Don’t know jack
What is up with the jacks on these semi-hollowbody Epiphone guitars. When I was shopping for guitars in the stores, I often saw Epiphone Dots and Sheratons with the jack missing inside the guitar. How can that be good for sales?! And when reading in the Epi forums, I saw folks complaining of this happening to them. Does this happen on the more expensive Elite Epi’s, or other semi-hollow body guitars?
I never thought it would happen to me! I made a point of periodically hand-tightening the jack when plugging in a cable, just to be sure.
The first time it happened was a hair pulling experience, trying all kinds of implements, knitting hooks, paperclips, and finally a coat hanger, before getting it back in. Took more than 30 minutes, and countless expletives.
So, of course, I promised myself I’d be extra careful, but then it happened again! I tried some glue, but it apparently didn’t stick, and it happened again! So now I’m pretty good at getting it back in there. My time is down to about 5 minutes, requiring about 5 attempts before nailing it.
Today, I actually did it on purpose, so I could make a video to demonstrate how to get it back in there. Hopefully this might save someone an expensive trip to the repair shop. Take a look:
My plan is to replace the jack with a Switchcraft L12A 1/4” jack. The “L” in the part name stands for long bushing (3/8”) which will hopefully be a bit longer than the Epi jack. I’ll also put in a lock washer.
I’ll post the results, and a how-to here later.
Tagged with: Electronics • Epiphone Riviera P93 • Jack • Video
Filed under: Guitar
I’ve certainly seen the “jack dropped in body” problem on a wide variety of guitars in a wide variety of price points. Not enough data to tell relative frequency, though, might be less frequent in the higher-priced options. Still, you get good at putting it back in place after awhile.
Just curious: did you think of trying a lock washer on this jack – replacing the original washer with a lock washer? If so, did that help matters at all?
I mentioned using a lockwasher in a couple of the other comments above, but to be honest, I still haven’t tried it.
When I ordered the Switchcraft L12A, I also ordered a 3/8″ internal-tooth lockwasher. I’ve now wired up the Switchcraft, along with the rest of the electronics, but I still haven’t put it back into the guitar yet, so I still don’t know how it’s gonna work out. I was imagining regular washer, then lock washer, then nut. But I’m not 100% sure yet.
I’ll be putting in new pickups this week, and then reinstalling everything back into the guitar, so I’ll post an update on the lock washer in the next couple weeks…
Thanks, man! You saved my butt!
After watching your vid, I set it up on a countertop with a light shining in it and although it still probably took me 45 minutes, I was able to at least visualize how to do it, thanks to you.
I got a question for ya..
I have that same guitar and the intonation on G is horrendous, even after having it professionally set up. If you fret the G string a few frets up, like an A, it’s way off. Some people can hear it, some not so much. Coming from the acoustic guitar world, it drives me freakin’ crazy.
Have you experienced anything like this?
I did find an almost 100% solution.. I put on a heavier guague wound G string instead of the standard unwound. Made a ton of difference, but I am not sure why. Coming from acoustics, it’s not a big deal to me, but I sure would like to know if there is something else going on.
Thanks again for sharing your expertise.. and sharing it so clearly. You’re awesome!
Hey Jerry,
Glad you got your jack sorted out!
Yes, I know what you mean. The G on my Epi Riviera is the hardest to intonate.
Do you know how to adjust the intonation? It’s not hard to do yourself. Strum the string open (or play the harmonic at the 12th fret), tune it to pitch with a tuner. Then fret it at the 12th fret and strum it again, checking on the tuner. Should be exactly the same pitch. If it’s flat, you want to move the saddle forward towards the neck. If it’s sharp, you want to move saddle back towards the bottom of the guitar. Move the saddle by loosening the string a bit and turning the screw.
Now, you may find that you’ve moved the saddle all the way as far as it will go toward the back of the guitar. That’s right about where I’ve left mine. However if you need to go further, you can loosen the string all the way, unscrew the screw all the way out, then lift the saddle out and turn it around and put the screw back in. You can see on the top of the saddle that where the string rests isn’t dead center. Rotating it around will position the string rest slightly closer to the bottom of the guitar.
If you still can’t get your intonation where you need it, you could replace the bridge with a nashville style tune-o-matic, which has more intonation range. I’ll be replacing my bridge with a roller, and will be covering that in an upcoming video…
Hope this helps!
John
Thanks for posting this. Saved me some time and money. I recommend using a pair of Kelly foreceps instead of needle nose pliers. The foreceps allow you to lock the blades in place so they act like clamps. Gives you another free hand.
i had a guy do this for me at guitarcenter. He was cursing the whole time and gave it back with screwed up electronics and the jack basically held in with hot glue
@HiDantheBear – thanks for nothing GC! since i replaced the washer with a lock washer, I haven’t lost the jack once. i recommend it!
you forgot 2 say FLASHLIGHT X)
@MxoscarxT – good point
how much would this cost to get repaired in a local music store? please reply!!!
@TnTMusic64 – totally depends on the store, the guitar technician, the area you live, etc. could be $25, could be $100. fix it yourself and feel good about saving the money
Why don’t semi hollows just have a plate in the back in case this happens in the first place?
@RockSoilder1 – partially aesthetics, and partially because it could significantly alter the resonant characteristics of the cavity. you could also ask why acoustic guitars don’t have an access plate bolted on the back, for easier access to internal jack, pickup and bracing, etc. for the acoustic, the answer is obvious that it would ruin the sound. for the semi-hollow electric, it may be less disastrous, but i suppose the reasoning is the same.
I panicked when this happened to my P93 Riviera. You sure saved my wazoo and a trip to the guitar shop (I’m new at working on these). Instead of using a coat hangar, I used a more flexible coated 16-gauge wire. It was easier to fish out the jack and all I had to do when I was complete was gently pull on the wire to straighten out the bend a pull it through the jack. I definitely followed your advice put a couple drops of CA glue on the threads. Thanks again!
Correction: I used 20-GUAGE coated wire.
Hi Dave,
Good suggestion. The coat hanger is a bit unwieldy- but it’s something that typically everyone has in their closet
Since I installed that tooth washer, the jack hasn’t budged. Hope yours stays tight now!
Really, such a ridiculous deficiency- I often see brand new Epi archtops hanging on the wall at Guitar Center with their jacks missing inside the guitar. Why doesn’t Epiphone address the issue at the factory, as they know the problem will affect nearly every single customer!? Are they simply not paying attention?
Cheers,
John
+ magnet?
FUCK that’s way harder than i expected. i was expecting something that can be logically expected to be fixed, not this torture. I LOL when you dropped the jack LOL!L LKJ!LKJL!KJ
Has anyone ever told you how much you sound like Bruce Campbell? =3
@UntouchableStone – no, that’s definitely a first. Now I just need the chin!
Thanks very much, man! (:
THAT happened to me today!! So, i spent an hour shaking my guitar upside down till i could pull it back out with a Q-tip…
I found a 73 Silvertone in the back of an antique store that needs some restoring and TLC… this my first time in replacing pots, knobs and jacks… your tutorial was instrumental… (pun intended)
@MrStargazer1701a – glad to hear it. enjoy that guitar!
You might want to use some Loctite on the threads. It’s supposed to secure the nut against vibrations but still be removable for maintenance and repair. I use it on my car all the time.
@Hikikomori013 – loctite is a great idea. So far, the lock-washer has worked perfectly for me.
thanks a bunch man. i’ve an epi sheraton 2. but then i discovered three picks ive mysterously lost over the last three years… i had the bright idea to use gum as an adhesive. bad idea. now the jack has s bit of gum stuck on the inside. just a bit. is this gonna be a problem?
@Keanu034 – gum would not be my first choice.
Gum on the inside of the jack could conceivably interfere with your signal connection, so I’d think about trying to clean that out with some solvent.
sigh…. Happened tonight. Suck if that happened during a gig.
@DeofolLock – no kidding! I used a lock washer and it hasn’t happened since.
Ah, seriously it worked. I didn’t have a coat hanger but a good paper clip works too. Thanks dude…You’re a life saver. And a spot of super glue too.
@1958bytor – super glue can be pretty permanent- but if you just used a tiny bit, should be easy enough to break. I’ve had great luck with an inner-tooth lock washer.
@johnplanetz I used just a tiny bit. there is not much room for the nut to go on. Maybe a thinner washer will work better. I was so glad to find this on youtube. Thanks Much John.
Jim
NO to superglue! YES to Loctite! And I think I’ll just tighten the jack on my Sheraton on a regular basis.
thank you so much for providing the help in this incredibly informative video. the jack in my semi-hollow body guitar fall in and i was actually going to take it in. thank god for the internet and for helpful people like yourself.
this happen to me but i don’t have a semi-hollow guitar the only problem is i lust the washer and the nut i can’t find them went to the hardware store and they don’t have the thin nut you need for the jack idk where to buy any :/
See stewmac, allparts, guitarpartsresource, etc. More general electronics sources like mouser and digikey should have them too.
http://www.allparts.com/Nuts-and-Washers-s/24.htm
can you post a video on how to tighten the guitar knobs on that same guitar please? i have that same one.
The knobs are loose on the pot shafts? Or the pots are loose on the body?
If the pots are loose, you need to remove the gold hat knobs (wrap a cloth around them and pull to get more torque). Then use a wrench to tighten down the nut on the pot.
If the hat knob are loose on the pot shafts, you could try spreading the knurled split pot shaft with some pliers or a screwdriver so they exert more outward pressure on the knob. Or wrap some tape around the pot shaft to make them tighter.
The pots are loose. Way loose to the point that when I turn the knobs the pot turns too
Ok, you just need to pull of the hat knobs, as I described, and tighten down the nuts onto the body using a crescent wrench. Careful when tightening that you’re not rotating the entire pot, as you may twist the wires internally and cause them to break.
After the pots are tightened down, you just press them knobs back onto the pot shafts.
Consider adding a lock washer between the nut and the body to keep them tight.
Fantastic; this happened to me today and following your advice, I fixed it in 5 minutes. Thank you so much.
Just happen for me today, haha..
Just happened to my Epi dot a few minutes ago, thanks so much for making this video!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
maybe a little masking on guitar body to prevent damage
always a good idea! I usually use old baby blankets
I used a magnet to find the jack in the guitar and it worked. Can a magnet damage the jack?
No, don’t worry about it. Using a magnet is a fine idea.
LOL….I’ve worked on enough hollow body guitars to fully endorse the “endless amount of patience.” Thanks.
Thanks I had no idea how to solve this until I saw your video.
OMG I have the exact same guitar, you saved my life man! thanks