Four Pronged Stereo Input Jack

[natron_mn]

I bought a few of these 1/4" stereo phone jacks from Radioshack a while ago, thinking all of them were created equally. But these jacks have a fourth terminal.

I'm wondering if I can still use these as the input jack on my pedal builds, and just leave one of them unconnected? You can't tell from this picture, but I believe it is the ring that has two terminals. So my thought is that I can hookup the wire to either one or the other, and leave the other blank.

Apologies for the novice question, but I'm still getting my feet wet with pedal building.

[stallik]

I have some with 4 terminals but 2 of them connect to the same thing. A good visual check should be enough but nothing beats a meter

[natron_mn]

I have some with 4 terminals but 2 of them connect to the same thing. A good visual check should be enough but nothing beats a meter

With a meter, would I just use the continuity setting and check for a "beep", thus revealing the two that are connected?

[anotherjim]

~yes, beep means connected. Removes all doubt.
Visually, it's made of pressed metal layers in a sandwich with insulations. If you look at it sideways, you can see the layers. Lugs sticking out of the same layer must be connected.

[natron_mn]

Alright - thanks!

[PRR]

I think they made the ring finger out of some scrap strip-stock they had which already had a hole in the end. If that finger has a base terminal, I would not use the hole in the end of the finger. A wire there would mildly restrict finger motion, the finger motion tends to fatigue the wire--- it's just wrong.

Yeah, buzz it out with the meter or lamp to be sure what connects to what. But I think it is a 3-terminal jack with a spare hole in an odd place.