Jack for Carved Top Telecaster?

[rspst14]

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of assembling a carved-top Telecaster, and I'm having problems getting the jack to fit.  This body has a 3/4" jack routing, and a standard Switchcraft mono jack will not fit through the route.  If I really push on it, I can wedge it in there, but there's no way it'll fit with the wires soldered on.  I don't think the route should be this tight, am I using the correct type of jack? 

Also, the football jack plate isn't quite curved enough to fit.  It's probably close enough, but it might not sit perfectly flush.  Would I be better off using a square jack plate?  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

 

[Cagey]

Is it the solder tangs getting in the way, or the diameter of the jack? If it's the tangs, plug a cord into the jack, and you'll be able to see that there's some clearance between the solder tangs and the plug body. Some needle nose pliers will make it easy to bend those tangs in a little bit, so it'll fit into the route better. Just make sure the "hot" connection doesn't touch the plug's body (sleeve). Some heat-shrink tubing to insulate the thing may be in order...

That's a different jack mount than you're talking about (that's an "Electrosocket"), but I show it so you can see how I did the connections. Insulating the tangs keeps you out of trouble. Also, you'll notice I ran the ground line back a bit and tied it to the shield behind the insulation. That let me run the shield very close to the hot connection, so the hot line has as little exposure to the world as possible. There's a bit of heat shrink to hold the shield in place (the blue stuff), then the black stuff covers that end as well as the lug.

 

[Jusatele]

most Teles are a 7/8ths route, so you need to research for a jack that can be used in a 3/4 route. that 1/8 of an inch is your problem

 

[rapfohl09]

I had this problem with that guitar I just built. I had no idea that jacks apparently didn't fit in a 3/4 in. hole. I just checked my box of them until I finally found one that did, and by fit I mean that that thing is wedged in there. Not like SUPER tight, but it can hold the entire jackplate snuggly by itself. What I was going to do until I found that was was take my dremel, and sand down some of the wafers, since those seemed to be the problem.

 

[drewfx]

Unfortunately some jacks are "more" 3/4" and some are less.

I had to file/sand the 3/4" socket a bit on my Koa top J-bass to get it to fit. I used all black HW and the black jack I ordered turned out to be bigger than any of the other jacks I had lying around (one of which fit OK, but none of which were black of course).

 

[Jusatele]

I just order a 7/8 hole so I do not have to deal with it. :sign13:

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, it seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes a big hole is a Good Thing.

 

[Corey P.]

Must. Not. Say. What. I'm. Thinking.

 

[Cagey]

It's ok. Everybody already thought it, and disagreed <grin>

 

[nexrex]

most Teles are a 7/8ths route, so you need to research for a jack that can be used in a 3/4 route. that 1/8 of an inch is your problem

I had a similar problem with the last Warmoth LP I built. I accidentally order a 3/4 jack when it should have 7/8.

I found it was easy to use a stepped drill bit like this (on slow speed) to increase the size.

Here's my process:
1. On a piece of scrap wood, drill a 7/8 hole, and make sure the plate will cover it.
2. Place some masking tape on the body around the out put jack (to stop your finish from chipping)
3. Placed a tape line on the bit, up to the correct width
4. Reamed it from both sides
4. Cleaned it up with a file

 

[rspst14]

Thanks for the help everyone.  I suspect the jack would've fit (barely) prior to the finish being applied.  I guess next time I'll go with the 7/8 routing.  For now, I'll probably try to sand down the opening and bend the tangs in a bit to try to get the jack wedged in.  I tried two different Switchcraft jacks, I don't know if there is another brand that would fit a little better.