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Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10137&t=47046		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  rlrhett [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 2:06 am ]
Post subject:  Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
I have to admit that guitar electronics is just not my thing. My quest has always been the best acoustic sound I can get out of a guitar. Regardless, the last few guitars I've made have had pickups in them. I used this kind of end pin jack:

http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Threaded_Endpin_Jack.html

I wired a lovely Kent Armstrong PAF on one and a Kent Armstrong Floating Humbucker on the other. I have had numerous occasions to want to unscrew the end pin jack in the final set up... OK, maybe I can't leave things alone and keep fiddling well after the final setup :D ... . The problem is that both screwing it in and unscrewing it tends to twist the wires connecting the jack to the controls. Not just a little, the thing makes about fifteen full rotations to be inserted. The hot and ground leads get twisted so much they break off the jack.

Is there some trick I don't know on installing and removing these jacks?
Author:  B. Howard [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
I insert a phillips screwdriver with a 1/4" shank into the jack and use it as a lever to hold the jack while I tighten the nut. Just don't push the screwdriver in too far or you'll bend the contacts in the jack and ruin it.
Author:  Hesh [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
Since it's threaded into the butt end the only thing that I can think of is to pre-wind the wires in the reverse direction that they wind when screwing the thing in. Screw it in and if your count was correct most or all of the twisting will be countered and gone.
Author:  fumblefinger [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 9:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
Cheapo HF pick, inserted in the jack hole, rotated until it contacts the bar that forms the contact at the tip. Hold pick to keep the jack from rotating and then tighten down the nut.

EDIT: "...Threaded end pin...". What Hesh said. Or put a connector on the end of wires long enough to plug into the mating plug from the pickup through the sound hole? Or find a nut that mates with the jack body. Drill the hole big enough to just slide the jack in and tighten the nut down.
Author:  rlrhett [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
Quick connect for the wires from the controls to the jack is an idea! That way I could disconnect the jack from the rest of the wiring harness and twist away. I'll go to my local Fry's and see what I can find.


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Author:  David Collins [ Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unscrew endpin jack without twisting wires?
Those threaded jacks should be banned. Terrible idea from the beginning.

If it's already fit for one and you're stuck with it though, one solution is to solder a 3.5mm female jack to the end of it, and then a matching male jack to the wires leading to it. This is what Rigel did on their mandolins which used a threaded inset in the end which the jack screwed in to, and it worked fairly well allowing the 3.5mm interior plug to spin as you tightened in the jack.

Now if anyone could tell me how to stop my iPhone from auto-capitalizing "jack" every time I type it, that would be great as well. :)
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