It's the same story over and over again. Person gets new guitar, plays it for a week and then the jack socket starts to work itself loose.
My guitars, my friends' guitars, guitars that have been in the shop a long time. It happens to them all, and no sooner have you screwed it tight again, then it begins to work it's way loose. You keep doing it, and then eventually the guitar stops working.
The thing is, the constant tightening up, and tightening up again gradually turns the socket round, and with it, the wires connected to it. Soon one of the wires has been twisted round so far, it gives and so the guitar ceases to put out a signal. Now a lot of musicians haven't the first clue about electrical wiring, so they're at a bit of a dead end. After all, it;s the music they are interested in, not the physics, but fortunately, it's actually really easy to fix, and to fix permanently at that.
First off. When you buy a new guitar, take the jack plate off. There will be a nut on either side keeping the socket fixed, but as there's no locking mechanism on the nuts, they soon work loose. To stop this, a dab of superglue, varnish, threadlock or
My guitars, my friends' guitars, guitars that have been in the shop a long time. It happens to them all, and no sooner have you screwed it tight again, then it begins to work it's way loose. You keep doing it, and then eventually the guitar stops working.
The thing is, the constant tightening up, and tightening up again gradually turns the socket round, and with it, the wires connected to it. Soon one of the wires has been twisted round so far, it gives and so the guitar ceases to put out a signal. Now a lot of musicians haven't the first clue about electrical wiring, so they're at a bit of a dead end. After all, it;s the music they are interested in, not the physics, but fortunately, it's actually really easy to fix, and to fix permanently at that.
First off. When you buy a new guitar, take the jack plate off. There will be a nut on either side keeping the socket fixed, but as there's no locking mechanism on the nuts, they soon work loose. To stop this, a dab of superglue, varnish, threadlock or
something else suitable on the edge of the inside nut will stop it moving.
It's a good idea to do it on the external nut too, but a lot of people don't bother, as they don't want it ruining the looks of their guitar, which is fair enough.
Now if there's no signal coming from the guitar, and you've been suffering from the loose socket thing for a while, it's almost a dead cert that one of the wires has come off.
I was lucky enough to be lent a beautiful guitar recently. Well I say lucky. When he handed it over he mentioned nothing on it worked, and he knew I was good with electronics, so I'm not really sure he was lending it to me out of the goodness of his heart. Anyway, after a little investigation, it turns out the wire's come off the jack socket, exactly like I've just described.
So to cut a long tale short, I pared back the loose wire, soldered it up again, and tightened everything up, along with a dab of glue. Surprise, surprise - it lives again!
About the Author:
It's a good idea to do it on the external nut too, but a lot of people don't bother, as they don't want it ruining the looks of their guitar, which is fair enough.
Now if there's no signal coming from the guitar, and you've been suffering from the loose socket thing for a while, it's almost a dead cert that one of the wires has come off.
I was lucky enough to be lent a beautiful guitar recently. Well I say lucky. When he handed it over he mentioned nothing on it worked, and he knew I was good with electronics, so I'm not really sure he was lending it to me out of the goodness of his heart. Anyway, after a little investigation, it turns out the wire's come off the jack socket, exactly like I've just described.
So to cut a long tale short, I pared back the loose wire, soldered it up again, and tightened everything up, along with a dab of glue. Surprise, surprise - it lives again!
About the Author:
M Withers is author of the electric guitar blog. He is a keen enthusiast and has been playing the electric guitar for over 25 years.