Members Etienne Rambert Posted September 27, 2015 Members Share Posted September 27, 2015 Not sure if I should post this here or in electrics. It's my big arch-top. I've been slamming my guitar cord tip too forcefully into the jack apparently.Now I've got some cracks. The reason I used such force is the tip was metal and shocking me. So I wrapped it in electrical tape.The tape made the tip larger. Thus the need for a little extra push w/the heel of my hand, It's still fine. Nothing is in danger of caving in. But this area needs to be strengthened. the only two points of access are the rather fat right 'F' hole on the lower bout and the jack itself. Can it be reinforced w/o removing the top? I guess I could live with it if he sawed in there, reinforced it and did a seamless job reinforcing it. An older pic of the part in question...when it had a brass tailpiece, maybe 7 years ago. Love this guitar BTW, in case I never mentioned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 27, 2015 Members Share Posted September 27, 2015 I'm guessing that there is little or no reinforcement at the jack hole. Whether you can access it thru the f hole only you can decide but that is the normal approach (that is a big problem with most archtops or semi solid bodies - I'm building an ES-335 clone right now and chose to do the wiring while the back was still off the guitar) Anyway, I have had good luck reinforcing curved cracked areas with surgical gauze tape. I would loosen the jack and poke it back inside, then try to put one or two layers of tape over the hole from the inside. Next get a long pipette and soak the tape with thin super glue. Finally drill the hole thru the tape and reinstall the jack. You might want to put a large flat washer on each side to distribute the pressure better - I would try to curve the washers to fit the curve of the bout. Here is a picture of an archtop with gauze tape reinforcing the f-holes (which is a common place for the top to crack. Same idea to reinforce your jack hole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted September 27, 2015 Members Share Posted September 27, 2015 Wick in some fast CA and call it a day. The repair will outlive you and probably the bequeathed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Please do me a favor and find out what isn't grounded properly and is causing you to get shocked - deal with that too, along with the jack issue. You should never have to resort to putting electrical tape on your plugs to prevent you from getting shocked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted September 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 I'm guessing that there is little or no reinforcement at the jack hole. Whether you can access it thru the f hole only you can decide but that is the normal approach (that is a big problem with most archtops or semi solid bodies - I'm building an ES-335 clone right now and chose to do the wiring while the back was still off the guitar) Anyway, I have had good luck reinforcing curved cracked areas with surgical gauze tape. I would loosen the jack and poke it back inside, then try to put one or two layers of tape over the hole from the inside. Next get a long pipette and soak the tape with thin super glue. Finally drill the hole thru the tape and reinstall the jack. You might want to put a large flat washer on each side to distribute the pressure better - I would try to curve the washers to fit the curve of the bout. Here is a picture of an archtop with gauze tape reinforcing the f-holes (which is a common place for the top to crack. Same idea to reinforce your jack hole That's what I'm looking for Freeman, strong and invisible. My luthier didn't think it was much of a problem. I cut him some slack on this one. I love the guitar and it's the first arch-top he ever built. Phil I don't think the electricity problem can be solved. Every place I've lived in this town has the same problem. I've spread electrical tape over most of my pieces of fear. The worst device is the mixer.Yamaha MG16/FX. It shocks every time you touch metal on it. I've got most of it covered in yellow w/electrical tape. I dunno - I dinno what 'wick in some fast CA' means. A friend told me to epoxy the hell out of the area and it will last 100 years. I'll see what my luthier does w/it. I cut the luthier some slack. I absolutely love this guitar and it was the first arch-top he'd ever built. I use it on most of my recordings - plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Get yourself an outlet tester and start at the wall jacks to test your AC power. Make sure you use a ground on all grounded plugs. Avoid putting some gear on one wall outlet and other gear on another. That's what causes ground loops and shocks to occur. The house wiring going back to your breaker box can have different resistances on the ground. This causes a difference in potential between one grounded piece of equipment and another and the result is, AC will seek the shortest path to ground. If you amp for example has a shorter path then your mic does, the mic shocks you trying to get to that shorter ground path through your body. Bare cement floors and bare feet are even worse because anything you touch can cause a shock because you become the best conductor to ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Incidentally it's a output jack. Anyway that ground problem can be a lethal hazard. Definitely get it trouble shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 That's what I'm looking for Freeman, strong and invisible. My luthier didn't think it was much of a problem. I cut him some slack on this one. I love the guitar and it's the first arch-top he ever built. I dunno - I dinno what 'wick in some fast CA' means. A friend told me to epoxy the hell out of the area and it will last 100 years. I'll see what my luthier does w/it. I cut the luthier some slack. I absolutely love this guitar and it was the first arch-top he'd ever built. I use it on most of my recordings - plugged in. Personally I think any crack should be reinforced, particularly if it gets side to side pressure like an output jack would. The surgical tape works really well - you just have to figure out how to hold it and get it in the right position. I would then flood it with some thin CA (superglue) from the inside - that will flow out into the cracks in the wood. It is pretty common to put a tiny bead of thin super glue (StewMac number 10 or equivalent) into cracks - it will "wick" into the crack and be almost invisible. Often that will seal the crack just fine - I'm just kind of anal about reinforcement. Keep the epoxy away from this - you'll just make a mess. What all the others have said about the shock hazard on your amp - you've got a ground problem, get it fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 30, 2015 Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 If your amp does not have a 3 prong plug have one installed ASAP My tech flat out insisted on putting one on my 60's vintage tube ampIt would be a shame to keep messing up such a nice guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted September 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2015 Good advice every one. thanks for the helpful thoughts. Get yourself an outlet tester and start at the wall jacks to test your AC power. Make sure you use a ground on all grounded plugs. Avoid putting some gear on one wall outlet and other gear on another. That's what causes ground loops and shocks to occur. The house wiring going back to your breaker box can have different resistances on the ground. This causes a difference in potential between one grounded piece of equipment and another and the result is, AC will seek the shortest path to ground. If you amp for example has a shorter path then your mic does, the mic shocks you trying to get to that shorter ground path through your body. Bare cement floors and bare feet are even worse because anything you touch can cause a shock because you become the best conductor to ground After reading this, I traced all the wires to their sources. All of my gear, via all the power strips are powered through one single wall outlet. I did not plan that. But that's how it worked out. That's useful info for the future. I may buy a new mixer. I think it's the problem.But I will definitely meter the wall outlets. Every apartment I have lived in over here has this same problem. Electric boxes that shocked, I wrapped in electrical tape. Interesting, Lexicon and JoeMeek boxes don't shock. My FMR RNLA carried quite a zap until I taped the box top and sides. I had to tape the Presonus Audiobox too. But the mixer is my worst offender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 1, 2015 Members Share Posted November 1, 2015 I don't know if you got your jack repaired but I had a similar one this weekend http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-41/31628404-gretsch-output-jack-repair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted November 3, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 3, 2015 I don't know if you got your jack repaired but I had a similar one this weekend http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...ut-jack-repair Interesting. Some players use a lot of force slamming that guitar cable into the jack. And a lot of those jacks aren't built for it. Someone's idea of inserting a Les Paul's assembly into it had me intrigued. Yes Freeman it's been repaired. Glue and wood . I'll be using it electric more now. So I'm using rubber-tipped cable.And I am still looking for a way to make the jack stronger. I'm actually considering sawing out that area, putting in an electric guitar assembly and gluing it back up.Then I read your thread. A metal plate might be the way to go. Maybe both. This guitar was used mainly acoustic for 3-4 years. But now I use it plugged in all the time. Of all the guitars I own, this one gets recorded more than the rest put together. That KA Jazz humbucker has a warm, lovely tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 3, 2015 Members Share Posted November 3, 2015 In my humble opinion simply drilling a hole through the side of a guitar, be it yours or the Gretsch, and installing the jack is a pretty poor idea. The side is weak, particularly something like yours, the Gretsch is at least laminated. However that is a really vulnerable location - if you play sitting down the plug can hit your chair or leg, if you move around much its pretty easy to hit the plug. At least use a right angle plug. The owner claims he was "just pushing it in" - I think something else happened but I don't want to call B.S. I just fixed it and tried to make it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted November 10, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 10, 2015 The guitar has my name on the headstock. So I don't even mind sawing a rectangular hole there and putting a better assembly inside. Binh repaired it quickly. He did a good job, On the back, a crack is barely visible. that's all. The others are not visible. I'm gonna buy a black steel plate too.-:------ Katopp FWIW, I'm up for ordering another. Maple, not Mahogany, blonde, not sunburst. Same dimensions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted November 11, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 11, 2015 I think a lot of players have a tendency to to really slam the plug into that jack. I've learned my lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted November 11, 2015 Members Share Posted November 11, 2015 I think you have a SERIOUS electrical issue. Being shocked by one piece of equipment is bad enough to warrant getting rid of it. By ALL, that's just insane. Unplug EVERYTHING, and start over, testing it one piece at a time. I have had outlets go bad, and by everything being on one outlet, that may be the issue. But if it shocks you, what kind of electrical damage is it doing to the equipment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.