Yamaha - recessed jack socket - any ideas??

[guyl]

The recessed Jack socket on my longtime Yamaha TRB has been problematic over the years. I took it to Ged Green who has been asked to fix quite a few - he suggested it’s a bit of a design flaw. Ged fitted a “surface mounted” plate and socket which has been trouble free ever since. (Photo below - the orange bass).

 

I also own a Nathan East model which one is fab in every way except the same problem. Lead/socket is always under some kind of bad tension due to the angle of the recessed jack. Unlike the TRB it will be impossible to fit a surface mounted socket. (Photo attached of the white bass) 

 

Has anyone managed to overcome this, or is it a case of replacing socket every few years…? 

[Doctor J]

They're designed to feed the lead around the strap button, which I always do. I've never had any trouble with the ones on my TRBs.

[pete.young]

THat's what I do with my Nathan East, or use a very short cable that connects to a wireless transmitter in a pouch on the strap.

[OliverBlackman]

I don’t have either of these basses but it is good practice to loop the cable around the strap so you have some slack if the cable is pulled. Martin at the Gallery once advised that right angle plugs are much better for the Jack socket after having issues with a Warwick.

[Andyjr1515]

I love Yamahas...guitars, basses, saxophones - but their jack sockets aren't the most long-lasting.

 

It isn't the plate - it's the socket itself.

 

Some Yamahas are fitted with barrel jacks...and, as your luthier rightly says, they are a bit of a design compromise.  They look like this :

The design is flawed, but te best of a bad bunch are the ones made by Switchcraft...so if you have to have a like for like replacement, ask for Switchcraft to be fitted.

 

Much more reliable are this type of socket, which is, I think what your luthier has adapted and fitted to your TRB:

 

...and this is probably also fitted (or the stereo equivalent) to your Nathan East.

 

Again, the 'industry standard' for these is Switchcraft (and we're only talking a few £'s each).  Honestly, a Switchcraft jack like this should last you out.  Other makes last between 1 and 10 years max...  In my experience, the ones Yamaha fit (and in all other aspects, I love them) are towards the lower end of that range.

 

So, the jackplate itself on tbe Natan East is fine.  But get someone to fit you a Switchcraft jack onto it and I don't think you'll have any more issues.

 

 

[guyl]

That’s great advice @Andyjr1515 . New socket then! I do always loop cable through strap, but however you do it the NE is always under some bad tension. Which probably puts more wear on the low quality socket. Cheers! 

[LukeFRC]

It’s a open stereo Jack like the bottom one in @Andyjr1515s post … the contacts are like springs that touch the cable - before you fit a new one open it up and pinch the contacts closer … that could be all in needs

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1072092/Yamaha-Bb-Ne2.html?page=2#manual

[Andyjr1515]

10 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

It’s a open stereo Jack like the bottom one in @Andyjr1515s post … the contacts are like springs that touch the cable - before you fit a new one open it up and pinch the contacts closer … that could be all in needs

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1072092/Yamaha-Bb-Ne2.html?page=2#manual

Yes...but while that is correct, that is also what is different between the commercial-quality (and in this respect, Switchcraft are broadly in that camp) and more general consumer quality.  The point is that spring steel shouldn't lose its spring.  So if it does, it is not good spring steel...and neither is it if you can bend the contacts closer - good spring steel would just spring apart again 

 

So yes - just before a gig with nowhere else to go - then it is definitely a get-out-of-jail card.  But if it's lost its spring once, it will lose it again.

[MOSCOWBASS]

I replaced the jack on my NE2...watch there is a dropper resistor under some heatshrink

[elvinven]

Hi @guyl  😊

 

When getting surface mounted jack did the luthier need to drill anything and/or make any adjustments to the pre-amp cavity?

 

I am wondering doing the same with my TRBI, but for me it looks like I would need to drill and do som adjustment in the cavity to allow the jack plug to manage go straight in.

 

Wich model of the TRB do you have?

I know the pre-amp cavities are a bit different through the TRB-range

[elvinven]

Hi @guyl  😊

 

When getting surface mounted jack did the luthier need to drill anything and/or make any adjustments to the pre-amp cavity?

 

I am wondering doing the same with my TRBI, but for me it looks like I would need to drill and do som adjustment in the cavity to allow the jack plug to manage go straight in.

 

Wich model of the TRB do you have?

I know the pre-amp cavities are a bit different through the TRB-range

 

On 19/06/2022 at 15:54, guyl said:

The recessed Jack socket on my longtime Yamaha TRB has been problematic over the years. I took it to Ged Green who has been asked to fix quite a few - he suggested it’s a bit of a design flaw. Ged fitted a “surface mounted” plate and socket which has been trouble free ever since. (Photo below - the orange bass).

 

I also own a Nathan East model which one is fab in every way except the same problem. Lead/socket is always under some kind of bad tension due to the angle of the recessed jack. Unlike the TRB it will be impossible to fit a surface mounted socket. (Photo attached of the white bass) 

 

Has anyone managed to overcome this, or is it a case of replacing socket every few years…? 

 

[BigRedX]

On 19/06/2022 at 19:43, guyl said:

That’s great advice @Andyjr1515 . New socket then! I do always loop cable through strap, but however you do it the NE is always under some bad tension. Which probably puts more wear on the low quality socket. Cheers! 

 

That's weird. Could you post some photos of how you have the lead arranged with the strap when you are playing. I had a Yamaha guitar with this output socket arrangement and never had any problems with it.