Members channel_zero Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 i'm trying to make a 1X12 cab. i've got the chassis, and speaker. all i need now is some wiring and a 1/4 inch mono phone plug input jack. the people at radioshack are imbecles who can't even discern whether i need a closed-circuit or open-circuit 1/4" input jack, or even the kind of wiring i need. all i need to know: what kind of a 1/4" input jack should i purchase? what is the red and black kind of wiring used in wiring cabs called? is it ok to use some of the thick, braided cord, copper-coloured home-theatre system wiring cables the radioshack people tried to sell me? i know there's going to be anywhere from 30-80 watts flowing from my amp into the speaker of my cab, and i don't want to have bad wiring that can't handle the high currents of a delicately textured amplified guitar sound signal. and most importantly, where should i solder the + and - wires coming from the speaker onto the 1/4" input jack? i've been trying to find a picture of this online, but to no avail, and no one has been able to tell me. even the guitar store clerks selling amps couldn't tell me, nor would they let me unscrew the back of some of their cabs to get a look. if anyone could point me in the right direction i'd really appreciate it because this is very frustrating. ______________________________________________ to make it easier, should i get this type of plug? or this type: and i was just reading on this page http://www.angela.com/catalog/guitar-amp-parts/INPUT_JACKS.html about "short circuiting" in order to reduce amplifier noise, does that mean i have to ground a wire? how should you make a ground wire if so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tommythelurker Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 You're asking questions like these and calling the clerks imbeciles in the same post??? You want the first jack and around 16 to 14 AUG speaker wire, not shielded cable. Speaker wire has two conductors side by side, not one in the center with a braided one around the outside. Just about anything they have labelled as "speaker wire" will probably do. Connect the speaker terminals to the solder lugs of the jack. It doesn't really matter which way, but people usually connect + to the tip (the little squigly thing that touches the tip of the plug) lug and - to the sleave (the threaded part of the jack) lug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trey85stang Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 You're asking questions like these and calling the clerks imbeciles in the same post???You want the first jack and around 16 to 14 AUG speaker wire, not shielded cable. Speaker wire has two conductors side by side, not one in the center with a braided one around the outside. Just about anything they have labelled as "speaker wire" will probably do.Connect the speaker terminals to the solder lugs of the jack. It doesn't really matter which way, but people usually connect + to the tip (the little squigly thing that touches the tip of the plug) lug and - to the sleave (the threaded part of the jack) lug. this guy answered all your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members channel_zero Posted April 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 You're asking questions like these and calling the clerks imbeciles in the same post???You want the first jack and around 16 to 14 AUG speaker wire, not shielded cable. Speaker wire has two conductors side by side, not one in the center with a braided one around the outside. Just about anything they have labelled as "speaker wire" will probably do.Connect the speaker terminals to the solder lugs of the jack. It doesn't really matter which way, but people usually connect + to the tip (the little squigly thing that touches the tip of the plug) lug and - to the sleave (the threaded part of the jack) lug. It's just that i'm electronically illiterate, and i'd expect more well informed people to know how it works.. anyways. thanks alot tom. you've saved me like atleast an hour of grief, and i am grateful just for carification, by sleave/treaded lug, do you mean the longer of the two non-tip lugs? i recall seeing that of the two lugs on the jack you're refering me to, one of them was longer.i had no idea you'd solder to the part that touches the tip of the plug. see, in schematic diagrams, there's no mention of something as important as that, which leaves me wondering and asking around. what application is the third lug used for, parallel wiring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tommythelurker Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 The guys at RS are usually just salespeople selling radios and junk, not informed about electrical components. The solder lugs are the things circled in red. These are what you solder to. One of them is connected to the part circled in green (the tip, not a solder lug). You do not solder to the part circled in green, I said solder to the lug that is connect to it. Schematics where never intended to be fool-proof instructions on how to build something. They're a tool used by those knowledgable in electronics. In fact there's usually quite a bit of information that is missing from them and if you don't know what you're doing..... As for the 3rd lug, it depends. In some jacks it's a switch which can be used to alter the circuit in any number of ways when something is plugged into it. One common use is in older single channel marshalls with high and low inputs - the switch inserts or bypasses the extra gain stage depending on which input you plug in to. Or the 3rd lug might be the ring of a stereo jack, just a third conductor for the cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members potaetoes Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 It's just that i'm electronically illiterate, and i'd expect more well informed people to know how it works.. anyways. thanks alot tom. you've saved me like atleast an hour of grief, and i am gratefuljust for carification, by sleave/treaded lug, do you mean the longer of the two non-tip lugs? i recall seeing that of the two lugs on the jack you're refering me to, one of them was longer.i had no idea you'd solder to the part that touches the tip of the plug. see, in schematic diagrams, there's no mention of something as important as that, which leaves me wondering and asking around. what application is the third lug used for, parallel wiring? dude. come on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members potaetoes Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 btw, radio shack jacks are absolutely horrible. find an electronics store with something better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tommythelurker Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 btw, radio shack jacks are absolutely horrible. find an electronics store with something better. OMG, it's almost impossible to get solder to stick to them, WTF is up with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvanS Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 OMG, it's almost impossible to get solder to stick to them, WTF is up with that? Hahahah.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the russ Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 dude. + -. positive negative. use quick disconnect ends for your wires attaching to the speakers, for easy speaker swapping. it's NOT that hard AT ALL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members potaetoes Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 OMG, it's almost impossible to get solder to stick to them, WTF is up with that? the main thing is they're crimped together poorly, always work loose, and eventually start to come apart. the plating is {censored}ty too, and corrodes pretty quickly. they're crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 the main thing is they're crimped together poorly, always work loose, and eventually start to come apart. the plating is {censored}ty too, and corrodes pretty quickly. they're crap.And the tip connector gets fatigued really quickly, losing its ability to spring back and create a solid connection when a plug is inserted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members channel_zero Posted April 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 btw, radio shack jacks are absolutely horrible. find an electronics store with something better.yeah, that's why i didn't make any purchases. they couldn't even explain to me which of the two jacks i needed, or how they would be used for the application which i illustrated to them clearly "from the input jack, directly connected to the speaker". nor did they sell the right wiring material used for wiring cabinet speakers. that's pathetic, for such a commercially widespread electronics sales franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members channel_zero Posted April 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 dude. + -. positive negative. use quick disconnect ends for your wires attaching to the speakers, for easy speaker swapping. it's NOT that hard AT ALL. well i'm an idiot for not being able to distinguish which unmarked shiny metal surface on the 1/4" input to best solder + - s to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 well i'm an idiot for not being able to distinguish which unmarked shiny metal surface on the 1/4" input to best solder + - s to. Its pretty basic. As you more than likely know, tip on a 1/4" plug should be + . So obviously, the connection on the jack that mates to the tip of the plug should also be + . That leaves you with one other wire and terminal. Any guesses as to what they both are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tommythelurker Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 And the tip connector gets fatigued really quickly, losing its ability to spring back and create a solid connection when a plug is inserted. I never got far enough with them to see those problems cuz I couldn't get the solder to stick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members potaetoes Posted April 28, 2007 Members Share Posted April 28, 2007 I never got far enough with them to see those problems cuz I couldn't get the solder to stick i think you have to use the crappy radio shack flux, or just wipe some poo on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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