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Thread: Need advice

  1. #1
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Need advice

    I’m installing a twin piezo pickup in my Kentucky mandolin. It already has a hole drilled in the lower side for a 1/4” output jack. Only problem is, the jack won’t fit through the f-hole. So I guess my options are: switch to an end pin jack; or make the f-hole larger. I really don’t want to carve up the f-hole, and an end pin jack would work but still leave a hole in the side. Does anybody make a jack that is smaller diameter than standard that will fit through the f-hole?
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    Default Re: Need advice

    You could use a Tapastring jack, I think that is the name. It goes in from the outside. It will take a special cord with a 1/8" plug on one end. I have used several and they work well. They are a tapered jack that goes in like your normal end pin. The side of the mandolin is not a good place for a jack as it is much more fragile than the end pin jack thru the block.
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    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need advice

    Quote Originally Posted by pops1 View Post
    You could use a Tapastring jack, I think that is the name. It goes in from the outside. It will take a special cord with a 1/8" plug on one end. I have used several and they work well. They are a tapered jack that goes in like your normal end pin. The side of the mandolin is not a good place for a jack as it is much more fragile than the end pin jack thru the block.
    But then I would still have a hole in the side of the Mando. I’d like to kill two birds here.
    Living’ in the Mitten

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    Default Re: Need advice

    I understand, but the side is not very strong. Has it been re-enforced? You could use a 1/8" jack, but then you would have to make something to take up the slack from the 1/4" hold you have. You would have to be very careful with a jack in the side. How large is the large hold in the f hole? Most are too small for a regular jack. You could use the endpin jack in the side without the strap part. You can buy those as long panel jacks. You could fill the hole with something neat too, but that is another project.
    Last edited by pops1; Apr-24-2021 at 6:09pm.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

  5. #5
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need advice

    Quote Originally Posted by pops1 View Post
    I understand, but the side is not very strong. Has it been re-enforced? You could use a 1/8" jack, but then you would have to make something to take up the slack from the 1/4" hold you have. You would have to be very careful with a jack in the side. How large is the large hold in the f hole?
    Near as I can tell, the hole is about 17 mm and the jack is about 18mm. So, not a big difference, but it’s not going through that hole without enlarging it. It came from the factory with a Shadow pick guard pickup installed. That’s where the jack was installed. I don’t like playing with a pick guard so I’m converting it over to piezo.
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    Default Re: Need advice

    You could convert to piezo, and learn to use the pickguard, I like them personally, tho I play with and without.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need advice

    Quote Originally Posted by pops1 View Post
    You could convert to piezo, and learn to use the pickguard, I like them personally, tho I play with and without.
    I played it for a year with the pick guard on. It stifled the sound and my picking technique.I just can’t abide pickguards.
    Living’ in the Mitten

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    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Need advice

    Hooray! I just got it through a hole. I tried the opposite f-hole and it must have been just a tad larger. It was a struggle, but I eventually worked it through. Okay, on with the installation. I hope it goes smooth from here on.
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    Default Re: Need advice

    Way to go.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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