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Hi,
I got an old Guitar Mike for pretty cheap. It has the hardwired cable that comes out of the control box. I much prefer the later configuration with the female audio jack onto which you screw the audio cable. I plan to replace the hardwired cable with this jack. Only issue is: I have no idea what that part is called. The closest thing I could find is a switchcraft 2501MP, which I don't think is right. Any guidance?
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05-07-2018 04:52 PM
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I am afraid I cant be of any help with the name. But I know a source for starting the search, good luck !
musicpickups.com – vintage musical instrument pickups, effects units and amplifiers from Rowe Dearmond, Toledo, Ohio
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It's called a jack, but that's a very general term. I suppose what you want is really a specific part number. A good source for that sort of thing is Mouser, they have lots and lots of stuff. I don't know the specific part you need, though. Any jack should work, though, even if you have to do some modifications. There are a number of inline jacks available, at Mouser, ebay, and other places, which let you use either the existing cable or a replacement, cut as short as you like, with the jack attached. The main decision you have to make is whether you want to use a 1/8" or 1/4" plug. I use smaller 2.5mm plugs and jacks inside some guitars for pickup quick connections, but that may be smaller than you like.
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Not quite. There's so little room in the control box that you couldn't possibly fit a 1/4" or even 1/8" TRS jack in there. The volume pot takes up most of the box. I couldn't find a pic of the jack on the FHC, but here's an example of the same jack on a Rhythm Chief. The Rhythm Chief box, unlike, the FHC box has enough room for an 1/8" jack because the part would squeeze bw the tone and volume pots.
Originally Posted by sgosnell
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While Dearmond went to a 1/8 jack on the 1000 and the 1100 in the 1960's, the best they could do on the FHC was the screw on, probably due to space limitations.
I do not know what you call the female screw on part, nor where you would find one. Good luck with that.
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Cut the chord just solder you what need. Picture would help post.
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What I was suggesting is an inline jack. The cable comes out of the box, with a jack on the end of it, just like the plug on a standard cord, but female instead of male. You can make the extension out of the box any length, but may prefer very short, just long enough to connect the jack. You can get them in 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 1/4", depending on the plug you want to use. Perhaps not as elegant as a jack in the box, but it's an option.
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I emailed the guys at musicpickups.com. Thank you hotpepper.
Mark, not sure if you saw the photo in my comment above. That screw-tip jack is the part.
Stringswinger, you may be right.
I know there are plenty of possible makeshift solutions, but I do value a clean aesthetic. Sure, I could cut the cable, solder a 1/4 jack to the end, and use that as my output, but it would bother me too much. Looking for a solution with some dignity.
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I used this cable on my 1951 L4 non cutaway blonde.
One end goes on the dearmond volume-tone controller. The strap pin had to be altered into an endpin jack. The cable went through the lower f hole. A kind of semi permanent solution. Works just great for me.
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Now i see the photo. Just get a good electronics person to redo the guts inside with an 1/8 mini plug. Very easy to do just need incredible soldering skills. I have a bunch of little dearmound parts including a mini jack. If you can find someone to solder it i can get you the 1/8 mini. I take a picture if you want.
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I always thought these were old microphone connectors. I used to see them on old PA amps, I think they came to two sizes. Shouldn't be too hard to find even if you had to salvage an old one off a radio or PA. The cable connectors are commonly available. I have an old DA 1000 on my 52 L-4, the screw on connector is nice and stays put but one has to be careful as it won't just unplug when you step on the cord!
thanks John
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My dearmond parts
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I think I have found the part. Ben from musicpickups.com helped me out. These are still in production from switchcraft as 5501. The part that I need is the male component. I found the datasheet here. https://datasheet.octopart.com/5501M...t-27849909.pdf
It looks like switchcraft only makes them on special order. I'll have to give them a call.
Thanks everyone for your help.
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Avoid the screw on. You will know why the first time you step on the guitar cable.
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How would that be any worse than a hardwired connection? Originally Posted by nopedals
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I'm pretty sure you're set on the way you're proceeding, but I really dug the solution I had on my Eastman when using an FHC a couple years ago.
I wanted a removable solution, so that I could easily remove the pickup & stick, and keep the guitar completely acoustic. Now, guitar already had an end pin jack installed for the original floating pickup, which I'd removed almost immediately. So, I put a female RCA connector wired to the end pin jack inside the guitar with enough slack that I could pull an inch or so out of the F-hole. Then I wired the DeArmond control box to have the cable terminate at a male RCA. When plugged in, the jacks would rest inside the cavity. It worked great, and you know, I really should do that to my 1932 L-5, though I know somebody might be bent out of shape to have an end pin jack, but that's the kind of thing that doesn't bother me.
The only thing I'm thinking of now, is that, while I never had a problem with it back then, I could imagine picking up some rattle from the jacks inside the guitar. So if I do it again, I might put a bit of sugru around each jack, so there's a silicone buffer to deaden and vibration.
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How would that be any worse than a hardwired connection?
Both are bad. The standard guitar jack location on archtops is the worst; so many great old guitars have damage around the jack.
For years I had an archtop with a model 1000 and a neck rod. On that one I had the wire set up much like Jonathan describes, with quick connects inside the guitar cavity and a standard guitar jack in the endpin. The pickup came on and off the guitar in a minute or so. A little invasive, though (holes on the side of the neck for the neck rod, and an enlarged endpin hole for a standard quarter inch cable). An endpin, even if reamed, is much more robust than a side jack; I have never seen a damaged one.
I recently picked up a monkey and stick guitar mike with a box that has a hard wired cable. When I use it I loop the cable under the tailpiece (it goes up and then hangs over) with a little bit of slack so that it will stay where it is, but give up a couple of inches if I (or someone near me) does something stupid. You could do that with a screwon cable, too.
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Sounds a bit like HotPepper's solution. I think there are some pros to this, but my only issue is that I frequently switch which guitar the pickup is on. I don't want to modify each guitar that is eligible for the FHC. Originally Posted by campusfive
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He must've been typing as I was typing. I hadn't seen it, but yeah, same idea. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
That said, you can always have a spare cable that would just terminate in a 1/4" (either male or female), for situations where you haven't modified the guitar.
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That's the other thing I'm thinking. I also ordered an extra spare female part for the jack. I'll use it to make a converter to a 1/4" TRS female and keep it as a spare so that I can use standard instrument cables incase there's a malfunction or I just straight-up forget to bring the screw-tip cable. Originally Posted by campusfive
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That was actually part of my reasoning behind using RCA jacks. Converters can be found at any Target, Best Buy or Walmart across America, so no matter where I went, I'd likely be able to make it work, even if it meant using consumer audio adapters.
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When my original screw on cable malfunctioned around 1966, I went looking for a replacement female connector.
The guy at the parts place called it "an oddball size".
He had one that worked, but it only screwed on part way. That is, the barrel of the female side was too short for the male part (the male is connected to the pickup).
My dad soldered it, and he was a pretty handy guy with a soldering iron. I recall that it gave him some trouble. But, more than 50 years later, it still works.
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Hey Hotpepper01,where can I get a cable like this one??
Originally Posted by hotpepper01
I used this cable on my 1951 L4 non cutaway blonde.
One end goes on the dearmond volume-tone controller. The strap pin had to be altered into an endpin jack. The cable went through the lower f hole. A kind of semi permanent solution. Works just great for me.
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As it turns out, you can DIY this converter using a standard coaxial cable (the kind for antennas and cable TV), it happens to have the same threading. But you do need to snip the center cable down to about 2-3mm so the threads will have room to catch.
Otherwise, the Angela.com jacks work fine and aren't too pricey. You can get them here: Switchcraft Dearmond Guitar Pickup Screw-On Connector
They are a little tricky to install though. I just wrote an article on both this DIY solution and how to install the switchcraft jacks here:
All about that DeArmond Rhythm Chief pickup screw-on connector | Panique Jazz
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Angela probably just gets them from Mouser.
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