Cleaning jack plugs/sockets?

LastMantra

Was just flicking through an old guitar mag. and noticed a bit where they say that Pete Cornish recommends cleaning your connections once in a while to "free your tone". Anyone do this? How dirty/oxidised do they have to be before they start effecting the signal?

guitars4you

No measurement as such of wear - Often you notice an intermittent signal/cutting out, or no signal - or crackle - At this stage it is well overdue

Some use a contact spray cleaner as part of a regular service - Maybe once a year is enough

If to oxidised and causing an issue I use a piece of fine wet n dry to clean contacts with a slight rub, even on the 3 way LP style switches and jack socket

Lack of use is often a cause of such issues

LastMantra

Yeah, I would have thought it would either work or not work, make a connection or, as you say, crackle or simply not make any connection. 
Just that the article was about cable capacitance which made me wonder. 

LastMantra

Plus the phrase "free the tone". 

Dave_Vader

I once took a dead amp to a tech who cleaned the input jack with servisol

It worked fine, he laughed, I laughed...

I bought a can of servisol and have used it ever since

Sassafras

Depends how often you use the guitar. The more often, the less oxidation accumulates.

lapua65

First make sure it has no juice running through it as you dont want to short anything. Initially try with a dry clean rag. If not then any high content spirit (lighter fluid, vodka etc).That will or should remove any oil based nasties.Make sure it is dry after. After that a very fine 2000+ wet and dry lightly or fine wire wool. Unfortunately the 1/4" jack has a petty poor connection (but quite good at rotating though) and most connection problems stem from the socket rather than male end. I am a guitar newbie but have lots of experience on audio circuits and hadn't seen a 1/4" jack for 25 years until I picked up a guitar. 

phil_b

Or you could just get a new one. Dirt is not the only problem. The contacts may loose some of their spring over time. 

sixstringsupplies

Given they’re only £3 or so probably best to get a new jack socket. If the plating comes off or starts to corrode it would need replacing anyway. 

ICBM

I would not use vodka - although it contains alcohol, most of the rest is water and so it could cause more corrosion than it removes. Use contact cleaner/lubricant - that's what it's for. (eg Servisol, Electrolube etc.)

I would also not use sandpaper unless it's *extremely* fine grade - if you scratch off the nickel, chrome or gold plating you will just increase the rate of corrosion and the problem will come back quicker.

Don't replace a decent-quality socket either - ie a US Switchcraft, Neutrik, Cliff etc - almost all the time, the contacts just need cleaning and in some cases bending slightly back into position. Replacing cheaper far-east sockets is worthwhile though.

I use a simple tool that I made from an old solid brass plug - I heavily scratched the barrel of it and the groove around the tip in a sort of 'swirl' pattern using sandpaper. I simply squirt some contact cleaner into the jack, put the plug in and out a few times and spin it round, and the job is done - usually if you wipe the plug, a lot of greenish muck then comes off...

LastMantra

The point was more that the way it was written it came across like you will start getting "tone suck" if you don't keep them clean. The more plugs (ie pedals/patch cables) the worse it will be.

Suppose it's not going to do any harm to give them a gentle clean from time to time. 

ICBM

LastMantra said:

The point was more that the way it was written it came across like you will start getting "tone suck" if you don't keep them clean. The more plugs (ie pedals/patch cables) the worse it will be.

Yes, I've noticed it on pedalboards where there are a lot of plugs and sockets that never get moved. It's worth taking them all out and giving them a squirt of cleaner occasionally. It's more often not a subtle 'tone suck' but rather a 'why does my board suddenly sound shit today?' though - and it will probably be just one contact that's doing it.

Danny1969

I had to replace the socket on my Stellacaster after 10 years ... constant gig'ing - plug'ing in and out had removed the coating on the metal completely. That was whatever socket comes with EMG pickups 

I also had to replace the jack socket on my JMP-1 for the same reason ... or rather I left the old one at the front and drilled a hole and fitted another one at the rear ... which makes more sense in a rack setup. 

It's a good idea to clean the jack sockets of a serial effects loop on your amp if you don't use it ... as the socket here acts as a closed switch when you don't use the loop... and over time corrosion will cause all kinds of problems like intermittent volume or almost complete loss of signal. Likewise the insert jack point on a mixing desk channel which operates in the same way. 

Ultimately it's a shit design all round but we've stuck with it.

LastMantra

Interesting stuff (well...) Thanks for everyone's input.

LastMantra

ICBM said:

LastMantra said:

The point was more that the way it was written it came across like you will start getting "tone suck" if you don't keep them clean. The more plugs (ie pedals/patch cables) the worse it will be.

Yes, I've noticed it on pedalboards where there are a lot of plugs and sockets that never get moved. It's worth taking them all out and giving them a squirt of cleaner occasionally. It's more often not a subtle 'tone suck' but rather a 'why does my board suddenly sound shit today?' though - and it will probably be just one contact that's doing it.

So what do you think is actually happening? PART of the signal being lost?

ICBM

LastMantra said:

So what do you think is actually happening? PART of the signal being lost?

A large amount of resistance in the signal path.

LastMantra

Good to know. Thanks.