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WHY ARE WE STILL USING 1/4" JACKS!

#221
guy n. cognito said:
Sure they are. And, honestly, you're concerned about the JACK if the cabinet falls over?????
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The speakers are screwed down well. The cab is built well. If it just falls over on the stage, yes...the jack is of concern as it's the most likely piece to be damaged.

Also, as for power...I've used all the way up to 1000W amps with 1/4" jacks and NEVER had a problem with poor connection. You can transmit a LOT of power over a small connection point (which is much bigger than the pin-size that some people suggest).
 
#222
iunno said:
Locking jacks are a pretty bad idea, because instead of unplugging, they'll just damage your instrument instead. Put the cable through your strap and you'll have no problems.
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If you put the cable through your strap, then it doesn't matter whether the jack locks or not. Any pull on the cable will go first to the strap, and then to the jack -- and the pull won't be on axis, so the plug isn't going to come out.

The only way an easy-to-unplug (for fear of damage) 1/4" jack is an advantage over a locking jack is if you do not run your cord through your strap.
 
#223
georgiagoodie said:
...After all these years electric guitars and basses are STILL using these sorry 1/4" jacks!
They suck...
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I've got a 24 year old jazz bass I bought new and it's still got the same 1/4" jack that came in it, and after thousands of times plugging and unplugging a cable in it, it's still working as well as it did the day I brought it home for the first time.

How good does something have to be before you consider it OK?
 
#225
I sincerely can't believe that there are 12 pages of people giving a rat's ass what kind of cables anyone else prefers to use. Wanna use speakons? Go right ahead. Wanna use XLR's? Be my guest. Hell, use banana plugs for all I care! But geez, dial back the intensity! Me or anyone else preferring to use 1/4" plugs affects your lives in nary a way, but to hear some of you talk, it's going to cause global war and famine. Less computer, more real life, folks!
 
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#226
Ah, Jimmy… the voice of reason. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If you are a builder of cabs, by all means use the "modern" technology. Might want to accommodate the vet user (majority on 1/4"), if you want to sell any, though. Real Life: Both; er, all three….
or, maybe a whole new standard to make everyone buy more chords? Firewire? MIDI, USB?
chord manufacturing conspiracy,
fnord!
 
#227
JimmyM said:
I sincerely can't believe that there are 12 pages of people giving a rat's ass what kind of cables anyone else prefers to use. Wanna use speakons? Go right ahead. Wanna use XLR's? Be my guest. Hell, use banana plugs for all I care! But geez, dial back the intensity! Me or anyone else preferring to use 1/4" plugs affects your lives in nary a way, but to hear some of you talk, it's going to cause global war and famine. Less computer, more real life, folks!
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Uhm, Jimmy, connectors and plugs are not cables.....

:cool:
 
#229
1958Bassman said:
RE: the bold part- rewiring a guitar won't cause the output to increase unless the controls are bypassed. The cable, jacks and plugs will do nothing for this unless the cable has enough resistance to drop the signal level. Also, what THD are you referring to? A guitar's pickups react to the string's vibrations and this produces naturally occurring harmonics. This isn't THD, it's just what happens when a metal string is made to vibrate.

If it had a preamp, that changes everything because many preamps are designed for higher gain, lower impedance than straight from a set of pickups and may have other internal adjustments.
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Controls were replaced..... Don't exactly remember the set up, but it was passive, I was many years ago....
I had a stroke at that time, that I thought was the Flu and a second one about 5 years, so the details are fuzzy at best.

It was not a XLR or anything like that, almost like a DIN connection....

I do remember that it sounded like ass, that I'll never forget!
 
#230
awilkie84 said:
The speakers are screwed down well. The cab is built well. If it just falls over on the stage, yes...the jack is of concern as it's the most likely piece to be damaged.

Also, as for power...I've used all the way up to 1000W amps with 1/4" jacks and NEVER had a problem with poor connection. You can transmit a LOT of power over a small connection point (which is much bigger than the pin-size that some people suggest).
Click to expand...

The problem with a lot of power (actually, a lot of current) passing through a small contact area is that more heat is created, which leads to several types of failure. Solder joints, metal's characteristics change, plastic melts and insulation can melt. High power/current needs to be conducted over large contacts.
 
#231
1958Bassman said:
The problem with a lot of power (actually, a lot of current) passing through a small contact area is that more heat is created, which leads to several types of failure. Solder joints, metal's characteristics change, plastic melts and insulation can melt. High power/current needs to be conducted over large contacts.
Click to expand...
Higher resistance in a speaker wire/connection also has an impact on frequency response.
 
#233
Ned Steinberger developed an ingenious solution to replace tuning keys, eliminate string twist and torsion, and make string changing a breeze. Smaller headstock, no neck dive, no bumped tuners by a flailing guitard. And no one gave a rats ass.

I haven't heard any suggestions for replacing the 1/4" jack on bass or guitar that's compelling. Even if it's compelling, the likelihood of anyone caring is practically zero.

It sounds like a mag-safe (TM by Apple Inc., all rights reserved) style connection experience coupled with a remote power capability is what is on most people's minds. If you can build that for less than $3 per connection-end and have it not suck then I'll consider investing in your start-up.
 
#234
Why don't they just shrink amplifier and loudspeaker technology until you can just have all that installed in your bass?

It can even be powered using static or whatever phenomenon Tesla was using to light up light bulbs with no wires... That way, you just pick up the bass and start playing it and everyone hears it like an acoustic instrument?.
 
#235
I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, if so I apologise.

Are we suggesting it would be better to have a balanced line from the bass? If so how would that work? The signal would need electronically balancing. That would either require an active component or a transformer.

Unblanced jacks for very versatile and easy to adapt many different electronic combinations to. I can't imagine manufacturers being happy balancing single coil pickups.
 
#237
Because psychologically it's a Freudian sexual thing. If they made a 1" wide jack that was 7 inches long it would take over and revolutionize the music industry within a few weeks. Even vintage instruments would LOSE value if the are left original and not brought up to the new standard by a skilled competent luthier.

Sadly, all we have developed are smaller 1/8" jacks and the even smaller ones than that.
 
#238
Davebass said:
I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, if so I apologise.

Are we suggesting it would be better to have a balanced line from the bass? If so how would that work? The signal would need electronically balancing. That would either require an active component or a transformer.

Unblanced jacks for very versatile and easy to adapt many different electronic combinations to. I can't imagine manufacturers being happy balancing single coil pickups.
Click to expand...
Actually you can balance pickups passively.. hot n cold baby
 

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