headphone/line out jack problem!?!

[dabluesman]

On my Hartke bass amp, I tried running a cable from the headphone line out jack to my mixer and when I plugged it in all the way I got no sound just a humming noise. I pulled the jack out half way and then I got sound, though it had a lot of static and stuff in it. Do I need a special cable to use for this? I think the headphone jack is stereo and the cable I used was a mono but it sort of worked when I plugged it in only half way. Any ideas?

[DALtune]

You have it right. Your headphone out is stereo, so it is looking for a stereo cable (tip, ring, sleeve). When it's plugged in halfway, it makes part of the connection, but when it is allo the way in, it doesn't recognize the cable.

Why are you using the headphone jack anyway? Does the amp have a line out? I could be wrong, but any time I've heard a headphine signal amplified it sounded terrible.

[dabluesman]

Well, I was in a hurry to get a bass track down on tape. I think I went with the headphone jack because I couldnt get anything to come through the line out jack. It was just a quick thing, I just need to spend some time with it. But if I remember right, I got no sound through the line out so I messed with the headphone jack to get it to work.

[DALtune]

You may want to consider going straight in with a direct box.