Lifetime of the jack on bass guitars????

[jcalo]

I recently had to replace the jack on my bass guitar i.e. 2007Pensa J-4 custom and was wondering how long they last given the frequency of plugging and unplugging. Is it related to this specifically or are we dealing with corrosion. If so is there anything that I can do to limit the amount of corrosion;Possibly cleaning the end of my cable with contact cleaner or other method?

[funnyfingers]

The jack in my bass is 30 years old. Potentiometers should go bad before the jacks. Same thing goes for jacks in amps, which are similar.

[zfunkman]

Originally Posted by jcalo

I recently had to replace the jack on my bass guitar i.e. 2007Pensa J-4 custom and was wondering how long they last given the frequency of plugging and unplugging. Is it related to this specifically or are we dealing with corrosion. If so is there anything that I can do to limit the amount of corrosion;Possibly cleaning the end of my cable with contact cleaner or other method?

The jack on my 98 Mod Q5 is still in great working order and has been well used.

[jcalo]

I to have an old 1979 Yamaha BB-1200 and have never repaced the jack. It doesn't get played as much anymore however, there was a time for a span of 25 + years that I did use that bass. What gives here?

[eukatheude]

I changed the jack last year on my 2008 spector euro, it still worked bu didn't hold the jack very tight and so caused some amp buzz if i moved a round a lot, though it must be said that i've beat up that bass a bit.

[blindrabbit]

I've never had a jack fail. My guitarist buddy just had the jack fail though on his 1989 Squier Strat.

[line6man]

Depends on the type of jack you have.

Open-frame panel-mount jacks were designed to handle heavy abuse, as they were originally used in telephone switchboards, where an operator plugged cables in all day. If they start to wear, you simply bend the prong in until it makes good contact again. These type of jacks last decades.

Plastic and PCB mount style jacks are cheap and tend not to last long. IMHO, they have no place being used on a bass.

Barrel jacks are not as reliable as open-frame panel-mounts, and tend to wear out every few years.

[jmattbassplaya]

IME, using Monster or Planet Waves cables tends to kill jacks faster than any other cable I've used. They always seem to fit more snug in a jack than other cables I have played with.

[Mykk]

I have to ask, how often do you step on your cable? (Rather, a cable not looped through the strap)

[jcalo]

I'm honestly not sure what type jack the service tech relpaced it with. I'll have to speak with him to see if he did ,in fact, replace it with a barrel jack. Thanks for the information. I was not aware of that.

[jcalo]

At least for the monster cables,I had used them in the past but not on my Pensa. They actually have a wider dimension to the jack end itself. I had it measured and realized that it could possibly create problems.
I never step on my cord and will always loop it through the strap.

[Cadfael]

Depends on jack quality!!!

I love Squier basses. Great quality (for the price)!
But the first thing I do is replace the "funny jack" to a switchcraft jack.
Connections are always the weakest point.

The "nose" (HOT connector) of a jack should look like "P" and not like "7" ...