It's 2008 - Why Are We Still Using 1/4" Phone Plugs/Jacks on Guitars?

[lammy]

Yeah, those stupid proprietary cell phone adapters. Stop taking my money!

[Spunky99]

Here's my 2 cents that is worth zero.

Musicians are hard on their gear. The jack in the guitar and the cable need to be robust or it will fail. Sitting on the couch playing a Tele or a Les Paul, the guitar is usually resting on the jack.
Most of the new type connectors and the cable they use would not stand up to the abuse the current jack seems to be able to withstand.

Could you imagine trying to figure out a neutrik xlr cable fault with a hairline crack in the plastic.....?

Plus you don't have to orient a 1/4" jack like you do an XLR to connect it.

Have you ever seen a Gibson SG with the body crack where the 1/4" jack is? I bet the cable and 1/4" plug wasn't damaged in that fight.

[eryque]

Terry, I like the way you're thinking. IMHO, a big part of the reason that we haven't changed is because all those negatives aren't enough of an issue to make most folks want something that's much different. 1/4" plugs simply work for 99% of folks 99% of the time.

Technically speaking, the pickups we use have so many more shortcomings than our cables and are based on primitive electronic technology, but we haven't found anything that sounds cooler.

[JasonRobert]

As its 2008, shouldn't we have wireless guitars?

[jwells393]

Why would it be so hard to break away from such an old tradition?

Well one additional advantage is they work in old vintage tube amps.

[Big John]

Originally Posted by JasonRobert

As its 2008, shouldn't we have wireless guitars?

With jet packs ? ...... or driving one of these ?




And eating here ......

[KevinB]

Line 6's Variax modelling guitars use Neutrik Ethercon RJ-45 connectors but with a proprietary - not ethernet - wiring design. It's a good solution for a guitar with active electronics (the cable also provides voltage) and that communicates with their Pod amp and FX modellers.



They are rugged, well designed and work just fine. The cast shells protect the RJ-45s from movement and provide strain relief. One problem they do have is that Variaxes also have a nearby 1/4" stereo socket that can be used - with less functionality - in place of the ethernet cable and quite a few people have inadvertently and without looking, forced a male 1/4" plug into the RJ-45 socket destroying it!

Maybe we shouldn't mix vintage with modern

[Poppatwang]

Originally Posted by J-man

The audiophiles would riot, destroying the buildings of all those who dared to update their equipment away from 1/4" jacks - because of course, as all audiophiles know, 1/4" jacks sound better.

Just south of you the good folks at Naim have been using DIN cables for interconnects.
Though they may conduct their barricaded against the rabble.

[stevieboy]

I have to buy new cables now?

Really, if Terry thinks a change would be good, I wouldn't argue with him, he's da man. But I also don't think it's a big enough issue to warrant a change in the standard.

As far as having to use adapters to use old guitars with new amps or vice versa, maybe someone would just make a cable with a new plug on one end and an old plug on the other?

[hekawi]

Originally Posted by tdowns

Advantages:

1. They are plentiful and cheap

plentiful and cheap went a long way with Leo

[sax4blues]

Originally Posted by KevinB

Maybe we shouldn't mix vintage with modern

I own 4 electric guitars and 4 amplifiers. One of these is from 1965, the other 7 are 2000 and newer. I'm thinking the "Vintage" equipment population would be of lesser consideration in this discussion. By almost any definition of vintage (1980's, 70's, 60's, older..., is a 1995 vintage?), my guess is the vast majority of equipment in use today is not vintage.

[KevinB]

I guess my point is that most modern guitars are still designed with vintage type electronics. Pickup systems haven't really changed much in many years, with the exception of Roland, Line 6, and Gibson's digital LP. The functionality of the electronics drives the design of the connectors, and for simple mono out, 1/4" phone plug technology is sturdy , cheap and reliable.

[tpaul]

I have a couple thoughts about all this, which, if you're bored enough, might be more interesting than, say, reading the fine print on the bottom of your computer mouse.

First, we're all still playing fairly primitive instruments. I mean, how long has it been since someone first stretched some strings across a piece of wood and plucked them? The guitar hasn't really evolved too much since then. Probably the biggest innovation has been the electric pickup. That said, the guitar has evolved a LOT more than many other instruments (for example, the viol family seems fairly stuck in time... drums are mostly the same as they've always been... bagpipes haven't changed...) There are really not that many "modern" instruments. The synthesizer comes to mind. In any case, most of the design faults seem to have been ironed out already. I mean, we've already got better tuners... bridges... ergonomic bodies... and half the population isn't interested. In case you hadn't noticed, the Tele is non-ergonomic, and features an outdated bridge design... both faults the Strat was designed to correct... yet people keep buying Teles. Since there have been few attempts to update the jack system, and no successful attempts (on a commercial scale), I'd conclude that the 1/4 inch jack and plug design is good enough for most users and, given the primitive nature of the instrument, doesn't require an upgrade.

Also, given the life many musicians lead, universality has to count for a lot. I mean, how many times have you been at a rehearsal, jam session or gig and heard, "Hey man, do you got a guitar lead I can use? I must've left mine at home." Part of the frustration for me with things like cell phone chargers is that I can rarely borrow anybody else's. So if you're going to change something like the 1/4 inch guitar plug and jack, you're going to have to change all of them... kind of like the fill tube on an automobile tire, it's simple and universal, and that's often enough to keep an old design in production.

[Tim73]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

My guess is that getting an entire industry to change connectors would be like herding a large number of kittens across the prairie.



Just sayin....

Cheers, Tim

Brilliant! Just forwarded that to everyone I know!

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by JasonRobert

As its 2008, shouldn't we have wireless guitars?

+ One billion.

The western world wishes it was 1950. If I flick on the TV and watch for ten minutes, I really can't blame them. We plug in our 1950s guitars to our tube amps and pretend life is simple again. It isn't, but the charm opens our wallets.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

My guess is that getting an entire industry to change connectors would be like herding a large number of kittens across the prairie.

Just sayin....

Cheers, Tim

It is estimated that there could be 400,000 feral cats in NSW and around 12 million across Australia.

I quit in '97, but I still got the scratches.

[Ronkirn]

$3K phonograph cartridge

????

You been buying those Bargain Koetsu's ???

Ron Kirn

[PJ]

Yeah...but the stuff's supposd be getting smaller, faster & cheaper and that Ethernet rig (and the Speak-on) are big honking things that I wouldn't want hangin' out of my guitar. Neither seem to be more desirable alternatives, to me.

[mikethebike500]

because drunk and in the dark...it's all we know dude..it's all we know

[Tim Armstrong]

There are umpteen million guitars and amps out there with 1/4" jacks, and they keep on making more...

...that's one heck of a lot of momentum/inertia to overcome to get a whole stinkin' industry to make a change!

Besides, these things work okay!

Cheers, Tim

[pengipete]

It works, it's cheap and it's easily repaired.

I'd hate to have to resort to a box full of adaptors as each guitar, pedal and amp manufacturer designed their own connections. It would be as bad as trying to find a charger or data cable for a mobile phone and the manufacturers would bring out a new improved plug every six months just to rake an extra bit of wonga out of the poor, downtrodden guitarist.

[milocj]

I guess even something as simple as strap buttons and strap locks are sort of a good example of the sort of problems that can be caused. What are there, two major brands of strap locks?

I don't use them but I'll go jam with my buddies (one has Schallers and is real short, the other has Dunlops and plays a Strat) and we can't even swap a guitar with each other for very long because I can't put my longer strap on one of their guitars and vice-versa and none of us can play comfortably using the other person's strap.

[Gabriel_GR]

Maybe improving the socket so that the cable moves less and makes better contact is the solution you are seeking. I would be frustrated to need a different cable for every different guitar just like it happens with my phones...

[boris bubbanov]

I kinda figured we'd be wireless by now, so I didn't sweat it.