simple guitar jack?? Why ?

It's been done before and the market didn't respond, probably because no matter how good the "new" connector is, they still have other basses and amps and pedals with 1/4" jacks. But despite our lack of foresight, as bass players we are still more forward thinking than guitar players, where 90% of the market is for products designed before 1970. At least we adopted the Speakon connector.

The truth is we do have locking 1/4" jacks but it's really a solution in search of a problem. Having a plug accidentally pull out from time to time prevents more serious damage that could happen when all sorts of stress is put on one small part.

 

There's plenty of guitars running their original Switchcraft 1/4 jack sockets from the 50's 60's.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

 

1. Cost. 1/4" phone jacks are cheap. Making a dozen guitars/basses a year removes economies of scale. But Fender, Ibanez, Gibson, etc. make THOUSANDS of guitars and basses per month. If they can shave a few bucks each from the cost, times hundreds of thousands of units, it adds up. Never mind that it would take retooling factories to drill different holes.

2. Simplicity. Phone jacks have relative few parts. There's not much to break.

3. Reliability. I had a locking jack on several basses over the years. I had to replace them several times. My old standard 1/4" jacks have rarely let me down.

4. For me, bulk. I use 90° plugs on all of my cables to keep them out of the way. XLR plugs are more bulky. Honestly, I'm wondering why some haven't gone to 1/8" plugs.

 

they're big and clumsy and cost more and and weight more and require people to get adapters or buy xlr cables. personally, as one who has been on stages that turned into mosh pits and have played out on the floor in the pit, i'd rather not be that attached to the guitar. i've had my 1/4" plugs pulled out by stage divers and have had my pedals stampeded on. i remained intact while the other stuff took flight with no harm to the guitar.

 

I must have been playing on the wrong kind of stages; I missed all that fun!

 

hardcore punk and death metal. stuff happens.

 

I'm with these guys: The benefits of a more solid connection are probably outweighed by the potentially catastrophic costs.

Besides, it seems to me that simply looping the instrument cable through the end of your strap is adequate to prevent most accidental disconnects (e.g., from stepping on your cable).

 

Yep. If you accidentally step on your cable and yank a locked connector you could damage your wood or break the connection, causing the bass to be non-functional. That's sorta bad in a live situation.
If we're wishing, I'd wish for the guitar industry to be smarter. Why not a magnetic connector like back of a Macbook?

Or you could get a wireless kit for about what it would cost to have someone burrow in an XLR jack.

 

You never want to damage your wood.