tightening the cable plug - how?

[igor]

Dear all -

I have a question. On my 98 classic the guitar cable plug has gotten loose. The issue is it has part of the ribbon cable attached to it which is very fragile. What is the proper procedure for tightening the plug again? Thank you in advance - I need a hint before I break it!

[vjmanzo]

Hi @igor—you’re wise for being careful as turning that jack in an attempt to tighten it can tear the flex PCB, and, in fact, this was/is a common point of failure, unfortunately.

At the factory, they used a tool like this that @Ken Parker made:

The concept is to tighten the plastic tip on the threaded barrel of the jack without rotating the jack, and a tool like this places a small post (next to the larger center post that goes in the jack itself) into the small hole in the tip of the jack to stabilize the barrel of the jack that isn’t supposed to rotate while the tip is being tightened.

You can replicate the same functionality by carefully holding the jack in place inside of the Fly, but go slowly and make sure you don’t turn the flex PCB in a way that could cause it to tear.

#JackIssues

[igor]

Thank you very much for that, I will give this a shot. I was wondering what that little hole was in the jack cover. Thank you again.

[vjmanzo]

Happy to help, @igor! Good luck with this!

[Parker V]

Hello vjmanzo,

Is there anything that can be done if you feel that the instrument cable is a bit loose now when in the input jack? It doesn't seem to be as tight as the input jacks of my other non-Parker guitars. I'm hoping this doesn't mean I eventually need to replace my input jack. Thanks in advance!

[vjmanzo]

Hey @Parker V—is this on a Fly? The barrel-type jacks on the Fly/NiteFly don’t usually get loose in the sense that the jack could fall out of the barrel.

[Parker V]

It's on my Fly deluxe. It feels like the instrument cable should be tighter as you insert it into the Jack. It feels like it could almost fall out of the input jack on the guitar. Not quite, but you don't have to use hardly any force when pulling the cable out. Is that normal on a Pre-refined Fly deluxe?

[Big Swifty]

It's on my Fly deluxe. It feels like the instrument cable should be tighter as you insert it into the Jack. It feels like it could almost fall out of the input jack on the guitar. Not quite, but you don't have to use hardly any force when pulling the cable out. Is that normal on a Pre-refined Fly deluxe?

A little late, but...

Basically the plug is not quite going in far enough. This can happen if the jack isn't quite adjusted right, ie:
The jack fits in to the hole in the body from the inside of the guitar. There's a nut on the jack which adjusts how far the plug can slide through the hole. The round end cap is then screwed on from the outside, and locks the jack in place.
In your case, you basically just need to back the nut inside the guitar off a turn or so, which will allow the jack to push through a little further, then tighten it up again from the outside using the end cap. That should give you just a smidge of extra plug insertion room in order for it to seat firmly.

It's harder to explain, I reckon once you have a look it'll be a little clearer.
Be sure to support the jack so it doesn't spin and tear cables etc.

Cheers

B.S.

[Parker V]

Thank you so much. I will definitely try this when I get the chance. Otherwise, everything else works fine. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know this. I report how it goes once it's done.

Update: I opened the guitar up and I can see the nut you are talking about. But I'm not sure what kind of wrench I would need to get to it. There's so much in the way and it's a crazy tight space to get to the input jack nut on the inside there.

[vjmanzo]

It's definitely a tight space, @Parker V Big Swifty's advice is the way to go: try to tighten it from the end cap and hold the barrel inside the cavity in place to keep it from rotating.

[Patzag]

Yes, It's the ONLY way to go. Tightening from the inside lengthens the apparent length of the barrel and will prevent the plug from fitting snuggly.

[Parker V]

Thanks for the advice! Any idea what tool would work the best for this? Also thanks for the advice about making sure the barrel doesn't move!

[vjmanzo]

Any idea what tool would work the best for this?

FWIW—I have a student in our lab, now, making a few of the tools Ken made, but those might not be ready for a few weeks or longer.

In principle, the goal is to rotate the black cap so that it tightens along that portion of the threaded barrel. Anything that you can use to rotate the cap will do—Ken's tool has a small point that inserts into the small hole on the cap and, once it catches in that hole, rotating the entire tool to the right tightens the cap.

[Parker V]

Thanks VJ! Please keep us up to date on this tool. I'd love to get one when they are complete.

[Big Swifty]

Gotta say, IMHO, I think this is the one thing that our dear Ken didn't get quite right. I mean, it's a lovely elegant design etc, but requiring a specialist bespoke tool to undo the jack on a frigging electric guitar for chrissakes!!!





Of all things, what should be the simplest task to undertake actually requires much head-scratching and...the very well gnarled-up edge of the jack end-cap on my '94 deluxe bears witness to in-the-field repairs carried out with blunt instruments and brute force.

It will come off with a pair of multi-grips, just sayin...



But for real if you're stuck, you could try something like a thin nail punch or small screwdriver, small metal skewer even!...something that'll fit in that little hole fairly snuggly, and use a SMALL hammer or the like to GENTLY tap that thing till it begins to turn the end cap. Have someone else holding the internal parts of the jack so it doesn't turn.

Or the other thing you could do if you're a deft hand at soldering and somewhat courageous is have a go at unsoldering the ribbon from the back of the jack, which will make the whole process much simpler, but fiddling with those ribbon cables always carries the risk of damage.

Anyway, just putting ideas out there, there are ways to do this stuff, but if you haven't had much experience in playing with tools etc, well I don't reckon this would be the project to start your tinkering career off on!

Good luck!

B.S.

[vjmanzo]

Hi @Parker V and everyone—we've 3D printed a version of this tool that works and are now in the process of machining them: details in this thread.