Switchcraft Jacks - Open vs Enclosed?

[The Tone God]

The switchcraft #11 type jacks have been made in Mexico as long as I remember, at least 15 years. They are junk compared to the old ones, the tension goes away pretty quickly.

That time frame sounds right, about 15 years. The thing is I kept some of the old crappy ones, well actually I choose not to use them because of the problems, and later bought a couple of the Asian one from a store that specialized in Asian import parts and the colour and material matched that of the lousy Switchcrafts. I'm not doubting what you say as it could just be coincodence but that is what I loosely based my theory on. It could be that they tried something at the Mexican plant to reduce cost by implementing something like Asian manufactures would do but it didn't work out. The Asian companies decided to make their own version and the timing my just be coincidental. This was happening with the stores I was shopping at in my area at that time so other things my have been going on world wide. Its hard to say but also not that relevant now.

I find the plastic RE'AN jacks work the best for most pedals, the only problem I have is when someone loses a nut.

Ok I'll be alittle more open about my opinion of the Neturik / RE'AN style jacks. They are one of my greatest banes of repair. With exception of the cheap knock off Asian open frames these are my least favourite jack. I am forever repairing equipment with these jacks. Especially the circuit board mount versions but I have had issues with panel mounted versions too. I just got through repairing a PCB that had it's tip trace torn because of the design of these jacks allowing force to be transfered from the plug to the contacts. Last week I replace one and had to retention three more and these were all on different jobs not just one piece.

I know everyone has their preferences and thats fine but I have seen way too many of these types of jacks fail over the years. I much rather go with the either the open or closed frames from Switchcraft. There are a couple of other designs that I think are okay but the Switchcrafts are so availible and reasonably priced that I would just stick with those to be safe especially when buying online.

Just my opinion.

Andrew

[G. Hoffman]

The switchcraft #11 type jacks have been made in Mexico as long as I remember, at least 15 years. They are junk compared to the old ones, the tension goes away pretty quickly.

That time frame sounds right, about 15 years. The thing is I kept some of the old crappy ones, well actually I choose not to use them because of the problems, and later bought a couple of the Asian one from a store that specialized in Asian import parts and the colour and material matched that of the lousy Switchcrafts. I'm not doubting what you say as it could just be coincodence but that is what I loosely based my theory on. It could be that they tried something at the Mexican plant to reduce cost by implementing something like Asian manufactures would do but it didn't work out. The Asian companies decided to make their own version and the timing my just be coincidental. This was happening with the stores I was shopping at in my area at that time so other things my have been going on world wide. Its hard to say but also not that relevant now.

I'm somewhat dubious about this.  We've been in business 39 years, and have been buying #11's for probably 38 years.  As near as I can tell they have never changed.  The ones I've always bought are - aside from 60 or so years of exposure to air - identical to the ones you see in a dead mint 1950's Strat.  I'm not saying you haven't seen what you have seen, I just think that maybe Switchcraft came out with something different, and your suppliers tried to save some money by substituting them for the real thing.  Wouldn't be the first time a supplier had done so, that's for sure.


Gabriel

[DougH]

The switchcraft #11 type jacks have been made in Mexico as long as I remember, at least 15 years. They are junk compared to the old ones, the tension goes away pretty quickly.

That time frame sounds right, about 15 years. The thing is I kept some of the old crappy ones, well actually I choose not to use them because of the problems, and later bought a couple of the Asian one from a store that specialized in Asian import parts and the colour and material matched that of the lousy Switchcrafts. I'm not doubting what you say as it could just be coincodence but that is what I loosely based my theory on. It could be that they tried something at the Mexican plant to reduce cost by implementing something like Asian manufactures would do but it didn't work out. The Asian companies decided to make their own version and the timing my just be coincidental. This was happening with the stores I was shopping at in my area at that time so other things my have been going on world wide. Its hard to say but also not that relevant now.

I'm somewhat dubious about this.  

I am too. Every Switchcraft 11 I've bought has been top quality and I've never had any problems with them. I have had a lot of problems with off brands however- wafers/inner-contacts rotating when tightening, nut that strips threads- you name it. Never a problem with any of the Switchcrafts I've gotten, they are very stiff and obviously well constructed.

Maybe some of you have been buying your "Switchcrafts" from this guy?

[Paul Marossy]

Every Switchcraft 11 I've bought has been top quality and I've never had any problems with them. I have had a lot of problems with off brands however- wafers/inner-contacts rotating when tightening, nut that strips threads- you name it. Never a problem with any of the Switchcrafts I've gotten, they are very stiff and obviously well constructed.

Same here. I guess to some people "Made In Mexico", "Made In China" or "Made In Japan = junk. I have owned lots of things made in those countries and they have been just as good quality-wise as "Made In U.S.A.", and in some cases even better. I am still waiting for one of my newer than 15 year old Switchcraft jacks OR the Neutrik equivalent to them to fail.

[DougH]

I guess to some people "Made In Mexico", "Made In China" or "Made In Japan = junk. I have owned lots of things made in those countries and they have been just as good quality-wise as "Made In U.S.A.", and in some cases even better. I am still waiting for one of my newer than 15 year old Switchcraft jacks OR the Neutrik equivalent to them to fail.

Agreed. There's a lot of xenophobia about parts, seemingly left over from post WWII "made in Japan=junk" mentality.

I don't know where open-frame switchcrafts are made and could care less. I've been buying them for 10-11 years and have yet to see one fail. And they all are just as stiff as they were on the day I installed them. OTOH, I have had problems with Cliff jacks (made in the good ol' U.S., supposedly, or at least in the UK), and am gradually replacing all of them I have used on amps with switchcrafts. The spring loaded contacts have given me fits and I don't like the cheesy plastic bodies or the use of spacers to get them to tighten up properly. The Cliff jacks are just a dumb, dumb, kludgey design...

[analogmike]

Look at a switchcraft #11 jack next time you install one, it's pretty obvious where it's made.

When I started building, pre-internet, Angela instruments was selling some NOS switchcraft jacks that were made in the USA and they were much better. I used them for repairing amps as you don't want an amp's jack to fail.  Of course ANY switchcraft jack is better than most of the cheap ones you see that are made in Asia. When we get a VOX V847 (Dunlop) wah in for a mod we always recommend changing the jacks to the switchcraft, as the stock ones are TERRIBLE (worse than junk).

The RE'AN jacks have a screw hole, if you board mount them you are supposed to use the screw for support, not the solder.

I have 10,000 pedals out there that I built, so I hope my experience can help people who want to build their own pedals and make them reliable, have fun!

[The Tone God]

I'm not saying you haven't seen what you have seen, I just think that maybe Switchcraft came out with something different, and your suppliers tried to save some money by substituting them for the real thing.  Wouldn't be the first time a supplier had done so, that's for sure.

Thats a real possibility as well. Some of these places weren't on the up and up when it came to their electronic imports (there were many parts I saw that I knew were not good quality there). Maybe the store's supplier got a bad batch of jacks and gave them a deal. Maybe an Asian manufacturer did make cheap counterfeits but got caught so they took the Switchcraft label off. Its all speculation.

Anyways like I said it seems to be moot as it was only a short period MANY years ago and I only saw them for a couple of months before the next shipment came in. I haven't seen any consistent problems with the Switchcrafts open frames since so they are still a safe bet to buy IMHO. Just make sure they are Switchcraft and not Asian knocks offs.

The RE'AN jacks have a screw hole, if you board mount them you are supposed to use the screw for support, not the solder.

Many manufactures do not but I think the biggest issue with these style of jacks these days is the plastic they use. It feels like some type of nylon but whatever it is its too soft. It warps under heavy use. The older style of jack, like the those on Marshalls, were made with a harder plastic and I think the plastic was thicker too. They rarely broke, although on some occasions they still would break, but the biggest failures I would see with those would be bent contacts which one could bend back into shape but still a pain because of the plastic dividers getting in the way. With either opened or closed style Switchcraft jacks I could retention contacts although it was harder with closed frames which I could do through the back.

The ones made today with the soft plastic are just horrible and they are used in alot of gear especially for PCB mounted jacks. A pox on them all.

Just my opinion.

Andrew

[Brymus]

The only thing good about cheap jacks other than the price is that when you trip on your chord you snap the jack instead of pulling your amp to the floor.
I did this once and it snapped the neutrik jack in two, but my homemade tube amp stayed on the cabinet instead of crashing to the ground and doing worse damage.

[jkokura]

The only thing good about cheap jacks other than the price is that when you trip on your chord you snap the jack instead of pulling your amp to the floor.
I did this once and it snapped the neutrik jack in two, but my homemade tube amp stayed on the cabinet instead of crashing to the ground and doing worse damage.

Are you talking about Plugs or jacks? Plugs are usually male, and jacks are usually female... I think you're talking about plugs...

I don't know if I've weighed in yet, but I say open. I've never used the enclosed kinds, I can see how they might work better in some situations, but I can't see me buying them with the kind of success I've had with the open style jacks.

Jacob

[joegagan]

this thread rocks.

open, switchcraft, i luv them.

[Paul Marossy]

Many manufactures do not but I think the biggest issue with these style of jacks these days is the plastic they use. It feels like some type of nylon but whatever it is its too soft. It warps under heavy use. The older style of jack, like the those on Marshalls, were made with a harder plastic and I think the plastic was thicker too. They rarely broke, although on some occasions they still would break, but the biggest failures I would see with those would be bent contacts which one could bend back into shape but still a pain because of the plastic dividers getting in the way. With either opened or closed style Switchcraft jacks I could retention contacts although it was harder with closed frames which I could do through the back.

The ones made today with the soft plastic are just horrible and they are used in alot of gear especially for PCB mounted jacks. A pox on them all.

Yeah, I recently fixed a Vox AC30CC for a friend. One of the things on it that was broken was one of the PCB mounted input jacks. Somehow the threaded portion broke away from the rest of the body. It looked like someone had tried super gluing it back together once before, but that didn't last. The plastic used seemed pretty hard but it looks to me like they skimped on how thick it was.

[Brymus]

The only thing good about cheap jacks other than the price is that when you trip on your chord you snap the jack instead of pulling your amp to the floor.
I did this once and it snapped the neutrik jack in two, but my homemade tube amp stayed on the cabinet instead of crashing to the ground and doing worse damage.

Are you talking about Plugs or jacks? Plugs are usually male, and jacks are usually female... I think you're talking about plugs...

I don't know if I've weighed in yet, but I say open. I've never used the enclosed kinds, I can see how they might work better in some situations, but I can't see me buying them with the kind of success I've had with the open style jacks.

Jacob

No Im talking about the jack ,had it been a good Switchcraft jack my amp would have ended up on the floor.
Instead the plastic Neutrik (think Cliff) broke in half and the plug came out with nothing clamping it .
I just had to pull the chassis and throw another one in,which BTW I decided to be more careful and used an open Switchcraft with iso washers.
Which in turn meant drilling the hole a little larger but yeah way better contact,the plug wont slip out of it,and it aint breakin the way the Neutrik did.

[jkokura]

Cool, I'm sorry for doubting you! It made more sense in my head if you were talking about plugs, but knowing that you really did mean jack - I'm sorry again.

Makes me wanna go break open my fender...

Jacob

[Brymus]

Cool, I'm sorry for doubting you! It made more sense in my head if you were talking about plugs, but knowing that you really did mean jack - I'm sorry again.

Makes me wanna go break open my fender...

Jacob

Its all good    I might have thought the same thing the way I originally explained it.
But I have had that happen on more than one amp,and fixed others amps where it has happened to them.
It doesnt really happen as much now that I dont jump around and get crazy when I play,I miss those days...

[imbuedblue]

I've noticed that on the Neutrik's version of the Switchcraft #11, the solder tabs snap off if you try to bend them.

[stringsthings]

Bunn Kneez and the Squirrelz prefer Bitchcraft jacks ....

as Bunn is so found of saying, "jack rabbits plug into the jill squirrelz" 

[Processaurus]

Look at a switchcraft #11 jack next time you install one, it's pretty obvious where it's made.

I was curious, so I asked the manufacturer, indeed, they're from Chicago:

Yes, p/n 11 is manufactured in the USA.
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