Jack Installation Tool Video
V-0107
Quickly install a 1/4" jack in a hollowbody guitar when you can't reach inside.
Video Transcription
[on-screen text reads: Jack Installation Tool. Aaron Smiley, StewMac Tech Advisor]
Aaron Smiley: This archtop guitar had its output jack fall on the inside of it. You can even hear it if you move it around a little bit. Probably from a loose mounting nut, and someone tried to put an output jack in there and it popped in through. It's pretty common on these guitars.
On most other guitars, like a solid body electric, for example, you could just flip it over, take the cavity off, put the jack back in, and tighten it down. But on an archtop guitar, the only access you have would be these F-holes right here, and they're not very wide, and you can't get your hand in there. Then sometimes a bridge pickup and that cavity's not too wide either. If you want to take the pickup out. Once you get the output jack out through the F-hole to make any solder repairs and put a lock washer back on, you're still going to have trouble guiding it all the way back to the mounting hole just because the F-hole's so small. So we designed the Jack Installation Tool to help guide it through the F-hole back to the mounting hole. Makes this job super easy.
How to use the Jack Installation Tool
First, I like to bend the tool a little bit so it's easier to get feed up through the F-hole. This is brass, so you can bend it pretty easily. Then I want to put the nut and washer on the tool first so it's easier to thread on once you get the jack out. And there's a little bulb on the end of this, so it will stop it. Then you just feed the jack through the body and up through the F-hole, and it clicks on just like a regular instrument cable will. Send it back through there, pull it up. You can just tighten that down right there. Now I'm just going to final tighten this guy down. This job's done. I used to hate this kind of job, but this tool makes it super easy and super quick. Now this guitar is ready to go.
