"Loose 1/4" phone plug ??'

[JIM D.]

A question on this problem has shown up in a Roland accordion post. The culprit here in the wide use of the 10 cent plastic jacks soldered on electronic
boards as used on amps, expanders, digital accordions, and even new China made guitars. For many years 1/4'' jacks that were used in all musical applications were a metal Switchcraft
design that used a heavy metal spring an would hold a make connection with plugs made with slightly different dimensions made
in Italy, Germany & China. With a Switchcraft type jack these differences in dimensions posed no problems but these new 10 cent plastic jacks were and are
designed to work only with the proper industry standards --- The standard for a 1/4" phone plug is a barrel of 6.35mm and a length of 30.6mm. Not using
a plug with these dimensions will not only make a poor & loose connection but will in time destroy the jacks usefulness. If you have a set of Mic's
measure your plugs - in many cases the difference's in dimensions are dramatic.

 

[JIM D.]

It seems I neglected to include the brands of 1/4" plugs & cords that use the industry standards. Here's a few -----
Switchcraft, Rean, Neutrik, Amphenol, Hosa & Peavy. Now in the case of plugs or cords labeled "Made In China" and you have
the slip, return them , if not , send them to the landfill. They are only an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Ventura]

the quality of metal, (thickness and plating) isolation spacers
and guage of the internal plug barrel's wire also makes a big difference...
and molded cords are often poorly shielded at their heads, while cables
can vary widely in quality for both shielding and capacitance

this is why people like me solder up all my own patch cords from scratch
from Belden and Switchcraft components for the most part which i always
have spares on hand in the studio/shop

it is not that hard to learn to do it, and you will have far far fewer
failures at Gigs if you roll your own

 

[jozz]

afaik Rean = Neutrik made in China

i once did a PA speakOn / powerCon conversion (without solder, but crimped) of both brands

so one cheap set, the other 4x the price

there is a huge placebo effect going on at the moment of purchade

but after a while i stopped noticing which is which

 

[Ventura]

For many years 1/4'' jacks that were used in all musical applications were a metal Switchcraft

Jim, i still have a small stash of the industrial wide model Switchcraft jacks that have
the sprung contact on the end of a steel strip about the size of a Bass reed tongue

talk about a Zero failure rate design !

i used these in my Speaker and PA cabs until i switched to XLR for the larger
positive contact area they give (for speaker connections)

and Jazz
i believe EUro sound engineers often retrofitted with XLR (pre speakon era)
as the rounded tip of any plug/jack combination could be subject to motion
during use (slight rotation from tugged wire or even cabinet vibration) as well
as the actually tiny area of metal to metal contact being a limiting factor for power