cliff jacks

[famous beagle]

Hey y'all,

What's the reasoning behind Marshall using Cliff jacks? And what's the difference (besides appearance) between those and the standard type that Fender uses?

Thanks

 

[Light]

Hey y'all,

What's the reasoning behind Marshall using Cliff jacks? And what's the difference (besides appearance) between those and the standard type that Fender uses?

Thanks

Well, it's probably what they had available in the sixties, and now it's what people expect them to use. Certainly, being made in England, they would have cost a lot less in England back then than Switchcraft jacks.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[famous beagle]

Well, it's probably what they had available in the sixties, and now it's what people expect them to use. Certainly, being made in England, they would have cost a lot less in England back then than Switchcraft jacks.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Thanks. But why do some Marshalls have the plastic ones and some metal?

 

[famous beagle]

More specifically Light, the reason I'm asking:

I'm building a Marshall 18-watt kit from Weber, and I've heard that their jacks are notoriously bad and should be replaced. I'm trying to find what I should replace them with.

My BOM from Weber just says "Chassis mount phone jack, Cliff type." This is in regards to the input jacks.

But do I need mono or stereo? Shorting or non-shorting?

The speaker jacks are the standard type. Do you know (have you heard) if those should be replaced as well?

Thanks

 

[famous beagle]

Ok I've looked around some more, and I'm pretty sure I know which one I need, but I have one more question:

What's the difference between "switched" and "unswitched" on a cliff jack?

 

[Light]

For inputs, you need switched. There is a little tab that touches the tip connector when nothing is pluged into the jack. In amps, this gets connected to ground.


As to why some Marshalls have metal nuts and others plastic, my guess would again be cost. As the years went by, Cliff brought out new products which were less expensive, and Marshall being a normal manufacturer bought the cheaper model. That's just a guess, mind you, but I'm probably right. The main body of all Cliff jacks is plastic (one of the reasons I'm not wild about them), so there isn't really all that much difference. If you can, I'd get Switchcraft jacks and some isolation washers. You'll have to enlarge the jack holes a tad, but it's pretty easy to do if you have a step bit.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral.
M.K. Gandhi

 

[famous beagle]

For inputs, you need switched. There is a little tab that touches the tip connector when nothing is pluged into the jack. In amps, this gets connected to ground.


As to why some Marshalls have metal nuts and others plastic, my guess would again be cost. As the years went by, Cliff brought out new products which were less expensive, and Marshall being a normal manufacturer bought the cheaper model. That's just a guess, mind you, but I'm probably right. The main body of all Cliff jacks is plastic (one of the reasons I'm not wild about them), so there isn't really all that much difference. If you can, I'd get Switchcraft jacks and some isolation washers. You'll have to enlarge the jack holes a tad, but it's pretty easy to do if you have a step bit.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral.
M.K. Gandhi

Thanks. And the isolation washer would go in between the nut and the outside of the chassis - is that right?

 

[Light]

Thanks. And the isolation washer would go in between the nut and the outside of the chassis - is that right?

Both sides. They are there to lift the jack body off of ground, similar to what the plastic bodies of Cliff Jacks do. Though, if you are using the ground scheme that Weber shows on the layout (using the brass grounding plate, which I wouldn't suggest, but some people have good luck with them) you don't really need the isolation washers - at least in theory. In which case, the holes for the Cliff jacks might already be too big, but as long as they don't fall through that doesn't matter in the least.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi