Screw on Jack problems

[Joe Evans]

Hey folks,
I’ve got an old supro with the original Jack. I use one of the Switchcraft adapters. It’s worked great for 6 months. But now it’s giving me fits.

It buzzes and passes no signal. If I twist it tight, it connects and works but only as long as long as I hold it.

It’s not a simply a grounding issue like if I touch it. I have to twist it pretty hard.

I thought maybe the the center contact wasn’t touching so I put a tiny dob of solder on it hoping they’d contact. Didn’t make any difference.


Any help would be much appreciated.

Best,
Joe

[Ron Pruter]

Joe, can describe this jack better? Maybe I'm alone in this but I don't understand. Ron

[Dave Grafe]

It sounds like a bent or broken contact in the 1/4" female connector side. I'll see if I have one here to look at for a more detailed recommendation

[Jerry Overstreet]

amphenol.jpg

This is the Switchcraft adapter which uses a center contact to mate with the old Amphenol type screw on connector used on mics and instruments and adapts it to be used with a common 1/4 cable.

My guess would be, if you have confirmed the integrity of the adapter and center contact to the mating jack, double check that the jack is not loose and working it's way back inside the instrument when tightened. Otherwise, likely a poor connection within the onboard jack wiring.

[Joe Evans]

Hey folks. Sorry to be out for a few days. Yes, that’s exactly the kind of adapter I’m using, the one Jerry posted a picture of.

I do t think it’s an issue of tightening the adapter on. Got that covered. But I could see that it might be the female 1/4 inch side of the adapter. Unfortunately, it’s not built in such a way as I could access it and assess.

I suppose it’s possible that there is something going on inside the Jack in the body of the instrument. But I doubt it because I’ve read a fair bit about replacing it with a 1/4 inch Jack and have never done it because they seem very well attached. But I guess I could pop off the plate and have a look.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Yes, well we have one of those jacks on an old National and they are well dug in the guitar body and pretty much a pain. If it's tight inside the body then that may not be your issue.

I dunno, I suppose the threaded portion of the adapter might not be making good contact with the sleeve of the adapter on the negative side.

I suppose you could try another apapter but I know that's at extra expense. Hard to make any other suggestions without hands on.

[Joe Evans]

So I tried something else. If I put the adapter on finger tight and then give it a quarter turn with a pair of pliers(I know, I probably shouldn’t be doing this) it works.

But then if I remove it and try finger tight again, no go. All static no signal.

I checker throughout this that the Jack isn’t turning inside the instrument. It’s not. Quite firm.

[Donny Hinson]

Looks like the adapter you're using may be bad. The flattened appearance of the center contact (which is actually and ideally a ball of solder) tells me that that area was making good contact at one tme, because when these connectors are new, that center contact has a rounded appearance. Overtightening eventually flattens that ball, and connection is lost. So before I tried anything else, I'd get a new adapter, or try adding some solder to that center contact.

[Joe Evans]

Thanks! I’ll try that. I also already ordered a new adapter. Coming I the mail this weekend.