the earth wire on my guitar (les paul type vintae make) has broken again at the point where it attatches to the lead socket.. This is the second time this has happened in about 4 months.
a very good soldering job was done on it last time, so i know poor soldering is not the reason it broke again, so i do wonder why this can happen?? is this usual? and how can i prevent it from happening again?
thanks
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
..
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
It depends where it is breaking. Is the solder joint itself breaking? Or is the wire breaking just beyond / outside the solder joint? If the former then I agree with slej - probably not a good soldering job. Did you clean everything well? Did the solder joint look shiny or dull? If the latter then is the wire of poor quality? Did you strip the insulation off and go too deep taking off some the strands of wire and weakening it? Is it getting too much flex somehow - maybe the jack is twisting?
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
I've seen a ton of jack problems caused by the player leaving the cable hanging from the jack. Run the cable between the strap and guitar from behind. Leave a little slack. Turn it around and plug it in. Now the cable's hanging from the strap, not the jack. It'll save you a lot of trouble.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
My money is on your jack spinning or twisting. That will break those little suckers off quick. Resolder it and tighten the nut really well.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
It also helps if you can put a small drop of blue LocTite on the threads before tightening. Still, you want to hang your cable from the strap. The cable swinging is what rotates the jack.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
You snuck that in in front of me Ric ... by all means, loop that cable through your strap. I have always done that. Why? Because when I first started playing I noticed my heroes did it, thats why. :lol: But it is a very good practice. Back when I was young and walked 5 miles to school, uphill both ways, even the rock stars used cables to plug into thier amps. :wink:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I've seen a ton of jack problems caused by the player leaving the cable hanging from the jack. Run the cable between the strap and guitar from behind. Leave a little slack. Turn it around and plug it in. Now the cable's hanging from the strap, not the jack. It'll save you a lot of trouble.
+1
for me, it was having a cheap-a$$ LP knock off as my first electric, and the jackplate would come off completely if I didn't hook the jack behind the strap. kept the tradition ever since.
cheers guys. i never put my lead through my strap so i guess that is what has caused the problem, ill definitely do that in future. as for the soldering, i didnt do it myself, i go one of the other teachers in the technology dept of our school do it so im sure he did a decent job - anyway, ill start threading my lead through my strap from now on. thanks
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
