nonnel Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I hope this topic hasn't already been covered in an earlier post, but for lack of this knowledge, here goes. I recently had the misfortune to have had the thin wide nut holding the input jack in place on the TOP/FRONT get progressively looser until the last time I removed the cord, whereupon the jack fell bacvk into the body of the guitar. At first glance, it looks like there is no way to retrieve the jack, let alone put it back up into place from behind! Are there specialized tools for grabbing the jack and for putting it back into place FROM BEHIND?!? I can't imagine someone building an instrument where this could happen and render the guitar useless. Any idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Welcome to the forum nonnel, sorry it had to be under these circumstances. But don't worry, it can be fixed easily enough. Loosen off your strings, shouldn't need to remove them. Remove the bridge so it doesn't fall off. Unscrew the bridge pickup and lift it clear of the guitar, put a cloth on the guitar body to rest the pickup on. You will have a hole under the pickup through which you can fish around to lift your jack socket out or at least into view. Couple of methods from this point: First you can try dropping a length of cotton through the body hole for the jack socket, and manoeuvre it till you get it out through the bridge pickup hole, leaving enough length so it still hangs out of the jack socket hole. Tie it around the wall of the jack socket itself, over the lip. Pull the socket back inside the guitar and drop the nut over the cotton and down onto the socket thread. You should be able to tighten it up, and cut the cotton thread away just before you tighten it fully. Any problems with this, try the second method. Take a jack plug and cable, discard the outer cover from the plug and grind off the ring with a grinder or Dremel till you can get the jack and cable through the jack socket nut. As above, feed the jack & cable through the socket hole, plug into the jack socket, and pull back through the hole. This method has the advantage of holding the socket a little more firmly while you tighten the nut, though I have used both. If you find you need to hold the socket steady while you are tightening the nut, either now or in the future to keep it tightened regularly, Stewmac do a tool, Jack the Gripper Good luck, let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I had that happen on my 335. After I got done cursing I fished mine out by sticking a bent pipe cleaner into the center of the jack and gently pulling it up through the body. I used the pipe cleaner to hold it up while I got the nut started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Welcome to the forum, and as Vomer said, sorry it's under less than stellar circumstances. For future reference, I've got one of these and it works great. Keeps the jack tight without twisting/breaking the wiring connections. http://www.amazon.com/JackTight-Electric-Guitar-Output-Repair/dp/B0062OJV0I/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1391992504&sr=1-1&keywords=jacktight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 pipe cleaner.....bent shirt-hanger.....mechanics pick......all will do the job. Welcome to the forum, this may be covered in the DIY thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry1281734007 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I've had to do this on several Casinos, and I found you can buy an extendable rod with a magnet on the end at most hardware stores. Just put it through the jack hole and pull it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 ^^^Ahh, what they said . I should have said before my post, "if you can't fish it out through the hole"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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