The
"Vintage Jack" (patent pending) FAQs
Does the
"Vintage Jack" hold in place just by pushing it in, like my regular
endpin? I have a d28, so its probably micarta. Or does it need to be
glued in?
It is held in
with the taper just like your regular end pin... if you would like extra
security, you could use a little powdered rosin on the taper before you
press it into place. The rosin will grip under the friction/pressure
and secure the Vintage Jack in place without having to use glue.
We do not recommend the use of glues or other adhesives.
If its truly a press-in, I assume it is secure. Have you had
any issues with it coming out? It just seems that the brass material may be
smoother and slipperier than the plastic. I fully realize you must have
considered this I'm just looking for some piece of mind about how this
works.
The taper locks the endpin into place -- it is similar to the way centers
are held into a wood lathe and is also very common in metalworking machine
tools.
I am currently using a Baggs M1
pickup. One end has a mini plug. Would this be compatible with your jack?
This
is compatible via a couple of methods ..... you could attach a mini jack
to the Vintage Jack leads and just plug in your Baggs, or a more
professional installation would involve cutting the lead on the M1 and
making a shielded solder connection after trimming all the leads to a
suitable length.
What is the best way to secure the mini plug chord to the
jack? Loop it around the strap or use your Strapkeeper product?
Looping the output cable around your guitar strap will work very nicely
without having any extra attachments, but I have a prototype cable
keeper/strain relief strap that will slip over the endpin. The
StrapKeeper is made to adapt a standard guitar strap to the oversized
endpin button found on guitars with 1/4" endpin jacks.
After checking
out your website, I see that you have mono, stereo, and battery switching
options. The first two appear self explanatory. What is the battery
switching option?
This is used to
switch the battery on or off for systems that have a battery inside the
guitar -- plug in your cable (any cable) and the system is turned on --
remove the cable and the system is turned off. It keeps from running the
battery down when the instrument is not being used.
Can
I get the stereo one ("Vintage Jack") with power switching for future
upgrades, even though I may not be using it that way? If I do that, can I
still use a mono cable with it and plug in the usual way?
Yes, you can get the stereo and power switch options (in
fact this is becoming the standard rather than the option) for future
use. Just coil the unused wires and secure them inside your guitar -- if
you need them they will be there waiting. If you wire your pickup(s) to
the mono (tip connection) coax on the Vintage Jack you can use a mono
cable -- OR you could wire the pickups stereo to the Vintage Jack and them
combine the signals to mono by wiring the ring and tip connections
of the 3.5mm SwitchCraft plug to a mono cable. This second method has the
possible advantage of being able to select mono or stereo without having
to rewire the instrument. You would select mono or stereo with your
choice of output cables.
To help me
decide on the specific pickup, could you give me your perspective on the
PUTW products? Specifically:
David Enke at PUTW
is the
best person to answer your PUTW questions (you can also order from them
direct), but here goes.
Is
installation of the stealth under saddle similar to the Fishman matrix?
Would it require much adjustment of the saddle due to its thickness? I'm
just asking because I know my tech is quite familiar with Fishman
installations.
The PUTW Stealth pickup element
is very thin and you may not have to adjust your saddle at all --
depending of course on how you like your instrument setup. The adjustment
to you saddle will be a simple thing for your guitar tech and is basically
not a big deal. The installation of the Stealth is more similar to the
Baggs Ribbon Transducer pickup than to a Fishman -- Your guitar tech will
have no trouble with it.
Would
it be better to go with the pure soundboard transducer (#49 dual element
SBT)
regarding the impact to the acoustic sound of the guitar (no messing with
the saddle).
My wife Jaquie is the guitar
player at my house
www.jaquiegipson.com (sound
clips on her website) She has been using PUTW products exclusively for
several years and has been involved with beta testing several PUTW
products. She uses a combination of the stealth and dynamic duo (mono
output) in all of her acoustic guitars -- McCollum Megan, Taylor 512C,
Taylor LKSM 12, and Taylor 615. This seems to be the optimum pickup
system for both her music and her guitars.
Does the
ParaDI work well enough, or would you recommend one of their Line Driver
outboard preamps? As I mentioned above, it would be nice to use the
ParaDI as my outboard unit and maybe later upgrade to something more.
Jaquie uses PUTW preamps and
has had excellent results. The ParaDI is a good unit and Jaquie has used
one on several occasions, but she likes the PUTW preamps better. One of
the benefits of the Line Driver is that it puts the preamp closer to the
pickup -- the less cable between the pickups and the preamp the better.
The Line Driver is available in both mono and stereo versions and the
stereo version is selectable between stereo and mono outputs. The ParaDI
does offer EQ and notch filter capabilities, which could be very nice in
certain situations.
I paid a visit
to my guitar tech to discuss the installation. As you might guess, he
raised an eyebrow about the mini-jack endpin! His main concern is of course
the robustness of this design. I'm not exactly sure how to explain how your
design differs from past failed attempts by others. Could you elaborate on
this a bit?
Seeing is
believing and your tech will probably have to see it in his hands. I have
only seen one of the older "failed" designs (in fact it was broken)-- it
was one that had made in the 1960's ??. It was a rather flimsy plastic
thing that was both ugly and a poor design. It did not fit the endpin
hole and used a nut on the inside to hold it together. The materials it
was made from were not strong enough to function as an end pin and it was
not strong enough to support the tension of being held in place by the
nut. I have investigated the patents of other designs and everything
else seems to require some modification (drilling) of the guitar or was
just not practical. My design puts an industrial jack inside a metal
sleeve and is held in by the taper just like the regular endpin. It is
much stronger and more practical than an all plastic design. It will
speak for itself and you will be able to tell when you see it. Tony Sarno
(until recently the resident artist at Bose) has been
touring/performing with a Vintage Jack in his Martin D45 for about a year
now with zero problems.
What is the
inside of the jack made of (i.e. the female part)? Is it Switch Craft
hardware or something different?
It is an
industrial jack similar to SwitchCraft in quality but is not made by
SwitchCraft. It is the only jack commercially available in the US that is
compact enough and of high enough quality for an endpin jack. I think you
will be pleasantly surprised by how securely the SwitchCraft 3.5mm RA plug
is retained in the jack.
If I
accidentally hit the cable and the mini jack end bends (Ouch), will it
damage the inside of the jack? What is the anticipated lifetime of this
jack?
This is
something of a loaded question -- as it is possible to destroy anything
and I know a few people who could sink a brand new battleship with a
plastic teaspoon. With that said;
You would have
to hit the cable plug pretty hard to damage the endpin jack or bend the
3.5mm plug. As a test of strength, I mounted a Vintage Jack in a piece of
board (didn't want to abuse a guitar) inserted the 3.5mm RA SwitchCraft
plug and hung a 10 pound weight from the plug. I left the weight hanging
on the Vintage Jack assembly for several days with no sign of damage or
bending to any of the components. I believe that in normal use the
Vintage Jack and SwitchCraft 3.5mm RA plug are as durable as a standard
1/4" jack and plug. The SwitchCraft RA plug is important as it is much
stronger than a straight 3.5mm plug and it offers considerable strain
relief. I expect that the life expectancy of the Vintage Jack will be
similar to the standard 1/4" jacks currently in use. The jack assembly
can be removed from the Vintage Jack endpin housing and can be replaced if
needed.
A question regarding one of
your responses you indicated that if the female portion got damaged, it
could be removed from the endpin housing and replaced. By housing do you
mean the expensive ivory part?
Yes, the
ivory/housing part would only need to be replaced if it suffered some
accident.
I hate to ask
this, but I feel I need to - will this be a "risk-free" purchase? In other
words, if the endpin just isn't working out, can I return the products for a
refund? After all the research I've done, I really don't expect to be
disappointed, but I've learned sometimes you just have to expect the
unexpected!
This is also
something of a loaded question -- in the old time gentlemen's agreement
sort of way, the answer is YES. But "risk free" covers an awful lot of
territory.
I can offer the
Vintage Jack on a 100% refund basis for 30 days so long as it has not been
abused or damaged and I will replace or repair it against defects in
materials and workmanship for as long as you own the guitar.
I prefer to do
business in the old time gentlemen's handshake way and want to maintain my
reputation as an honorable businessman. I will work hard to take care of
you as a customer, but written guarantees can be a trap for all involved.
I hate to have
had to dance around a couple of your questions as much as you hated to
ask, but I have known a few people who seem to make a career of working
the system and taking unfair advantage.
Also please check our
Customer Service
page.
I plugged the
Kordex cable into my Vintage Jack and can see that the fit is nice and snug.
How will the installed jack handle repeated plugging and unplugging? Will
this tend to pull the Vintage Jack out if simply pressed in? I assume the
press fit is good enough for a simple end pin because its not being
regularly tugged at like this. Or should I have my tech just glue it in
after everything's all said and done? How has this been addressed in the
previous installations you have dealt with?
The Vintage
Jack taper fit is very secure and the 3.5mm jack itself is very
durable. A firm push and a little twist and it will lock the Vintage Jack
in place very nicely. Lightly seat it into place to test the fit and only
install it firmly (or with rosin) when all the rest of the installation is
done. So far no one has had any trouble with the pin coming
loose. In fact you will probably have to tap it out from the inside if
you need to remove it (after final installation attempting to remove the
Vintage Jack from the outside by pulling, prying or other such efforts
could damage the ivory) . I do not recommend the use of glue for a normal
installation.
I'm wondering
about what a person can do if the SwitchCraft mini-jack ever fails (it's
been my experience that even high quality components sometimes fail and need
to be replaced)? Is the mini-jack removable from the endpin assembly? If
necessary, can a new mini-jack be installed in the endpin assembly? Or,
if the mini-jack ever fails, must one purchase a completely new endpin /
mini-jack assembly?
Excellent
questions. It is possible to replace all of the individual components
should a failure ever occur.
