Ric 360 Rick-O-Sound jack acting up ...

Modern years of Rickenbacker Guitars from 1984 to the present

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maxwell
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Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:14 pm

Re: Ric 360 Rick-O-Sound jack acting up ...

Post by maxwell »

Interesting post, Titanium. Well, a couple of you guys will likely find this rather humorous: There are mono jacks, and then there are mono jacks...

Yesterday I finally received the mono Switchcraft jack I ordered a couple of weeks ago (out of stock). It's what I expected. While I read Titanium's post (directly above) a couple of days ago, I only re-read it and studied the schematic today. While the schematic isn't intended to be a mechanical representation of circuitry, there was enough there for me to realize that the RIC mono jack was no ordinary mono jack. I found a couple of photos of the Rick O' Sound (ROS) jack:

http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/CONNEC ... p_669.html

http://www.the-music-connection.com/ricpart.htm (a link for the photo itself was invalid; jack is 4/5 down the page) They describe it as a "switched mono" jack; good.

The photo from The Music Connection provides a better side view of the jack that lends insight to how this jack works.

I had started last night, while watching TV, to pull a few of my easy-to-reach cords out and start measuring the plugs. I've measure eight different points on each plug. There is variation between the four I've measured so far. Plugged into the typical mono Switchcraft jack, the one plug that fits really nicely (so far) is on my coiled Fender cord: The plug seats fully and the "kink" in the jack's spring contact fits beautifully in the circular notch of the plug--a three-point contact (not that a single contact wouldn't work to simply provide a closed circuit), but it looks good, as it should.

While I don't have a Rick guitar with RoS, and have no real use for a RIC ROS Mono jack, I'll probably get one, just to satisfy my curiosity. In any event, I'll post a table with the measurements of all the cord / plugs I have on hand just for the heck of it.


PS - I think this is the Switchcraft jack -- Part #13 (as noted in RIC's descriptive title)... Yes?

http://www.switchcraft.com/Product.aspx?ID=2698

http://www.switchcraft.com/Drawings/13_cd.pdf
maxwell
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Posts: 361
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:14 pm

Re: Ric 360 Rick-O-Sound jack acting up ...

Post by maxwell »

Switchcraft mono jack #13 for RoS
Switchcraft mono jack #13 for RoS
My pre-hands-on assessment for the correction of a flaky contact would be to bend the spring arm (I believe this the "shunt spring") that I've indicated in this annotated diagram. If there is enough slack in the wires to pull the jack/jackplate assembly out far enough, should be easy. If there isn't enough slack, well, I guess you can de-solder wire connections and then re-solder them after the spring adjustment. Probably easier to get a good cord.

I'm not a wizz at this stuff... correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, I've ordered a jack. Should be interesting to take photos of various plugs in place and note the respective shunt contacts (or lack thereof).
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jps
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Re: Ric 360 Rick-O-Sound jack acting up ...

Post by jps »

maxwell wrote:If there is enough slack in the wires to pull the jack/jackplate assembly out far enough, should be easy. If there isn't enough slack, well, I guess you can de-solder wire connections and then re-solder them after the spring adjustment.
For most people, it is probably easier to remove the pickguard and reach in from behind the jack to bend the contacts. But, there should be enough wire to remove the jack plate (4 screws) to reach the contacts.
maxwell
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Posts: 361
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Re: Ric 360 Rick-O-Sound jack acting up ...

Post by maxwell »

I did order a Switchcraft #13 jack, and before it arrived, I checked measurements on eight different cords/plugs. All were different from each other.

The spring arm of the jack that has the shunt/switching contact point is a lot closer to the underlying spring (with the nylon insulator) than the old images found on the web. I eyeballed it and estimated it to be about 0.5 mm, but when I measured it with my leaf gauges, the actual space--the distance that the plug would have to push that underlying spring with the insulator to make contact with the shunt/switch contact--was only 0.203 mm (0.008 in.). I have a feeling that Switchcraft may be manufacturing their jacks nowadays with a lesser inter-contact space/distance as a means to deal with all the different plugs with their different dimensions. It doesn't take much spring displacement to make the contact occur. Each of the eight plugs I evaluated easily created a contact.

The jack is pretty well-made, and I can't see it mechanically or materially failing; even that nylon insulator is attached well. So, if there is problem with this jack, you pretty much have to access it and clean that shunt contact.
Attachments
Fender plug view 2
Fender plug view 2
Fender plug view 1
Fender plug view 1
Spring and tip 2
Spring and tip 2
Spring and tip 3
Spring and tip 3
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