On 4/20/2010 1:05 PM, Gareth Magennis wrote:
In my experience... "Bad jacks" in modern gear usually turns out to
be broken solders on printed circuit board mounted jacks. "They don't
make 'em like they used to."



They also don't cost anything like they used to. Which is the point.
Why make something 5 times the price and lasts 10 years when it will be
obsolete after one?

It shouldn't be that much more to build in some quality, especially when
most stuff is built offshore with CHEAP labor. But I'm willing to pay a
little extra for quality AND domestic production (I'm in the U.S.).

One problem is that most consumers don't know the difference between
flying leads and a circuit board. And we're being trained to accept
"land fill waiting to happen." But musicians are learning!

With gear that sees gigs, with amps and effects that you intend to
keep... I think there's a big advantage to chassis mounted jacks,
switches and pots (compared to PCB mounted). Most of my gear has them,
and most of my gear is over 10 years old (because I'm not a huge fan of
digital effects).

I've never been inside of one of these
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BnLEgCC45Is/SB...Q/IMG_9974.jpg
but if I owned one, I'd make sure that the nuts on the jacks were kept
tight. There could be little mini boards with the jacks soldered to
them. If there was, they'd get tossed when I had to open it up.

How would you like to be in the middle of a gig, and have somebody kick
a cable and break the solder? I'm not saying that it's built like that,
but if so -- BAD DESIGN.

OP may have assumed that the jack was bad, when it was really just a
solder on a board. If he soldered in a new jack, he may be doomed to
the same experience (especially if the nuts aren't kept tight).


This is the modern world.

I'm one that values quality over "land fill waiting to happen." I hope
that's the next "modern world."