Audio jack Tip or Sleeve?
- Thread starter jetfeeds
- Start date
jetfeeds
New member
thanks, I'm using these types of jacks so I was wanting to make sure I wasn't muddling them up
Feral Feline
Well-known member
True that! 
I remember on my 5E3 build some vendor having jacks like post #3, but the tabs didn’t match up to the others I already had in the amp chassis. Took up a lot of time trouble-shooting to figure that one out.
I remember on my 5E3 build some vendor having jacks like post #3, but the tabs didn’t match up to the others I already had in the amp chassis. Took up a lot of time trouble-shooting to figure that one out.
pcb rookie
Active member
@andare Sorry ... this might be a newbie questions ... What's the procedure to check the sleeve & tip before wiring with a DMM?
peccary
Well-known member
Continuity - there should be a little symbol on your DMM that looks kind of like a wireless signal - it'll create an audible "BEEEEEP!" when there's continuity. Touch one end of the DMM to the tip and the other to the solder points on the jack. When it beeps you've got continuity and know which is which.
pcb rookie
Active member
Great! Thanks for the explanation!
I think it’s good experience to do the multimeter check for any component the first time you use it (audio jack, power jack, stomp sw, toggle switch). It’s good learning for why things work the way they do, instead of just following the diagram.
Also, on 1/4” jacks you can pretty much see what metal connects to what.
Also, on 1/4” jacks you can pretty much see what metal connects to what.
Feral Feline
Well-known member
Further to my post above…
The jacks I put in my amp were switching jacks, for the sake of comparison in the following sad tale, kind of like having
Tip Ring Sleeve — ring being the switch, and they were dirt cheap.
These super-cheapo jacks had a different order:
Tip Sleeve Ring.
The super-cheapies were so soft that plugging in a jack would be enough to warp the jack and disrupt the switch contact — plug and unplug once or twice and the switch no longer made contact. I fixed them a few times before realising they were made of butter and would never work correctly.
So I installed less cheap jacks I had on hand, with the different order (actually the correct order common to most jacks), but I swapped the wires over to the new jacks in the same order as the old (incorrect order) jacks. So it took a while to debug, so…
USE A DMM!
I’ll be replacing the less-cheap jacks for some quality Switchcraft, Neutrik, or similar established brand…
Hard to tell at a glance the cheap crappy-jacks from the expensive high-end ones, unless you’re looking at the price tag in some cases.
So, whether you build pedals, amps, or anything on a budget, there is a quality threshold that you have to decide upon, and how much you are willing to spend; but take note — something cheap may cost you more in the long-run in terms of not just money, but also time, aggravation and mental well-being!
There’s a reason “buy once, cry once” became a thing.
The jacks I put in my amp were switching jacks, for the sake of comparison in the following sad tale, kind of like having
Tip Ring Sleeve — ring being the switch, and they were dirt cheap.
These super-cheapo jacks had a different order:
Tip Sleeve Ring.
The super-cheapies were so soft that plugging in a jack would be enough to warp the jack and disrupt the switch contact — plug and unplug once or twice and the switch no longer made contact. I fixed them a few times before realising they were made of butter and would never work correctly.
So I installed less cheap jacks I had on hand, with the different order (actually the correct order common to most jacks), but I swapped the wires over to the new jacks in the same order as the old (incorrect order) jacks. So it took a while to debug, so…
USE A DMM!
I’ll be replacing the less-cheap jacks for some quality Switchcraft, Neutrik, or similar established brand…
Hard to tell at a glance the cheap crappy-jacks from the expensive high-end ones, unless you’re looking at the price tag in some cases.
So, whether you build pedals, amps, or anything on a budget, there is a quality threshold that you have to decide upon, and how much you are willing to spend; but take note — something cheap may cost you more in the long-run in terms of not just money, but also time, aggravation and mental well-being!
There’s a reason “buy once, cry once” became a thing.
