MOD 2: 1/4" INPUT AND OUTPUT JACK REPLACEMENT
Mod Type: Structural
Difficulty Level: Easy
What You Need:
• Soldering iron
• Solder
• 1/4" mono Switchcraft jack
• 1/4" stereo Switchcraft jack
• Wire strippers
• Side cutters
• Nut socket for jack
socket nut
Our guinea pig for mods 2, 3, and 4
is a charming little Vox V847 wah.
This will do rather nicely, because its
construction allows us to modify various
bits without having to mess around much
with circuit boards. For our second mod,
we’re going to replace the stock 1/4" jacks
with top-shelf Switchcraft sockets that
will improve reliability. This isn’t to say
that the original jacks aren’t any good, it’s
just that the Switchcraft sockets are a little
more rugged and durable.
Let’s have a look inside. See those two
rectangular black boxes just above the
main circuit board? Those are the jacks—
the input is on the left, and the output is
on the right.
Now let’s take a closer look at the wiring
of the output socket (which, again, is on
the right side when the pedal is turned over).
Notice that the white wire attaches to
the “tip” tag of the jack, and the black
wires connect to the “sleeve” tag.
To remove the old output jack:
1. Heat up your soldering iron.
2. Desolder all three wires.
3. Unscrew the nut that holds the
socket in place.
4. Remove the old jack.
To install the new output jack:
1. Take one mono Switchcraft socket and insert into the empty hole.
You may need to use an awl or
drill to slightly widen the hole so
that the new jack fits.
2. Screw the nut in place. Be sure to
include the locking washer
between the socket and the side of
the wah (as shown below).
3. Mad wicked—well done. Now
take the black wires that were
attached to the ring tag of the old
socket and strip a little more than
half an inch of plastic off the ends.
4. Twist the exposed parts of both black
wires together (as shown below).
5. Now “tin” the twisted wires (as shown
below). For help on this, refer to the
previously mentioned YouTube solder
primers. (Note: You’ll need to tin every
wire you solder in these projects.)
6. Bend the tinned wires into a hooked
shape like the one shown below.
7. Thread the hooked black wires
through the sleeve tag of the new jack
(see below).
8. Solder the two black wires to the
sleeve tag.
9. Thread the white wire through the
new jack’s tip tag (the only socket
tag remaining).
10. Ace. Your new jack should look
a lot like this.
Now let’s move on to the input socket,
which has an additional wire—the battery-switch
wire. If you’ve ever wondered how
your pedal’s battery is turned on when you
plug in, this little wire is the key. When the
1/4" cable is inserted, it shorts a connection
between the sleeve tag and the ring tag of
the socket. The sleeve tag is connected to
the circuit’s ground terminal. The green wire
connects to the negative terminal of your
battery. A circuit is made once the negative
terminal of the battery is connected with the
ground (or negative) terminal of the circuit.
Voilà—it’s alive! Very clever, eh?
Have a look at the next photo—it’s the
original input jack.
The black wire is the ground wire, which
goes to the sleeve tag of the new Switchcraft
socket. The green and brown wires carry
the audio signal and are connected to the
tip tag of the new jack. The purple wire is
the battery switch that connects to the ring
tag of the socket.
To remove the old input jack and install
the new input jack:
1. Remove the wires in the same manner
you did with the output jack.
2. Strip and tin each wire.
3. Unscrew and remove the old
input socket.
4. Solder the brown and green wires
to the tip tag.
5. Locate the sleeve tag—which attaches
to the center portion of the socket—
and solder the black wire to it.
6. Solder the purple wire to the
remaining tag.
7. Brilliant! Your second mod is complete—take a bow! The wiring should look
something like the photos below.
