The Electra Forums

It was mildly shaky when I first got it. Now it works about 1.4% of the time. Is there anything special I need to know about Electra components before I buy a new jack? Anything in particular I need besides a std jack?

a standard jack should do it. jsut make sure you keep track of which wire connects to the tip and sleeve of the plug and you'll be fine.

jacks do wear out, it's not epidemic but I've found a few percent of Matsumoku guitars with defective jacks, but after 20-30 years that's not so bad.

If your 250 has active EQ (I think they all did, but I'm not certain), you need a stereo jack. It only outputs a mono signal, but the extra terminal is used to turn off the onboard electronics and save battery life.

StewMac has them...

Thanks, I was thinking a stereo jack was what I needed, but I wanted to make sure.

You're right, x189, after 25 years it's not that dissapointing that it's failed. I'll just be glad to get it up and going again.

ahhh. that'd be why I keep burning through batteries... need to keep it unplugged...

plus I need to get a new jack as well for my x-620. and pressure on the jack with side to side movements, and it pops really bad....

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I just replaced the jack on my X950, which also fixed what I thought was a microphonic pickup problem. It's the first Electra I've had a bum jack on. Good thing it's only a $5 part!

The MPC effects will definitely eat batteries. At first I thought just turning off the effect at the toggle would cut the flow, but no dice. You have to be sure to unplug at the end of each session. I'm used to having a guitar plugged in in a stand at all times, so I can just flip on the amp and play, so remembering to unplug the MPCs took a little getting used to. I try to just think of those guitars as part of my effects chain now and unplug them when I unplug the rest of the non-AC-adapted boxes.

Matthew

I just replaced a jack as well on x-620 #2. I think a bending/adjusting of the prongs would have taken care of it, but the wiring was starting to come apart too, so I put in a almost new one I had laying around from a different project...

pots were in bad need of a cleaning too. now it's really quiet... had tons of static/noise before when just turning up the volume without any input....

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yeah, bending the prongs is sometimes enough, and that's the first line of attack when the jack starts getting wonky. Sometimes that's all it is; I've gotten great prices on 'non-working' guitars that jsut needed a little prong tweak.

But what also happens is that the layers of the jack that are essentially press-riveted together, and they loosen up. the problem is with an older guitar that's had time to sit and be moist, and oxidation builds up between the layers that ought to be tightly together, and it will even go amazingly dead- if there is play between the tabs and the center tube, it's done. replacement is needed.

Well ok... I suppose if this were a 50's relic we'd be restoring the old jack, probably by tapping gently with a center punch to press the layers tight again. I guess I'm not that finicky about Uncle Matt guitars... but check in with me in 50 years, my opinion could change :)

yeah, now instead of having a jack with a Japan stamp, it's got a China stamp....

I'm gonna do the bend trick on x-620 #1 as it just has a slight pop. the one in #2, I could hold it in my hand, and wiggle the plug and watch it lose contact

lots 'o poppin'....

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Look for a switchcraft stereo jack - they cost more but are more reliable and solid than the thin chinese variety. You may have to slightly widen the hole in the metal plate the jack mounts to if it is too small (use a round file or a dremel). You need to have a lock washer too - a 3/8" type lock washer with the teeth on the inside of a "ring". It should be jack, lock washer, the mounting plate, a flat washer, and the nut - in that order. Tighten it down - don't go nuts, but you want it not to wiggle, slip, or be loose.

Wire the:

Tip -
hot / output

Switch (or stereo tip - the bent one in the middle) -
to the ground of your battery

Ring - to the ground shield wire of your output

This will short your "stereo" jack to ground when you put a mono guitar cable jack in it. That connects the ground of the battery to the ground of the guitar - essentially connecting the battery to the guitar and disconnecting it when you unplug. Cool, huh?

I just did one this morning on an x-740.


Thorny

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Thorny