(Editor’s note: This is a contributed article. You can also contribute an article! See details at bottom.)
There is no such thing as an input jack on a bass. It’s an output jack. I purposely made the title have “input jack” just so you know it is WRONG. The proper name is output jack.
This is how to fix a crackling sound in an output jack.
Plug in your bass and move the cable around to find where the crackle sound is. If you hear nothing pull the cable out slightly and listen for sound. If you still hear nothing plug the cable in all the way then push more and listen for sound. If you still hear nothing the jack can still be fixed.
Unplug the bass.
Unscrew the jack plate to see the insides of the output jack. If your jack is installed in a pick guard, take off the pick guard to see the output jack insides. Before touching anything take a close-up photo of the output jack using your phone so you remember where all the wires go.
Look at the wires and see if there are any loose or broken connections. If you see dust, blow it all out using compressed air. Clean smaller areas you can’t spray using rubbing alcohol and a q-tip.
If you see loose wires or if solder breaks while cleaning, that is ok because you can reconnect them.
** List of proper basic soldering tools
1. 40-watt soldering iron.
2. 60/40 rosin-core solder .032″ diameter. This is the best stuff to use for soldering guitar electronics.
3. Desoldering wire 2mm. Use this to help remove old solder.
4. Solder sucker. If you have an output jack in a weird location you may need this to help remove old solder.
Remove the old solder and wires from your output jack. Clean up as best you can. Clean the wires too.
Make new good connections using new solder and let cool and set.
Check the contacts of the output jack to make sure it holds a cable tip properly. If it doesn’t you can bend the contacts a little so it holds the cable tip better.
Plug in a cable to the output jack and test. If the crackling and scratchy noises are gone, you are done. Put your bass back together.
If the noises are still there, check your solder connections and try a different cable.
If you hear nothing, the output jack may need to be replaced. Or there is another part of your bass causing the problem, such as bad wires or a bad pickup.
*** Help out the bass community (and promote your business at the same time if you have one) by contributing your own how-to article. Use our easy web form to contribute an article about bass building, bass repair, bass electronics, and so on. Yes, you can include pictures and video if you like!
Simple and easy to follow. Hopefully this helps some people fix a crappy output jack, clean signal is so much more fun!
40 watts is a bit hot for someone not use to soldering. 25-30 watts is plenty for a jack.
I’ve always found crackling to be either a loose jack, or oxidised contact surfaces.
Loose jack obviously needs tightening but look at how it connects to ground – if there is no serrated washer under the jack, you need to solder a wire to where all the other ground wires go to. Search on “How to solder to a potentiometer body”.
Oxidised surfaces will need firm rubbing with something like Silvo – you do need to get them shiny.
Watch for the ‘finger’ of the socket that contacts the tip of the jack – if it is not firm, then give it a bend in the right direction.
If the jack is really quite bad, it is easier to just replace it.
Look for shorts. This can be a loose strand of wire, or the hot hitting the cavity shielding. And as nolanb mentioned, make sure the hot prong is making solid contact with the notch of the plug. If the jack is shorting out to the cavity shielding, wrap the jack with a piece of electrical tape.
Use SWITCHCRAFT jacks with lock washers.
Warwicks are notorious for bad jacks. Replaced it with Switchcraft when I swapped the crap MEC OBP for Aguilar and MEC pickups for Barts. Narry a problem since.
Try a different cable FIRST. If it’s the cable you just saved yourself a lot of trouble.
My bass makes a squealing noise every time I try to play it and it stops the notes to be able be heard. Does anyone know what’s the problem.