WHY ARE WE STILL USING 1/4" JACKS!

[petrus61]

First off, I am no troll. I just wanna know how other folks think about this. Isn't that what this site is for?

Why do so may people have to personally attack OPs on this site. We are all bass players. Why all the negative energy?

Come on guys....You have NEVER had your bass/cable connection crackle and pop?
You must be living right.

Over time oxidation forms on the female jack and the cable male plug, the plug moves around a bit, the jack wears, etc., and the circuit is not as it should be.

I know about Deoxit, and have used it but....The whole 1/4" plug/jack concept is just so mid-20th century. Can't we move on to something that works better?

As far as using the stereo guitar jack on the guitar. I use them so the cable plug has another piece of metal holding it in more stable, as opposed to the just one piece of metal holding it in on the mono jacks. That's all.

Soldering Iron: $15

Solder: $6

Jack: $1.50-$3.00

Learning how to solder and never worry about this ever again?

Priceless.

 

[Thor]

I am envisoning something like this. With some engineering modifications. Not only lock the cable in, but lock in my tone. And prevent theft when I have to "drain the cable" in the men's room.

Locking cable!

 

[Kmonk]

Why do they suck? I've never really had a problem with them at all.

+1

I have been playing since 1978 and have only had to replace one 1/4 inch jack in any of my basses and never in an amp.

 

[Lowbrow]

First off, I am no troll. I just wanna know how other folks think about this. Isn't that what this site is for?

Why do so may people have to personally attack OPs on this site. We are all bass players. Why all the negative energy?

?

I read one person calling you a troll, several people saying it's a non-issue, and a few asking if you (anyone) had something better to suggest. That sounds like a 'discussion' to me. A discussion with more than one side being expressed.

Personal attack? Nah. You are the one who hollered "They SUCK!"

 

[Phalex]

I've often thought XLR's would be cool. Then you could run your preamp on 48v phantom power. No more batteries.

 

[Gaolee]

The real question is why they still make 1/4" speaker level jacks? Speakon is better. How many times have you seen people mistake speaker and instrument cables. It amazes me.

I prefer 1/4" jacks to speakon, mostly because I already have 1/4" cables and most of my old equipment uses them. I keep them sorted by color coding the velcro strap I put on all of my cables so they can be coiled. I'm not retentive about much, but cables and extension cords release my inner Fealix Unger. You can beat around my bass, but you better not tangle up my cords!

 

[dannyk]

Do what I did. A couple of decades ago I switched over to 6.35mm. I can't hear a difference.

 

[Fat Steve]

I prefer 1/4" jacks to speakon, mostly because I already have 1/4" cables and most of my old equipment uses them. I keep them sorted by color coding the velcro strap I put on all of my cables so they can be coiled. I'm not retentive about much, but cables and extension cords release my inner Fealix Unger. You can beat around my bass, but you better not tangle up my cords!

And here I thought I was the only one. Tangled cords drive me insane. Probably some PTSD from my days as a touring roadie.

 

[callofcthulhu]

First off, I am no troll. I just wanna know how other folks think about this. Isn't that what this site is for?

Why do so may people have to personally attack OPs on this site. We are all bass players. Why all the negative energy?

Come on guys....You have NEVER had your bass/cable connection crackle and pop?
You must be living right.

Over time oxidation forms on the female jack and the cable male plug, the plug moves around a bit, the jack wears, etc., and the circuit is not as it should be.

I know about Deoxit, and have used it but....The whole 1/4" plug/jack concept is just so mid-20th century. Can't we move on to something that works better?

As far as using the stereo guitar jack on the guitar. I use them so the cable plug has another piece of metal holding it in more stable, as opposed to the just one piece of metal holding it in on the mono jacks. That's all.

I get you, man.

And frankly I don't think any of you giving him a hard time can honestly tell me that you've never once in your life been trying to debug an audio situation, and ultimately found yourself looking down (or perhaps up, as the level of desperation rises) and screaming "****ING CABLES!"

I eagerly await the day when wireless really comes into its own and I'll never need to see another cable again.

 

[bassfreakah]

I try to keep my jacks and cords replaced about every year. I found the switch craft 1/4 plugs on cables fit more snug than the others monster and such. just my 2 cents tho. the barrel switch craft jacks work the best too.

 

[tubby.twins]

Since I switched my instruments (which I built myself) over to the Planet Waves gold-plated stereo jacks, I stopped having jack problems. I use them as mono for most of my basses.

They cost a bit more, but they're well-designed and they do last much longer. The gold-plated conductors also grip the cable from both sides, so there's less wiggling.

Warmoth sells them, as do other vendors.
Invalid Link Removed

 

[JimmyM]

I've got no problem with them, either for inst. or speaker. They're smaller and easier to deal with for me than speakons and XLR's and all that.

 

[squirefan]

Well, we could go back to what the original Rickenbacker 'frying pans' had...two terminals that you screw onto bare wires.

Or, hardwire everything together, but load in/out would be a challenge!

 

[BlueTalon]

Do what I did. A couple of decades ago I switched over to 6.35mm. I can't hear a difference.

That was funny!

 

[Inertialsky]

Very interesting stuff regarding the stereo jack providing a more solid connection... I may have to try this on one of my basses soon

 

[icecycle66]

The biggest thing is that the 1/4 inch jacks are standardized.

I would love if we would all start doing stuff like this


(In fact, I am going to start doing something similar in my DIY pedals)

But using the Yerasov guys as an example, even though they have an ingenious idea, they still have to include the standard jacks to sell the stuff. If you don't use both the new and the old style stuff, then people aren't going to lock themselves into your proprietary product line.

 

[1958Bassman]

For me, that would be perfectly acceptable, assuming the change from 1/4" is to something that's clearly superior.

What connector is "clearly superior" to a 1/4" plug and jack? This is the Audio Frequency range, not RF. Use an XLR if it makes you happy. Use low Z balanced wiring, but remember that the whole signal path has to be the same, if it's going to do the job it's designed for- Les Paul did this for a reason- less signal degradation over long cable runs and less noise. The jacks and cables aren't necessarily expensive and they're available all over.

 

[1958Bassman]

I remember years ago talking with some engineer type when I was working a second job at a Circuit City in the audio dept. The guy was smart as hell and I understood about 30% of what he was talking about. He had re-wired a Strat, I don't even remember what kind of cable he was using, but the output on the guitar was super high and the THD was almost non existent. I swung by his house so that he could show me how much better it sounded....

It sounded awful, like a 90's synth guitar incapable of sounding like a Strat. It was too clean, too clear, too not everything I had ever experienced up to that point a guitar should sound like....

We like the short comings of our instruments, is there better tech than 1/4... why yes there is.
Do most of us want or need it? no...
It's great that there are those who try new things and push the norm, but YOU are the exception...

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.

 

[1958Bassman]

Gibson tried XLR, if my memory is correct , on their recording Les Pauls many decades ago.

Went over like a lead balloon.

It would have worked if people had understood why they did it. The name 'Les Paul Recording Model' should have meant something, but they wanted to use it by plugging into a regular amp with 1/4" jacks and that's not the way Low Z balanced works. It was supposed to provide a super clean signal with wider frequency range, like Les Paul's rig, but that's not what people wanted.

 

[Rob22315]

I've often thought XLR's would be cool. Then you could run your preamp on 48v phantom power. No more batteries.

You can do this today with a stereo instrument cable, a wall wart, and a wiring trick inside the bass. I haven't put a battery into a pedal or any of my three active guitars in over three years. I power them all with the T-Rex R in my pedal board.