along.
Step 1 the open
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Here’s the existing jack. There is still some soldier gunk from when I pulled off the OEM wires. I’m hoping that either that gunk and the clips or dirt inside the Jack is the issue.
I had 1 leftover black wire coming from the bass when I made the pu switch. Everything had been working fine for years before the jack issue and I forget what the wire was for so I’m just going to leave it.
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Swapped out the jack. Had to pinch the clips a little so they hold.
Only change with the new jack is a little more noise than before.
I’m going to check the docs from my pickups to see if I can figure that extra wire out
I would think my ground would have been working before if there wasn’t any noise.
Yes I double checked my battery.
I’m going to check:
-loose connections to pu
- what that wire is for
- hoping I don’t need to re-position the ground under the new bridge It was working fine for a bit though
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I got it! Turns out the long lead of the jack should have been connected to the black wire rather than the white. I swapped them out and it works! I’m still not sure how it failed originally. I thought I only moved it after it stopped working.
Here’s a snap of the jack but I’m not sure you can see anything.
Has anyone done 18v for more headroom? I could probably fit another battery in this cavity and I’m curious if anyone else has tried?
Soo happy I didn’t break her
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Well scratch that. It still seems like the (new) jack is fragile. If I bump the cable it seems like it has a bad connection I have a crappy Amazon cable I was hoping was the root of all of this but after trying it I’m getting the original symptoms. This shouldn’t be this hard.
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I found in the doc that if you had a single non-active pickup that you need to buy a stereo jack. (Not sure how it ever worked
The replacement I bought is 100% mono as was the one I removed I believe
The docs show 3 pins on the jack but the stereo ones have 4 pins. From what I can tell
Wondering if I should get the 4 wire and start using my ground wire again.
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Do you need more headroom? Does it sound like your pickup is pushing in contrary to popular beliefs 18v is not necessarily louder, it just doesn’t seems to crack at max.
On my basses with Delano xPure, I have the option of running 9v or 18v of power from a single 9v battery, it seems like at 18v I increase the effective volume sensitivity by 50%.
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I’m a little confused. What pickup are you using? The standard three lug barrel jack can be used as a stereo output jack or for use with an active setup that needs a battery disconnect switch.
This is one offered by Stewart MacDonald;
In the description it states: Flush-mount Output Jack
For solidbody guitar. Accepts a standard 1/4" plug, and can be wired mono or stereo.
Overall length 2". 1/2"-diameter mounting hole, and at least 7/16" wood thickness required. Chrome.
The short terminal is positive, the mid-length terminal is the “ring” (for stereo output, or for battery switching in mono wiring), and the long arm on the side is ground.
I hope this helps.
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I’m probably fine without it but I thought I’d ask. It sounds great when it works.
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Yea the one I have has 3 legs. I’m wondering if the wire clips are loose and moving around.
I ordered a stereo jack just in case but I think my next step is soldiering and not using the clips on the jack
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I agree, I would be suspect of the clips.
I like the little clips you are using to attach the wire to the jack, those are the ones I hate soldering the most so I am going to use them next time.
I have an active fretless that is a bit temperamental if the cable is jostled, I have thought about replacing it but am reluctant to on this one.
So far I can solve the problem with the cable pulled tight through the strap or using wireless.
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I’m starting to think the clips are loose and the jack may be spinning a bit I bought a new stereo jack and I’m going clipless.
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Tonight is brought to you by the letter C (for castration)
Tonight I’m snip snipping the clips and dusting off my soldering iron.
I tested the current mono jack and when a cable is in, the tip and all wires are grounding out.
The stereo jack seems to keep the tip separate when it’s in.
My plan is to soldier all leads on the stereo jack and hopefully that will be the end of my jack drama.
Tonight’s soundtrack is brought to you by Senses Fail and AFI
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Well I made the cardinal sin of not planning my escape properly. The nut was too big to get over the battery connector 
Once I re-did that connection, we were good to go.
The bass plays perfectly and I may be a little biased but I think it might even sound better than it did when it worked previously.
I also realize that I miss soldering. I’ve built a few guitar stomp boxes from kits and I miss it. I might have to see what bass kits are out there.
Moral of the story read the directions, solder your joints and plan your exit strategy.
Back to Beginner to Badass!
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If any of you geniuses are still following this one. It seems if I bump the jack a little it cracks and sometimes sticks off a little. It’s almost like this style of jack has some wiggle in it but the same cable in the ray has 0 issues.
Also even though these are emg-x pickups, compared to my stingray sub the sound is pretty soft.
I’m wondering if there is a way to test the voltage and see if what is supposed to be getting to the jack is right.
I can hear sound the battery is fine and both pickups work but it seems off.
I mean I really loved my 4 string but my Stingray Sub seems light-years better.
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Different bases can have quite different outputs. Some can be really hot, which, so I believe, is why some amps have a -15db input so you don’t get overdriven (unless you choose to!).
There will be no direct voltage to the jack, only signal which is going to be in the millivolt range, I’d guess. About all you could do in that area is put the input into an oscilloscope and compare the size of the signal from different instruments.
If you’re that concerned about the signal level then I’d ask a shop/luthier to check it.
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