J45 pick-up questions

[RBSinTo]

I recently bought a used 2001 j45 ( my first Gibson guitar) which has the female input jack, but no pick-up. As I have been unable to find out when Gibson began electrifying their acoustic guitars, I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me, so I might determine if this was a factory or aftermarket installation.

My second question is about the female jack itself. It has a tiny flange which acts as a strap button, and is to keep the strap from slipping off. It works really badly, so I'd like to add a mushroom shaped "button" for lack of a better word which would plug into the female receptacle to keep the strap in place. I've not found anything like this in stores or on-line and wonder if anyone knows if they exist and where I could find one?

Please and thanks

RBSinTo

[Twang Gang]

I would guess since there is no pickup, the jack was not from the factory.  Some previous owner may have installed a pickup system removing the original strap button in the process.  Then when they sold the guitar they pulled the pickup out, and left the jack.

I have not seen a "mushroom" button that would solve your problem either, but you could remove the jack and replace the strap button.  Hopefully the hole for the jack is not real big.  If you're not familiar with this type of repair you might want to have a luthier do it - should not be very expensive.

[MorrisrownSal]

Here is one option

 

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Endpins_and_Bridge_Pins/NoJak_Endpin.html

 

I think I have an ebony one laying around; cant remember where I got it?

 

 

[MorrisrownSal]

Ok... This is my spare. It is meant to plug a 1/4 in jack hole...

 

If you want it, I'll send to you.

 

[RBSinTo]

Twang Gang,

Would be better able to determine if pick-up was factory installed or not if I knew when Gibson began electrifying their acoustics. It's a statistic I can't find.

Salfromchatham,

Thanks for the link to the Stewmac end pin. I couldn't find it because I didn't know what it was called. Being an old guy, this is a common problem for me when searching for things on line.

I've not decided if I'll bother having the female jack removed as it would be useful if I ever add a pick-up.

Instead, I molded a mushroom shaped button from five-minute epoxy and might just install it into the jack shaft with a thin wood shim to keep it in place.

[RBSinTo]

Salfromchatham,

That's incredibly kind and generous of you, but in retrospect, I think I'll just install the plug I made. It's finished, It's here and the head is large enough that the strap will never slip off.

RBSinTo