Infinity Guitar Works
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Electrics
    • All
    • Miscellaneous
    • Sustainiac Stealth Pro
    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
    Fender Greasebucket circuit

    Fender Greasebucket Circuit

    TBX circuit fitted

    Fender TBX Control

    IMG_2586

    Two Tone Tele Wiring

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    Sustainiac Aux Boards

    What are Sustainiac Aux Boards?

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro

    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
    • Miscellaneous
  • Hardware
    Straplock attached

    Fitting Dunlop Straplocks

    Upgrading to Locking Tuners

    Upgrading to Locking Tuners

  • Setup and Care
    Telecaster fretboard

    Guitar Intonation

    setups pic2

    Setting up Your Guitar

    Workshop 2

    Factory setup verses Pro setup

  • Tips and Tricks
    • All
    • Artists and Innovators
    George Fullerton

    George Fullerton

    Fender Greasebucket circuit

    Fender Greasebucket Circuit

    TBX circuit fitted

    Fender TBX Control

    sth lover banner

    Seth Lover

    IMG_2586

    Two Tone Tele Wiring

    Alan Hoover

    Alan Hoover

    _109719700_jerrydonahueatcropredyfestivalinuk

    Jerry Donahue

    out of phase tele

    The Bill Lawrence half-out-of-phase Telecaster mod

No Result
View All Result
  • Electrics
    • All
    • Miscellaneous
    • Sustainiac Stealth Pro
    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
    Fender Greasebucket circuit

    Fender Greasebucket Circuit

    TBX circuit fitted

    Fender TBX Control

    IMG_2586

    Two Tone Tele Wiring

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    Sustainiac Aux Boards

    What are Sustainiac Aux Boards?

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro

    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
    • Miscellaneous
  • Hardware
    Straplock attached

    Fitting Dunlop Straplocks

    Upgrading to Locking Tuners

    Upgrading to Locking Tuners

  • Setup and Care
    Telecaster fretboard

    Guitar Intonation

    setups pic2

    Setting up Your Guitar

    Workshop 2

    Factory setup verses Pro setup

  • Tips and Tricks
    • All
    • Artists and Innovators
    George Fullerton

    George Fullerton

    Fender Greasebucket circuit

    Fender Greasebucket Circuit

    TBX circuit fitted

    Fender TBX Control

    sth lover banner

    Seth Lover

    IMG_2586

    Two Tone Tele Wiring

    Alan Hoover

    Alan Hoover

    _109719700_jerrydonahueatcropredyfestivalinuk

    Jerry Donahue

    out of phase tele

    The Bill Lawrence half-out-of-phase Telecaster mod

No Result
View All Result
Infinity Guitar Works
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Electrics
Switchcraft mono jack

Jack Sockets

Paul Jones by Paul Jones
March 22, 2022
in Electrics, Miscellaneous
0
336
SHARES
2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

There are a few different jack sockets on the market that all do similar things, but slightly different ways. We’ll start by looking at the two main categories; mono and stereo.

Mono Jack Socket

A mono jack is what you will find in the vast majority of guitars. They have two connective parts. The tip connects to the very end of an input plug and connects all of your instrument’s positive, or ‘hot’ output to your amp. The other part of the jack is the ground. This is a small metal tube that the input lead sides through. When the lead is firmly connected to the jack, the outer part of the plug’s connector is touching this tube. This is the point where all your grounding a shielding connect out of your instrument. 

Switchcraft mono jack

Stereo Jack Socket

Switchcraft stereo jack

The other type of jack socket is a Stereo jack. This works in exactly the same way but with the addition of another metal ring. The ring is generally used as a switch to complete the ground side of an active circuit. The negative side of a 9V battery is usually connected to the ring. This circuit is only activated when the input lead is inserted. 

Each part of the jack is isolated from the other, so there is only a electrical connection made when the input lead is inserted. 

Apart from the securing nut coming loose, the most usual problem that happens with a jack is that the hot tip is not making a good connection to the lead. When playing the guitar, you can sometimes move the lead and totally kill the signal from your guitar. This could be where the hot tip looses connection with the end of the lead.

The hot tip is a piece of spring steel, so you can easily bend it over slightly to make a stronger connection with the end of the lead. This is by no means a complete fix for the problem, but you will get a bit more life out of the jack if needed. You may also find that the contact point of the tip is a place where corrosion will build up. A thin file or some 600grit abrasive paper will clean that up very quickly.

bending the jack tip

Barrel Jacks

The next type of socket is the barrel jack. These are very common on guitars like the Ibanez RG and JEM. The barrel jack comes in both mono and stereo, although a lot of the time the stereo version is fitted. 

The distinguishing factor is the solder lugs on the end of the jack. The stereo jack has three lugs while the mono only has two.

barrel-mono
barrel-stereo

The long threaded shaft of the barrel jack also helps with eliminating hum. Inside the barrel is a set of copper alloy springs that apply even pressure to the ground side of the jack plug when inserted. This gives a much better ground connection that the metal ring of the open jacks described above.

Other Jack Variations

Endpin Jacks

If you work on acoustic preamps and pickups, chases are that you will come across and Endpin Jack. This jack is the same design as the barrel jack. The main difference is with the way the jack is secured to the guitar. With the Endpin jack, the nut fits to the outside of the guitar and is covered by a second nut that doubles as a strap button. 

Barrel Jack - endpin

9 Pin Jacks

The 9-pin jack has two isolated sides to it, allowing for stereo output, plus battery switching, for when you would like to combine electric and acoustic guitar pickups. If you wanted to use Fishman’s Powerchip for example, you can use the 9 pin jack to add a passive Powerbridge to a guitar with active magnetic pickups.

3774-1-2000

Switched (or Shorting) Jacks

Same as open jacks, just with a switch added between the hot tip and ground terminals. Then the jack plug is removed, the pressure on the hot tip is released and the tip moves back to its resting position. When it does this it makes connect with the other half of the switch. This shorts the connection and massively reduces hum. Imagine the noises you get when you connect a jack from your amplifier into your guitar. those crackling noises are almost eliminated. 

50708-2-1000

Switched or Shorting jack are normally found in amps rather than guitars as a safety feature. When not in use, the allow any live signal, which could potentially be many hundreds of volts, to be sent straight to ground. Protecting both you as the player and your amplifier from damage.

Tags: 9 pin jackbarrel jackendpin jackjack socketopen jackswitches jack
Previous Post

Upgrading to Locking Tuners

Next Post

Coil Split verses Coil Tap

Paul Jones

Paul Jones

Next Post
78MODEL2__95102.1367676828.1280.1280

Coil Split verses Coil Tap

les-paul-tips-wrapover-bridge-tailpiece@1400x1050

Top Wrapping

Workshop 2

Factory setup verses Pro setup

Popular Post

  • Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    Sustainiac Stealth Pro FAQs

    459 shares
    Share 184 Tweet 115
  • The Bill Lawrence half-out-of-phase Telecaster mod

    421 shares
    Share 168 Tweet 105
  • Fender TBX Control

    431 shares
    Share 172 Tweet 108

Follow Our Page

Like Our Instagram

  • This month I
  • Just uploaded a new post to our Artists and Innovators section about the late George Fullerton. A bit of an unsung hero of the guitar design world, but an undeniable massive contributor once you see the list of his designs.
  • It
  • It’s been 5 years since I did a big repair job on this beast. Still trying to get my head around all the clever things is can do. I feel a blog post about synth guitars and MIDI is needed….
  • That moment when you take a very simple photo and you’re actually quite proud of yourself 😎
  • ... think I’m finally getting to grips with this CAD stuff!
  • First prototype boards ready for etching! #newproduct #prototype
  • Another day, another big bag of components! Time to start getting these #prototype boards made up! #infinitydrive #testing
  • All the parts have arrived. Time to build the first prototype driver/pickup. #winding #pickups #prototype #infinitydrive
ADVERTISEMENT

Follow Us

  • This month I
  • Just uploaded a new post to our Artists and Innovators section about the late George Fullerton. A bit of an unsung hero of the guitar design world, but an undeniable massive contributor once you see the list of his designs.
  • It
  • It’s been 5 years since I did a big repair job on this beast. Still trying to get my head around all the clever things is can do. I feel a blog post about synth guitars and MIDI is needed….
  • That moment when you take a very simple photo and you’re actually quite proud of yourself 😎
Facebook Twitter Instagram

About Us

Infinity Guitar Works
Read more about us, where we came from and why we set up this site

Category

  • Electrics
    • Miscellaneous
    • Sustainiac Stealth Pro
    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
  • Hardware
  • Setup and Care
  • Tips and Tricks
    • Artists and Innovators

Important Information

Privacy Policy
Support the site and buy us a coffee

Buy Me a Coffee

Ezoic

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Electrics
    • Switches
    • Wiring Schematics
    • Miscellaneous
  • Hardware
  • Setup and Care
  • Tips and Tricks

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.