Pure Tone Jack sockets

[jdgm]

Got an email notification from Strings Direct (UK) about Pure Tone jack sockets.

Says the old-style jack socket is inefficient, out-of-date etc....

These do look well-designed.....

 

https://puretonetechnologies.com/

 

The blurb -

 

"The standard jack utilizes a pressure ground and a single hot positive connection; as actual grounds are not connected to the sleeve, the pressure of the tip dictates how good the ground is, resulting in inferior sound quality (i.e., that “static sound”). Not only is the signal strength compromised and weaker, the actual sound is inferior because you never have a solid ground and the poor connection at the tip contact is so minimal.

With the new Pure Tone Jack, the audio jack as you know it will never be the same again. The Pure Tone audio jack has 2 actual concave ground contacts that hug the sleeve on both sides and 2 concave hot leads wrapping both sides of the positive tip. Not only is the signal much cleaner, stronger, and clearer, but all aspects of the EQ spectrum are also greatly improved while eliminating those nasty spikes. In addition, the Pure Tone jack has greatly increased the voltage handling capacity while leaving a smaller footprint for those tight spaces."

 

Anybody tried one yet?

[IanHenry]

The standard sockets were ok for Jimi Hendrix, Paul Kossoff, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jimmy Page and I'm guessing Joe Bonamassa, so why worry about something unless you have a problem with the one on your guitar? Don't go looking for problems that don't exists, they just want to sell you something you don't really need

 

 

Ian

[Pin]

I see they do a stereo so that'll keep the original ES345 and ES355 owners happy!

[Notes_Norton]

It looks to me like they would probably make a secure connection.

 

I don't think it would affect tone or volume, the signal from the guitar needs very little surface connection, but I've had times when the tip has not had a secure connection and the crackle noise or drop out occurs. Just by looking at these, they seem less prone to that happening.

 

I don't think these are necessary if you aren't having connection problems, but if you are, it might be worth trying them.

 

I have a subwoofer that is in an airtight enclosure that often tries to pop the phone plugs out of the jacks. The jacks are the only place the air can escape. The result is that terrible bad connection static. This might be the answer. I ordered a few.

 

Thanks for posting jdgm

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[merciful-evans]

Interesting. I'll bear it in mind for the future. Thanks for posting.

[Rabs]

I tried one in my last build....

 

I did some testing of it before I tried it out cos it was for a customer and told him that if it ever causes any issues he should let me know and I will swap it out free of charge..

 

My results.. Well the first thing I was worried about was that having two connectors it would be a bit stiff.. I did a quick vid on that, its fine.

 

Apart from that it does seem well made. BUT one of their claims is more contact equals better sound. I don't believe that.. The power that goes in to a guitar is so low it doesn't need much contact.. BUT they could be good for speaker connections maybe.

 

So really in the end I don't think its either here nor there just another option to choose from.

[badbluesplayer]

No thanks. Standard jacks are part of my trademark tone, lol. I'd have to add another six inches to all my cables to make up for the improved efficiency of the jacks.

[jdgm]

Well in conclusion you can say definitely it's a more secure connection.

If that matters, which in some cases it might.

 

 

I'd have to add another six inches to all my cables to make up for the improved efficiency of the jacks.

 

Oxygen-free silver is surely the only way to go........ [flapper] :)

[Notes_Norton]

<...snip...>BUT one of their claims is more contact equals better sound. I don't believe that.. The power that goes in to a guitar is so low it doesn't need much contact.. BUT they could be good for speaker connections maybe.<...>

 

I agree with that. I had electronics in school and got a Cable TV Engineer degree (which I actually used for a few years).

 

At the amount of power and the audio frequencies we use, any good connection is enough to get the signal through. It could be a good contact the size of a pin head. Look at the diameter of the conductor in your cable, it's smaller than the shaft of a pin. We're only talking a few hundred millivolts here. All you need is mechanical contact.

 

But 'tone' is the buzzword to sell almost anything guitar related.

 

If the contact at the phone jack/phone plug is bad, the first thing you will notice is either static or complete drop outs. If you aren't getting any of this, you probably don't need this connector.

 

If the jack and plug are well made, standard size (not a tiny bit smaller to save a bit of metal), and not corroded, everything should be fine under most circumstances.

 

But there are times when the standard phone jack/plug connection is not good and I think this jack might help.

 

1) If you put strain on the cable moving around on stage or whatever to the point where you get static

 

2) If you have a sealed cabinet forcing the jacks to act like a bass reflex port

 

3) You live an a very corrosive climate (example: near the ocean)

 

I ordered six. I'm putting 4 on the sealed sub-woofer cabinet that tries to push the plugs out of the jacks and if it fits inside, I might put another on my guitar. If that works, I'll get more. I live near the ocean and for 10 years I've had a one day per week gig on a dock over a salt water lagoon. It could be a problem solver for me.

 

If you don't have the problem, you don't need to fix it. Of course if you want it and that's OK too.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[D-28]

I agree with that. I had electronics in school and got a Cable TV Engineer degree (which I actually used for a few years).

 

At the amount of power and the audio frequencies we use, any good connection is enough to get the signal through. It could be a good contact the size of a pin head. Look at the diameter of the conductor in your cable, it's smaller than the shaft of a pin. We're only talking a few hundred millivolts here. All you need is mechanical contact.

 

But 'tone' is the buzzword to sell almost anything guitar related.

 

If the contact at the phone jack/phone plug is bad, the first thing you will notice is either static or complete drop outs. If you aren't getting any of this, you probably don't need this connector.

 

If the jack and plug are well made, standard size (not a tiny bit smaller to save a bit of metal), and not corroded, everything should be fine under most circumstances.

 

But there are times when the standard phone jack/plug connection is not good and I think this jack might help.

 

1) If you put strain on the cable moving around on stage or whatever to the point where you get static

 

2) If you have a sealed cabinet forcing the jacks to act like a bass reflex port

 

3) You live an a very corrosive climate (example: near the ocean)

 

I ordered six. I'm putting 4 on the sealed sub-woofer cabinet that tries to push the plugs out of the jacks and if it fits inside, I might put another on my guitar. If that works, I'll get more. I live near the ocean and for 10 years I've had a one day per week gig on a dock over a salt water lagoon. It could be a problem solver for me.

 

If you don't have the problem, you don't need to fix it. Of course if you want it and that's OK too.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

One day I was bored so I took out my Fluke Mulitmeter and put it across the jack of my Strat since that is the easiest to get to without distributing to much. I strummed light and really hard. I think the most I got was around 1 volt.

[D-28]

I tried one in my last build....

 

I did some testing of it before I tried it out cos it was for a customer and told him that if it ever causes any issues he should let me know and I will swap it out free of charge..

 

My results.. Well the first thing I was worried about was that having two connectors it would be a bit stiff.. I did a quick vid on that, its fine.

 

Apart from that it does seem well made. BUT one of their claims is more contact equals better sound. I don't believe that.. The power that goes in to a guitar is so low it doesn't need much contact.. BUT they could be good for speaker connections maybe.

 

So really in the end I don't think its either here nor there just another option to choose from.

That was some nice work plugging and unplugging the jack. It could help and not hurt, but the traditional ones work fine. They are only 6 or 7 bucks.

[Dub-T-123]

That was some nice work plugging and unplugging the jack. It could help and not hurt, but the traditional ones work fine. They are only 6 or 7 bucks.

These new ones are $4.20

 

The regular Switchcraft and Neutrik jacks cost less than $2.00